Painter Shatters UK Record in the 400 LCM IM on Second Day of OSU Invite
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Kentucky’s swimming team continued to see success throughout the second day of the Ohio State Invitational, posting 11 personal records, four Olympic Trials cuts, and one school record in the morning long course meters (LCM) session, and followed it up with 18 personal records, 11 NCAA B cuts, and eight swims that rank in the top 10 of UK’s all-time performances. The Wildcats remain in third to both OSU and Florida, as the men have 361.5 points to trail OSU (855.5) and Florida (837), while the women amassed 404.5 points behind the Gators (727.5) and the Buckeyes (607).
Kathryn Painter started the meet off on the right foot, breaking the UK LCM record in the 400 IM in the opening heat of the first event. The freshman had previously missed out on an Olympic Trials cut by just two hundredths of a second, but ensured that she would make the trip to Omaha with a six-second personal record in 4:49.06. In the SCY session, Painter just missed out on clinching another UK record with her fourth-place finish in 4:11.45, falling only six hundredths of a second shy of Melissa Olson’s program standard from 1999. Allyson Dupay and Ann Davies barely missed out on the top-10 list with the 11th and 12th-fastest swims in 4:21.41 and 4:21.66, respectively.
Davies did manage to swim her way into the top-10 list in the 100 breast. She finished ninth overall in 1:03.50 for the ninth-fastest swim in program laurels, and was paced by Kendra Crew. Crew cut over a second off her previous personal best, finishing second in 1:01.71. With the mark, Crew notched an NCAA B cut, her first in the 100-yard breast, and retains her position at fourth on UK’s top swims.
The Wildcats had a strong showing in the 100 back thanks to Danielle Galyer and Bridgette Alexander. The duo had matching times of 1:01.55 in the LCM session, an Olympic Trials cut and a personal best for Alexander. Galyer went on to win the SCY race in 52.45 seconds, followed by Alexander in the runner-up spot in 53.30 seconds. Both marks are well under the NCAA B cut standard, with Galyer’s swim less than a second off an A cut.
In the 100 fly, UK was paced by Haley McInerny throughout the day. The freshman flier posted a 1:01.27 in the LCM race to get the third seed, just eight hundredths of a second off the OT standard that she had already reached in prior competition. McInerny went on to record the 10th-best SCY swim in Kentucky history, finishing sixth in 54.28 seconds for an NCAA B cut.
The 200 free was another strong event for the Blue and White, with Geena Freriks and Kendal Casey going 2-3 in both the LCM and SCY races. The pair just missed out on OT cuts, but both recorded NCAA B cuts in the SCY as Freriks touched in at 1:46.78 and Casey at 1:47.47. Freriks’ time is less than half a second off Christina Bechtel’s record time, putting her at second all-time.
A 200 free swim identical to Freriks’ came in the 800 free relay, when Danielle Galyer also swam a 1:46.78 leadoff 200 to tie Freriks for the second-fastest time in UK history. Galyer, along with Freriks, McInerny and Casey, finished second overall in 7:11.62. The other relay, the 200 medley, saw the Wildcats finish fourth in 1:41.04 with a leadoff 50 back personal record of 25.62 seconds from Alexander, along with Crew, McInerny and Meghan Taylor.
The men saw a trio of NCAA B cuts from Brandon Flynn, Kyle Higgins and Scott Crosthwaite. Flynn started the day with an Olympic Trials cut in the 400 IM with the top seed in 4:25.48, and went on to finish runner-up in the SCY race in 3:47.70. The mark is nearly six seconds of improvement from Flynn’s previous B cut at the Mizzou Quad.
Higgins led the butterfly corps, missing out on an OT cut in the 100 LCM fly by .08 seconds. He finished with the fourth seed in 54.87 seconds, though the junior has already qualified for the Olympic Trials. Higgins went on to finish sixth in the SCY race in 48.09 seconds, notching his first NCAA B cut in the 100-yard fly. Matt Roman also had a terrific performance in the event, winning the B final in 48.61 seconds and just missing out on a B cut by less than half a second.
Crosthwaite got his second B cut of the year, pacing the team in the 200 free. He was the only Wildcat to appear in the A final after clocking in at 1:53.62 in the LCM race, and placed eighth in the SCY in 1:37.59.
The remaining individual races saw multiple personal records for the men. In the 100 breast, Mike Summe led the team with a 57.40, followed by Erik Gudmonson in 57.97, both of which are personal bests for the swimmers. Walker Thaning paced the team in the 100 back with his performance in the A final that saw him tie for seventh in 48.57 seconds. Thaning’s swim is also good for a top-10 swim in program history, as he retains his spot as the sixth-fastest backstroker to come through the program.
In the relays, Thaning and Summe teamed up with Roman and Cobe Garcia in the 200 medley relay to finish seventh in 1:30.81, the fastest swim of the year for the team. Sean Gunn led off on the 800 free relay along with Crosthwaite, Higgins and Flynn, as the quartet touched in at 6:33.42 for fifth.
Kentucky also had its divers competing at the House of Champions in Indianapolis, Ind. In the 1-meter springboard, Noah Richter paced the team with a third-place showing of 328.40 points. The mark is a personal record for the senior, and falls just two points shy of cracking the top-10 list for UK. Seb Masterton finished fourth with 321.45 points, and Stephen Jou placed sixth with 277.30 points. For the women, Rebecca Hamperian led the way for the Wildcats on the 3-meter springboard, placing sixth with 241.05 points while Courtney Clark took seventh with 218.85 points and Kailey Francetic posted 199.65 points to finish ninth.
The Wildcats will wrap up both the OSU Invitational and the House of Champions tomorrow. Action in Columbus will start at 9 a.m. ET, while the House of Champions is slated to start at 10:30 ET. The finals of the OSU Invite will begin earlier than the previous two days, with the 1650 free beginning at approximately 1 p.m. ET while the qualifiers from the morning, along with the 400 free relay, will start at 3 p.m. ET.
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive, and on the web at ukathletics.com.
