LEXINGTON, Ky.?The University of Kentucky men?s swimming and diving team posted strong performances in short-distance freestyle events and wins on both boards in a hard-fought loss to Florida, 165-129, at the Lancaster Aquatic Center Thursday.
The blue and white swept the top three spots in the 50-freestyle. Sophomore Eric McGinnis? time of 20.81 earned him the win, while junior Warren Grobbelaar (20.87) and sophomore Alex Forbes (21.09) followed close behind at the wall.
McGinnis continued his strong showing by finishing second overall and first for the Cats in the 100-freestyle with a mark of 46.02. Freshman Tyler Reed (46.10) and Forbes (46.34) touched the wall in third and fourth, respectively.
In the 200-freestyle it was Reed?s turn to shine. The rookie?s time of 1:39.97 earned him first place in the event. Sophomore Kyle Greene placed third at 1:41.82.
Kentucky?s 200-freestyle relay teams carried over the momentum to the day?s last event. The Wildcat ?A? squad of McGinnis, Forbes, Grobbelaar and Reed tapped the wall first at 1:22.39. Placing third in the relay, the Cats ?B? squad of sophomore Elvis Burrows, freshman Reinhardt Strijdom, freshman Colin Faris and Greene finished one spot ahead of the Gators? ?A? squad.
On the boards, Kentucky freshman Stephen Andrews swept both events. Andrews finished 1-2 with junior Justin Smith, who was diving with an ailing foot, on the 3-meter board with awards of 292.05 and 287.78, respectively. In the 1-meter, Andrews rolled to victory outscoring the competition by almost 100 points with a winning total of 343.73.
UK swam to another impressive victory in the 100-butterfly. Grobbelaar?s time of 48.87 topped his competitors? marks by more than two seconds. Burrows earned second at 51.23 while sophomore Travis Muzzillo finished close behind in fourth at a time of 51.84.
Kentucky?s Shane Eliason earned three top-three honors in the pool. The junior placed second in both of the backstroke events with a time of 50.13 in the 100-backstroke and a 1:50.46 mark in the 200. In the 200-individual medley, Eliason finished third at 1:55.07.
In the breaststroke events, senior Will Vietti paced the Cats with two top-three finishes. Vietti placed second in the 100-breaststroke at 56.84 followed by a third-place showing in the 200 with a time of 2:08.64.
Vietti and Eliason teamed up with Grobbelaar and McGinnis as the 400-medley relay ?A? squad for the Cats. The foursome finished second with a time of 3:18.97.
Senior Wildcat Grant Nelson swam to a third-place finish in the 200-butterfly with a mark of 1:51.18.
The men and women will both be in action next week, when they travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to take part in the Nike Cup, November 15-17.
