Wildcats Wrap Up Fall Dual Season at Mizzou Quad Meet

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky’s swimming and diving team is set to finish up its fall portion of dual action this weekend, when it heads to Columbia, Mo., for the Mizzou Quad on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6-7.  Along with host Missouri, which features the No. 15 men’s and No. 19 women’s teams, UK will also compete against Southern Illinois.  For the men’s meet, the Wildcats will also take on Big Ten opponent Northwestern. 

Friday’s portion of the meet will begin at 5 p.m. with the 200 free relay, 200 IM, 500 free, 100 breast, 200 back, 100 free, 200 fly and 400 medley relay as well as the women’s 3-meter dive and the men’s 1-meter dive.  Action will resume Saturday at 10 a.m. with the 200 medley relay, 1000 free, 50 free, 100 back, 200 breast, 100 fly, 200 free, 400 IM and 400 free relay, along with the women’s 1-meter and men’s 3-meter.

LAST YEAR’S QUAD MEET
Kentucky played host to its weekend’s competition last year on Nov. 7 and 8 inside Lancaster Aquatic center.  The UK women beat SIU by a 273-80 tally and fell to Mizzou, 199-154.  The men saw their only dual victory of the meet over Southern Illinois, 273-80, while they lost to Northwestern, 208-145, and Missouri, 228-120.

CATS RECEIVING VOTES IN CSCAA COACHES’ POLL
With the release of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) NCAA Division I Team Rankings for both the men and the women, which alternate on a biweekly basis, Kentucky has proven to be on the rise as a program as both teams are receiving votes in the first polls of the season.  The women picked up five votes for the Oct. 27 poll, while the men recently received nine votes, just five votes shy of cracking the top-25.

ON DECK:  OHIO STATE INVITATIONAL
The Wildcats will make the short trip north to Columbus, Ohio, taking on a competitive field for their mid-season taper at the Ohio State Invitational.  The meet will run from Nov. 20-22 and features Southeastern Conference foes No. 3/6 (men/women) Florida and Arkansas as well as Notre Dame, Washington State and Kenyon.

KENTUCKY ATHLETES IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
Since the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign on Oct. 10, Kentucky has posted four times that currently rank in the top-25 nationally, with an additional 13 sitting in the top-50 times set by NCAA Division I competitors this season.

Danielle Galyer leads the team with two top-10 times to her name, as she is sixth in the nation in the 200 back in 1:56.12 and 10th in the 100 back in 53.67 seconds.  Sitting just outside the top-25 in the 1000 free is Kendal Casey, who clocked a 10:03.72 last weekend at the Indiana Quad for the 28th-best time in the NCAA.  The 200 medley relay team of Galyer, Kendra Crew, Haley McInerny and Geena Freriks is also just outside the top-25, with the 29th-fastest time of 1:42.77.

The women’s squad has eight additional times that fall within the top-50 nationally, including swims in the 1000 free, 200 breast, 100 and 200 fly, 200 IM, and the 200 medley and 400 free relays.

On the men’s side, Kyle Higgins holds the highest-ranked time with a No. 19 swim in the 200 fly in 1:47.94.  Andrew Aviotti also picked up a ranked time, sitting at 23rd in the 1000 free in 9:14.17, and the 400 free relay of Sean Gunn, Higgins, Walker Thaning and Scott Crosthwaite posted a time of 3:02.47, to barely miss out on the top-25 at No. 26.

The men also have five times that rank in the top-50, including swims in the 50, 100 and 200 free, the 200 back, and the 200 medley relay. 

WILDCATS ON TEAM USA
After swimming for the Junior National Team in 2014-15, junior Danielle Galyer has been invited to be a member of the USA Swimming National Team for 2015-16.  Galyer notched the second-fastest time in the 200-meter backstroke at the Phillips 66 Nationals, touching in at 2:09.75, and also placed eighth in the 100m back in 1:01.23.  Also representing the United States is recent UK alum Christina Bechtel, who finished third in both the 100m and 200m fly (58.74/2:09.20) at the Phillips 66 Nationals.  Bechtel is no stranger to Team USA after competing in the 50m and 100m fly in 2014-15. 

The 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held from June 26-July 3, 2016 in Omaha, Neb.

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.