FEDERAL WAY, Wash. ? The University of Kentucky men?s swimming and diving team climbed to 16th overall in the standings of the 2008 NCAA Men?s Championships after freshman Tyler Reed, junior Warren Grobbelaar and the 800-free relay team earned All-America honorable mention last night at the University of Washington.
Reed took the highest finish of the night for the Wildcats placing 13th overall in the 200-freestyle race. In his first collegiate national championships, the first-year swimmer claimed a career-best swim of 1:35.21 in the finals heat. His previous top time was 1:35.28 which he first set at the SEC Championships and then matched during the preliminary race at the national meet. Reed is just shades off of Steven Manley?s school record which is 1:35.06. Manley was the last Wildcat to win All-America honorable mention in 2004, before Reed matched the feat last night.
Grobbelaar held the 16th and final seed going into the finals of the 100-butterfly, but the first-time individual All-America honorable mention winner climbed to 14th place in the night-time swim. Grobbelaar tapped in a time of 46.99 in the consolation heat of the top-16 swimmers in the country. He had set his own personal best and school record time of 46.92 in the morning?s preliminary heat. Grobbelaar is the first UK swimmers since Daniel Cruz to earn top-16 honors in the 100-fly at the national meet.
Kentucky?s 800-freestyle relay squad of Reed, sophomores Alex Forbes and Eric McGinnis and junior Shane Eliason were the final point scorers of the night for the Blue and White when they placed 13th in the longest relay event. Reed took the first leg and earned the fastest split time of the race for the Wildcats in 1:35.64. Forbes went second and tapped in 1:39.57. McGinnis clocked in at 1:37.23 during the third leg, and Eliason anchored in a time of 1:38.76. All four swimmers earn All-America honorable mention after their top-16 finish.
UK?s 200-medley relay was also among the top-16 competitors, but for the second night in a row a Kentucky relay team disqualified due to an early jump.
After two days of competition Kentucky stands in 16th place overall having combined to score 35 points.
Action resumes today at noon Pacific Time, or the equivalent of 3 p.m. Eastern Time with the final day of preliminary action.
Complete coverage of the UK swimming and diving team can be found by visiting www.ukathletics.com.
