Wildcats Set Five Top-10 Times, 15 Personal Bests and Seven New B-Cuts On Day Three of SEC Championships
AUBURN, Ala- Freshman Carson Hick set top-10 program times twice in the 500 yard freestyle, becoming the second fastest swimmer in the event in Kentucky history with his B-final swim as the Wildcats rounded out day three of the 2024 Southeastern Conference Championships at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center on Wednesday.
Four additional top-10 program times and 15 personal bests, along with seven new NCAA B-standard times, combined to push the men’s swimming and diving team to seventh place with a score of 191, and the women’s team to a tie for eighth with 173 points.
Competition started with the 500 yard freestyle, where Libby Grether set a new personal best, earned an NCAA B Standard, and advanced to the “B-Final” with a time of 4:48.08. She placed 16th in the event and added 11 points to the women’s team score. Megan Drumm, shaving over four seconds off her prelim time, was victorious in the C-Final, adding an additional nine points to the score as a result of her 17th place finish.
In the men’s preliminary session, Hick clocked a time of 4:16.94, which landed him third in program history for the men’s 500 freestyle race. He would move on to the “B-Final” where he would beat that time by a little over a second, earning him the second overall position on the top-10 program times list (4:15.18). His 10th place finish in the race added 17 points to the men’s team score. Zane Rosely also reached finals in the event, ranking in the top-24 and scoring an extra point.
In the women’s 200 individual medley prelims, both Anna Havens Rice and Torie Bueger recorded B-Standard times and moved to the consolation final of the event. Buerger’s 1:58.00 time would place her ninth on the top-10 times list. Rice and Buerger went on to finish 13th and 16th in the night session, respectively, combining to add 25 total points to the team’s score.
On the men’s side, all four Kentucky representatives, Ryan Merani, Logan Ingerick, Jack Hamilton and JT Broome, set personal bests, rearranging the all-time top 10. Merani beat his previous career best mark and improved to fifth in UK history at 1:44.77. Ingerick and Broome moved to seventh and 10th, respectively, with their times of 1:46.29 and 1:47.12. Merani’s B-standard swim in the consolation final added 11 points to the men’s total.
In the only diving event of the day, Senior Sam Duncan competed in the B-Final of the men’s 3-meter, where he posted a 357.45 and tallied 17 points for the Cats.
The 200 freestyle relay was next, where Kaelan Daly, Buerger, Denise Phelan and Lauren West combined to earn the Cats 30 points toward the team total. In the men’s relay, Max Berg, Drew Johnson, Victor Martin Roig and Carter Ruthven’s time of 1:18.64 added 40 points to the men’s total score.
Finishing out the day for the Wildcats, Berg’s B-standard, top-24 time in the men’s 50-yard freestyle added four points to the Kentucky men’s score.
UK now looks to the fourth day of the championship on Thursday. Day four of the meet begins with prelims for the 400 IM, 100 Fly, and 200 Free at 9:30 a.m. (C.T.). The women’s 1-meter diving will take place at noon, followed directly by the B-Final. The finals for all events are set to start at 5:30 p.m. (C.T.). All sessions can be live streamed on SECN+, and live stats can be found here.
For the latest on UK Swim & Dive, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKSwimDive, and on Facebook at Kentucky Swimming and Diving.
Top-10 Times-
Men’s 500 Freestyle:
No. 2- Carson Hick- 4:15.18
Women’s 200 Individual Medley:
No. 9- Torie Buerger- 1:58.00
Men’s 200 Individual Medley:
No. 5- Ryan Merani- 1:44.77
No. 7- Logan Ingerick- 1:46.29
No. 10- JT Broome- 1:47.12
New NCAA B-Standard Times:
Women’s 500 Freestyle:
Libby Grether- 4:45.16
Megan Drumm- 4:43.16
Men’s 500 Freestyle:
Carson Hick- 4:15.18
Zane Rosely- 4:20.16
Women’s 200 Individual Medley:
Anna Havens Rice- 1:57.86
Torie Buerger- 1:58.00
Men’s 50 Freestyle:
Max Berg- 19.55
Personal Best Count: 15
