LEXINGTON, Ky.?The University of Kentucky men?s and women?s swimming and diving team is eager to make waves in their own water for a change.
Saturday, Dec. 2, will mark the debut of the 2006-07 Wildcats in their home waters when the men entertain No. 24 Texas A&M and the women host Vanderbilt at the Lancaster Aquatic Center beginning at noon. The Wildcats began their season with four consecutive road meets, starting with Indiana on Oct. 21.
UK?s latest road trip was to the Nike Cup Invitational, Nov. 16-18, hosted by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The meet was one Coach Gary Conelly and his squads will remember as one of their 2006-07 season highlights.
Junior Jenny Bradford led the way for both the men and women. The Groveport, Ohio, native became the nation?s leader in the 50-freestyle when she clocked in a time of 22.09. The mark is tops in the nation thus far into the season, with the next closest time belonging to Southern California?s Amanda Weir?s time of 22.60. Bradford?s 50-free time also set a personal-best record, a UK record and most notably a Maurice J. Koury Natatorium record. She also won three events (50-free, 100-free and 100-fly) and achieved NCAA ?A? cuts in all three events, which means she has a free pass to the Championships in Minneapolis in March. Her outstanding meet also garnered national recognition as the junior was named the National Female Swimmer of the Week by Collegeswimming.com.
Bradford was not the only swimmer to have a standout meet at the Nike Cup. Fifty-seven percent of Conelly?s veteran swimmers topped their personal-best times over the course of the three-day event. In addition, 100 percent of Conelly?s highly-touted freshmen also achieved season-best times which make their new times collegiate-bests.
Junior Will Vietti and sophomore Mickey Malul each earned a first place showing, Vietti in the 200-breaststroke and Malul in the 100-breast. Junior Kristian Outinen?s two sixth place finishes allowed for all three male breaststrokers to finish in the top-six in both events. Malul placed first in the 100-breast, fifth in the 200-breast and added a sixth place showing in the 200-IM.
Sophomores James Batley and Warren Grobbelaar also enjoyed stellar meets. Batley, who has been riding a remarkable sophomore campaign going into the Nike Cup, finished in the top-10 in four different events to lead all Wildcats. Batley finished fifth in the 200-free, sixth in the 500-free and 1650-free and eighth in the 200-fly.
Grobbelaar placed third in both the 100-free and 100-fly and fifth in the 50-free. His 50-free time guided him into UK?s all-time top-10 list at No. 10. Notably, junior Grant Nelson and sophomores Joe Retrum and Shane Eliason also enjoyed standout meets for the Cats.
On the women?s side, junior Lindsay Myhre placed third in the 100-breast, sixth in the 200-breast and ninth in the 200-individual medley.
Junior Heather Bradford earned three fourth places finishes in the 50-free, 100-free and 100-fly. Classmate Lauren Willis, a transfer from Purdue, also enjoyed her finest moments in the blue and white placing fifth in both the 50- and 100-free and a seventh place finish in the 200-free.
The 2006-07 freshmen class continued to make a strong impact for the Cats at the meet, solidifying the depth of both squads. Freshmen Chatham Penrod and Megan Pulskamp each earned places on the UK all-time top-10 lists less than two months into their collegiate careers.
In two events for the Wildcats, Penrod placed third in the 100-backstroke and fourth in the 200-back. She broke into the seventh place slot in the 100-back on Kentucky?s top time?s list. Pulskamp tapped in fifth place in the 200-fly and ninth place on UK?s list.
For the men, Eric McGinnis and Kyle Greene each earned a top-10 finish. McGinnis nabbed fifth in the 100-free and sixth in the 50-free in addition to a 14th place showing in the 200-free. Greene?s top 10 performance came in the 200-free when he touched in fourth place. Greene, McGinnis and Alex Forbes all played pivotal roles on Kentucky?s? relay squads.
The diving teams did not make the trip to Chapel Hill, and will be in action for the first time since Oct. 28th, in a meet versus Georgia. Three divers (Joey Brown, Kari Retrum and Justin Smith) have all enjoyed career-days in just three meets this season, with each diver breaking into the UK all-time top-10 list at some point in the season.
Complete results of the meet beginning at 12 p.m. EST can be found at www.ukathletics.com.
