GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? Kentucky senior All-American Daniel Cruz became UK?s first Southeastern Conference men?s swimming champion since 1957 when he captured the men?s 200-butterfly event Saturday evening at the Southeastern Conference Championships in Florida?s O?Connell Center Natatorium.
Cruz, a Palm Coast, Fla., native swimming his final event as a collegiate athlete in his home state, clocked a pool and school-record time of 1:42.86 to take first place. Cruz wins Kentucky?s third SEC men?s swimming title and the school?s first since Roger Messick claimed the 50 and 100-freestyle events at the 1957 SEC Championships. Cruz edged Georgia?s Gil Stovall, who led after the preliminary round, by 38 one-hundredths of a second. Cruz?s time of 1:42.86 fell short of Michael Phelps? American record by only 1.14 seconds. Cruz brings UK its first SEC swim title since 1999, when Olympic gold medalist Rachel Komisarz captured the 500 and 1650-freestyle events. His time beat the NCAA automatic-qualifying mark by over two seconds. Senior Jerram Chudleigh also medaled in the event with an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 1:43.82 for third place.
Cruz fell shy of winning the event at the 2004 SEC Championships by .03 seconds to Auburn?s Jeremy Knowles and placed sixth in the event at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials behind world-record holder Michael Phelps. He breaks his school-record time of 1:43.17 set at the 2004 NCAA Championships.
Elsewhere at the SEC Championships, the UK men?s 400-freestyle relay team broke its own school record set three months ago at the Indiana Invitational. Junior Daniel Farnham, senior Tim Patrick, Cruz and junior Steven Manley clocked a third-place time of 2:54.85, breaking their school mark by nearly a second. Their effort automatically qualifies them for NCAA competition.
Freshman Kristian Outinen shattered Roger Watkins? three-year-old school record in the 200 breaststroke with a fifth-place time of 1:58.41, beating Watkins? mark by 1.45 seconds.
Farnham placed seventh in the men?s 100 freestyle, but his preliminary-round time of 43.46 broke his school-record time of 43.92 set at the 2004 NCAA Championships and automatically qualifies him for the 2005 NCAA Championships.
The Kentucky men and women wrap up the SEC championships with fourth-place finishes, up from fifth and sixth, respectively, a year ago. Kentucky?s haul of four conference titles in a single meet is the largest in the history of the program.
Men?s 200 Backstroke 15. Alejandro Bravo ? 1:48.03 19. Dave Roberts ? 1:52.39 Women?s 200 Backstroke 13. Brennan Moore ? 2:00.37 15. Jessica Siegele ? 2:01.82 18. Jill Southerlan ? 2:03.85 Men?s 100 Freestyle 7. Daniel Farnham ? 44.00 (43.46* prelim ? automatic NCAA bid) 8. Tim Patrick ? 44.50 13. Steven Manley ? 44.45 17. Clay Gasparovich ? 44.90 28. Mark Doyle ? 46.12 35. Cameron Moore ? 47.77 Women?s 100 Freestyle 16. Jenny Bradford ? 50.61 23. Joanna McLean ? 51.76 24. Nikia Deveaux ? 51.89 28. Heather Bradford ? 52.18 33. Sarah Kunz ? 53.26 36. Kelly Morrison ? 54.11 Men?s 200 Breaststroke 5. Kristian Outinen ? 1:58.41* 14. Will Vietti ? 2:03.06 16. Dane Redinger ? 2:05.87 Women?s 200 Breaststroke 9. Laura Graham ? 2:13.94 10. Shantel Commander ? 2:14.83 15. Lindsay Myhre ? 2:19.99 25. Chelsea Bailey ? 2:29.15 Men?s 200 Butterfly 1. Daniel Cruz ? 1:42.86* (automatic NCAA bid) 3. Jerram Chudleigh ? 1:43.82 (automatic NCAA bid) 15. Chris Collins ? 1:49.39 Women?s 200 Butterfly 25. Marci Vrooman ? 2:10.21 Men?s 400 Freestyle Relay 3. Kentucky (Farnham, Patrick, Cruz, Manley) ? 2:54.85* (automatic NCAA bid) Women?s 400 Freestyle Relay 7. Kentucky (Siegele, H. Bradford, McLean, J. Bradford) ? 3:24.15 SEC Final Men?s Standings 1. Auburn ? 829.5 2. Florida ? 801.5 3. Georgia ? 542 4. Kentucky ? 426 5. Alabama ? 340.5 6. Tennessee ? 303 7. LSU ? 189.5 8. South Carolina ? 160 SEC Final Women?s Standings 1. Auburn ? 816 2. Georgia ? 809 3. Florida ? 659 4. Kentucky ? 339 5. South Carolina ? 257 6. Alabama ? 238 7. Tennessee ? 217 8. LSU ? 181 9. Arkansas ? 147
