A Kentucky relay team earned a first-team All-American relay finish for the second time in as many days, and two more school records fell on day two of the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at Minnesota?s University Aquatic Center.
Kentucky?s 800-freestyle relay team of Daniel Cruz, Daniel Farnham, Jerram Chudleigh and Steven Manley clocked an eighth-place time of 6:25.82 to earn UK?s first-team All-America selection in the event. On Thursday, UK?s 200-freestyle relay team picked up a fifth-place finish. Kentucky will go for the All-American trifecta Saturday in the 400-freestyle relay.
Manley chalked up his second All-America selection on the day with an 11th-place finish in the 200 freestyle. After placing ninth in the preliminary round with a time of 1:35.41, Manley clocked a time of 1:35.51 in the consolation final to earn an honorable mention All-America honor. ?
UK added a second All-American relay on the day with a 13th-place showing in the 200-medley relay. Alejandro Bravo, Kristian Outinen, Cruz and Tim Patrick teamed up to break the two-year-old school record in the event with a time of 1:27.58 in the preliminary round. The time broke the previous mark of 1:27.95 set by Fernando Barros, Roger Watkins, Cruz and Farnham at the 2003 SEC Championships. The team placed 13th in the consolation final in 1:28.52, earning an honorable mention All-America selection.
Bravo added a 21st-place finish in the 100 backstroke with a record time of 48.49. The time breaks Joey Faltraco?s two-year-old record time of 48.53.
Kentucky will enter the third and final day of competition in 12th place with 68 points after sitting in 12th after day one. Top-seeded Daniel Cruz will attempt to capture Kentucky?s first NCAA swimming title when he competes in Saturday?s 200-butterfly event. Cruz, who placed sixth in the event at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials, became UK?s first SEC men?s swimming champion in 48 years last month when he captured the event at Florida?s O?Connell Center Natatorium. He placed third in the event at the 2004 NCAA Championships, missing out on a national title by 18 one-hundredths of a second. Fellow UK senior Jerram Chudleigh joins Cruz as a title contender and holds the fourth seed in the event. UK also owns the eighth seed in the 400-freestyle relay.
NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships ? Minneapolis, Minn.
Day Two Kentucky Results
800 Freestyle Relay
8. Kentucky (Cruz, Farnham, Chudleigh, Manley) ? 6:25.82
200 Medley Relay
13. Kentucky (Bravo, Outinen, Cruz, Patrick) ? 1:28.52 (1:27.58* prelim. time)
200 Freestyle
11. Steven Manley ? 1:35.51 (1:35.41 prelim. time)
DQ ? Daniel Cruz, Daniel Farnham
100 Butterfly
19. Daniel Cruz ? 47.60
35. Jerram Chudleigh ? 48.20
100 Breaststroke
35. Kristian Outinen ? 55.57
100 Backstroke
21. Alejandro Bravo ? 48.49*
* – denotes school-record time
Saturday, Mar. 26
100 Freestyle ? (18) Daniel Farnham; (23) Steven Manley; (34) Tim Patrick; (59) Clay Gasparovich
200 Breaststroke ? (19) Kristian Outinen
200 Butterfly ? (1) Daniel Cruz; (4) Jerram Chudleigh
400 Freestyle Relay ? (8) Farnham, Patrick, Cruz, Manley
– seed in parentheses
