LOUISVILLE, Ky.? Led by five new pool records and 24 first place finishes the University of Kentucky men?s and women?s swimming and diving teams dominated their state rival, Louisville, on Saturday at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.
UK?s men (2-2) took the meet with a score of 188-112, while the women (2-3) won by a margin of 185-115.
Senior Jenny Bradford is now atop the record books in the 50-freestyle and 100-freestyle with impressive swims today. Bradford claimed first in the 50-free, just ahead of Heather Bradford who placed second, in times of 22.75 and 23.57, respectively. Bradford then furthered her impressive day with a win and record in the 100-free in a time of 50.56.
The men were equally impressive, setting records in both relays and sophomore Eric McGinnis powered his way to a record in the 50-free. To begin the meet, the quartet of junior Shane Eliason, senior Will Vietti, sophomore Elvis Burrows and McGinnis took the 200-medley relay in a time of 1:30.32. After dominating Louisville in the individual events, Kentucky?s men were not satisfied and took another record in the 400-free behind McGinnis, sophomore Alex Forbes, junior Warren Grobbelaar and freshman Tyler Reed clocking in 3:02.84, to conclude the meet.
McGinnis set his record in the 50-free with a time of 20.49, to have a hand in all three of the men?s records. His record was set when he beat out his teammates to finish in a 1-2-3 order, as Grobbelaar and Forbes were close behind him in times of 20.83 and 20.91, respectively. McGinnis then earned another individual win in the 100-free when he touched in a time of 45.26.
The Wildcat women also began the meet with a win in the 200-medley relay. Seniors Jill Southerlan, Lindsay Myhre and Heather and Jenny Bradford tapped in 1:43.58. In the next event, junior Leah Harms topped the field in the 1000-free for her first win of the season. She finished in 10:19.19. Freshman Jenna Newsome and Southerlan capped a 1-2 finish in the 100-backstroke in times of 58.08 and 58.28, respectively. Newsome and Southerlan would combine for another first and second finish in the longer back event, as they tapped in times of 2:05.80 and 2:08.67, respectively in the 200-back.
Sophomore Megan Pulskamp won the 200-butterfly for the second consecutive meet. Pulskamp edged her teammate Kelly Rames with a time of 2:03.57 for the win. Rames placed second with a 2:06.02 time. Pulskamp would then finish behind Heather Bradford in the 100-fly, to form another 1-2 punch for the Wildcats. Bradford took the event in 55.27, with Pulskamp finishing in 56.02.
The female swimmers ended the night with a win in the 400-free relay behind Newsome, Heather Bradford, senior Lauren Willis and Jenny Bradford with a time of 3:28.30.
Not to be out done, freshman Jessie Snowden and senior Kari Retrum would also finish 1-2 on both boards. Snowden earned her fifth and sixth wins of the season by winning both the one-meter and three-meter events today. Snowden scored 291.68 on the one-meter, and 313.13 on the three-meter. Retrum tallied scores of 276.08 and 280.88 on the one- and three-meter, respectively.
On the men?s side, Reed earned a victory in the 200-free clocking in 1:40.09 to begin the wave of first place finishes for the UK men.
Eliason claimed the first of his three wins on the afternoon with a first place showing in the 100-back in a time of 49.90. He also went on to win the 200-back and the 200-individual medley in times of 1:49.42 and 1:52.17, respectively.
Senior Will Vietti claimed wins in both of the breaststroke events for the fourth and fifth wins of his early season. Vietti tapped in 56.16 in the 100-breast and 2:03.32 in the 200-breast.
Concluding an impressive day for the Wildcats, the UK men captured first on both the one-meter and three-meter boards. Freshman Stephen Andrews took first on the three-meter tallying 351.00 points, while junior Justin Smith claimed his first win of the season with a score of 315.30 on the one-meter. Andrews was not far behind, placing second with a mark of 314.03.
The UK men return to the water on Thursday, at 3 p.m. when they host Florida at the Lancaster Aquatic Center.
