MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.?Junior Heather Bradford earned her first ever appearance in the finals competition when she placed seventh overall in the 100-butterfly in this morning’s preliminary round of the 2007 NCAA Championships hosted by the University of Minnesota.

Bradford clocked in a career-best time of 53.01 to take the seventh seed into the finals tonight. During yesterday’s competition the Groveport, Ohio, native earned her career first All-America honorable mention in an individual event when she placed 16th in the nation in the 50-freestyle.

Kentucky’s SEC Championships bronze medal winning 200-medley relay team just missed the cut in the NCAA Championships when they took 17th overall with a time of 1:40.47. The top-16 teams advance to the night’s competition and the Wildcats were eclipsed by SEC-foe Tennessee who tapped just ahead in a time of 1:40.40.

Also in action today, junior Jenny Bradford placed 26th in the 100-fly with a time of 54.32. First-year NCAA Championship participants junior Lindsay Myhre and sophomore Kristina Sledge took 34th with a time of 1:03.67 in the 100-breast and 60th in the 200-free in a time of 1:50.08, respectively.

Kentucky’s divers enjoyed another stellar outing, but both barely missed the cut for the scoring competition. Junior Kari Retrum placed 17th, just one spot shy of the consolation heat, with a score of 309.65 on the three-meter. Senior Taryn Ignacio placed 22nd overall with a score of 301.20.

Heather Bradford will be the lone Wildcat in competition this evening. The first heat of the 200-medley relay finals begins at 7 p.m. CST.