March 2, 2000
LEXINGTON, Kty. – The 2000 NCAA Women’s Swimming participants were announced today and fourmembers of the University of Kentucky women’s swimming team will becompeting at the meet in Indianapolis, March 16-18. Melissa Olson, CarolynRader, Annabel Kosten, and Kelley Miller will represent UK at the 2000Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.
Along with their individual events, the quartet was invited to the meet inthe 800-meter freestyle relay and are seeded 12th. All individualscompeting on a relay may swim the events in which they have met the NCAAprovisional time standard. The top 25 times in each individual event areinvited to the meet. Swimmers are limited to three individual events andmay swim on four relays.
“We are just delighted that we got the relay in,” UK coach Gary Conellysaid. “We felt certain that we’d get the three girls in, but getting therelay in is really what distinguishes you from other universities becauseit is so hard to get a relay to the meet. We are real confident that therelay can gain All-American status. The three primary girls, Melissa,Carolyn, and Annabel, all have a real strong possibility of finishing inthe top eight in at least one event.”
Olson, who met the NCAA automatic qualifying time standard in the 200backstroke, will swim the 200 backstroke, and the 200 & 400 individualmedley events. Olson, a 1998 and 1999 honorable mention All-American in the400 I.M., was UK’s only automatic qualifier on the women’s squad. Sheenters the meet 12th in the 200 backstroke, 22nd in the 400 I.M., and 32ndin the 200 I.M.
Rader will compete in the 200 & 400 freestyles along with the 200butterfly. Rader, a native of Grafton, Va., met the NCAA provisional timestandard in all three events and is seeded among the top 25 in the 200 and400 freestyles heading into the meet.
Kosten will swim the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles. This is the thirdconsecutive NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in which she competed. TheBreskens, Netherlands native, holds the UK school records in the 50 and 100freestyle. She is seeded 18th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.85.
Miller, a member of the Cats’ 800 freestyle relay, will swim the 200 & 400freestyles, the two events for which she has met the NCAA provisional timestandards.
Divers for the meet will be selected based on performance at the NCAA Zone”B” Diving Championships, March 10-11 at the James E. Martin Aquatic Centeron the campus of Auburn University.
