University of Kentucky senior All-American Daniel Cruz looks to make his last swim as a collegiate athlete a memorable one when he competes for the 200-butterfly title this evening at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at Minnesota?s University Aquatic Center.
Cruz, the top seed in the 200 butterfly, tied for first in the event during the preliminary round with a time of 1:43.30, matching the effort turned in by Michigan junior Davis Tarwater. The time breaks the pool record of 1:44.03 produced by Tarwater last month at the Big Ten Championships. Cruz clocked a school-record time of 1:42.86 to capture the SEC 200-butterfly title last month. Saturday?s finals are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. EST in Minneapolis.
Saturday?s finals are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. EST in Minneapolis. The UK Media Relations office will release the final results of the 200 butterfly immediately upon completion of the event (approx. 9:30 p.m. EST). A recap of the day?s results will follow at approximately 11:15 p.m. EST. The results and recaps also will be available at ukathletics.com, and complete day three results will be available at ncaasports.com.
Cruz took third and Tarwater placed fourth in the event at the 2004 NCAA Championships. This evening, the pair also will face off against the 2004 NCAA champion, Rainer Kendrick of Texas, who placed third in the preliminary round, as well as the 2004 NCAA runner-up, Stanford?s Jayme Cramer, who placed sixth. A Cruz victory tonight would give Kentucky its first NCAA individual championship since 1996, when former Olympian Tim Harden won the 55-meter dash.
The Kentucky 400-freestyle relay team of Daniel Farnham, Tim Patrick, Clay Gasparovich and Steven Manley earned a spot in tonight?s championship final by placing eighth with a preliminary-round time of 2:54.37. The time eclipsed the school-record mark of 2:54.85 produced by Farnham, Patrick, Cruz and Manley at last month?s SEC Championships. Also on day three, junior Jerram Chudleigh earned a ninth-place showing in the 200 butterfly and will compete in this evening?s consolation final. Farnham rewrote his 100-freestyle school record with a time of 43.25, beating his record time of 43.46 set last month at the SEC Championships. He placed 14th to earn a spot in an honorable mention All-America selection and a spot in tonight?s consolation final.
NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships ? Minneapolis, Minn.
Day Three Kentucky Preliminary Round Results
all distances in yards
200 Butterfly
T1. Daniel Cruz ? 1:43.30
9. Jerram Chudleigh ? 1:44.95
400 Freestyle Relay
8. Kentucky (Farnham, Patrick, Gasparovich, Manley) ? 2:54.37*
100 Freestyle
14. Daniel Farnham ? 43.25*
35. Tim Patrick ? 44.35
44. Clay Gasparovich ? 44.82
DQ ? Steven Manley
200 Breaststroke
33. Kristian Outinen ? 2:01.64
* – new school record
