ATHENS Ga.? The Kentucky men?s and women?s swimming and diving teams fell to Georgia in their second meet in less than 24-hours. The No. 5 ranked Lady Bulldogs edged the Lady Cats 145-96 and the No. 9 men?s team beat UK 148.5-89.5 in Athens, Ga., on Saturday.
Kentucky participated in a tri-meet Friday afternoon with Tennessee and South Carolina, so the Cats were in action less than 24 hours later.
Despite the lopsided scores, there were many bright spots for Kentucky. The women?s diving team went 1-2-3 in both the one- and three-meter boards. Senior Joey Brown earned first in both events for her first wins of the season. Senior Taryn Ignacio and junior Kari Retrum placed second and third in both events respectively. Brown?s 316.65 score broke into the UK all-time top-10 list, edging classmate Ignacio for third place. This is the second-consecutive week a diver has placed in the top-10, as Retrum secured second place in the three-meter event at the meet against Indiana.
Junior Jenny Bradford edged rival Kara Lynn Joyce in the 50-freestyle in a time of 22.92. She also earned a first-place finish with a win in the 100-free in 50.95, for her second mult-win meet of the season.
Junior Lindsay Myhre tapped in first in the 200-breaststroke and third in the 200-individual medley. Myhre clocked in times of 2:20.23 and 2:09.79 respectively. Myhre claimed first in yesterday?s meet in the 200-breast continuing her feat that no SEC opponent has beaten her in the event.
Freshman Megan Pulskamp continued her strong rookie campaign, placing second in the 200-butterfly in a time of 2:04.90. Pulskamp earned a third place finish in Friday?s tri-meet.
Kentucky?s 200-medley relay grabbed first to kick off the meet. Junior Jill Southerlan, Myhre, and juniors Heather and Jenny Bradford topped the field when they clocked in a time of 1:43.97.
On the men?s side, sophomore James Batley finished a fantastic weekend with second place finishes in both the 1000-free and the 500-free and a third place finish in the 200-fly. Batley earned times of 4:38.76 in the 500-free, 9:36.84 in the 1000-free and 1:53.26 in the 200-fly.
Sophomore Mickey Malul tapped in first in the 200-breast and second in the 200-IM in times of 2:06.84 and 1:54.29 respectively.
Freshmen Kyle Greene, Eric McGinnis and Alex Forbes continued to shine having an immediate impact for the Cats. Greene took second in the 200-free in 1:41.29. McGinnis touched in second in the 100-free in 46.24 and third in the 50-free in 20.98. Forbes? 46.26 time in the 100-free was good for third place.
Sophomore Shan Eliason earned his second consecutive second-place finish in the SEC dual meets in the 200-backstroke as he clocked in a time of 1:49.58.
Georgia?s men were coming off an emotional upset of No. 3 Florida on Thursday, as the Dogs needed the final event of the meet to narrowly beat the Gators 122-121. The Lady Dogs had their dual-meet win streak of 40 snapped by the No. 2 Gators 129-114.
Kentucky is next in action November 16-18 when they participate in the Nike Cup Invitational held in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Wildcats will not have a dual meet again until Dec. 2, when the teams host their first meet of the season. The men will entertain Texas A&M and the women Vanderbilt.
