Knoxville, Tenn. ? The Southeastern Conference Championships ended in grand fashion for Kentucky junior Taryn Ignacio who repeated as platform champion Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn. Ignacio became UK?s only lady diver to successfully defend her diving title at the SEC Championships. Ignacio?s victory helped the UK women achieve a fourth-place finish for the second consecutive year. The Kentucky men ended their run in sixth place.
While Kentucky had many great performances, once again Ignacio and her diving teammates stole the show. Ignacio was dominant by finishing in first in the preliminary round of the platform with a 290.70 score. The Richmond, Ky., native followed in the finals with a score of 282.80 to successfully defend her title. The returning honorable mention All-American became the first diver since 1999 to repeat in the platform event at the SEC Championships.
“It (repeating) feels great,? Ignacio said. ?I was really nervous going into the meet knowing that I won last year. The first dive was pretty good. On the second dive, I completely lost it and landed on my face. That kind of made me mad. I just came back and tried to do better with the next dive.”
To win the 2006 platform title, Ignacio had to fend off her own teammates in senior Jessica Thompson and junior Joey Brown who finished second and third respectively. Thompson, last year?s SEC champion in the 3-meter, started off slow in the preliminaries with a score of 223.80, which placed her in seventh. The Matthews, N.C., native returned in the finals to tally a 261.25 score to finish second.
Brown, who finished third in the 3-meter on Thursday, came in second in the preliminary round and followed that performance up with a 256.35 score to finish third in the platform.
The individual victory in the platform, as well as owning the top three spots in the event, was a tremendous accomplishment for a diving squad that has been a close-knit group all season long.
?It has been a rough year,? Ignacio said. “Our coach (Mike Lyden) was diagnosed with cancer earlier (this past November), so there has been times where we have had to practice without him. It has been a year of self-motivation and team support. It feels great to go one, two, and three (in the platform).”
The UK women finished with 597 points and a fourth-place finish. The 597 points were the most ever by the women at the SEC Championships. The Cats gained that record in large part due to the efforts of the divers, but also because they received some outstanding swims Saturday from the likes of sophomore Jenny Bradford. The native of Groveport, Ohio, set a school record with a time of 0:49.38 and a third-place finish in the 100 freestyle event.
The Wildcat men totaled 424 points on their way to finishing sixth. On Saturday, Steven Manley, who captured the 200 freestyle on Friday, stood out once again with a sixth-place finish in the 100 freestyle swim. The men also had a good showing in the 200 breaststroke event where sophomores Will Vietti and Kristian Outinen finished sixth and seventh respectively.
The Cats will return to pool on March 10 when Kentucky hosts the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships at the Lancaster Aquatic Center.
