Kentucky Sweeps Diving Finals in First Day of Ohio State Invitational
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Kentucky swimming and diving program saw nine NCAA qualifying marks, while freshman Kyndal Knight and senior Seb Masterton performed gold-worthy dives in the first day of the Ohio State Invitational, in Columbus, Ohio.
Eight Wildcats, two men and six women, posted NCAA “B” cut times, while the women led the 400-yard medley relay to the same distinction. Meanwhile, Knight finished victoriously on the finals 3-meter board with a 326.35. Veteran Masterton made his season debut earning a 377.70 on the finals 1-meter board to finish first.
With 571 points through day one, the Kentucky men share second place with No. 21 Notre Dame. The women are in fourth with 509 points, behind No. 3 Stanford, No. 14 Notre Dame and No. 23 Ohio State.
“It was a good first day at Ohio State, it’s always a good meet for us,” said head coach Lars Jorgensen. “The divers were awesome today, with Masterton winning and Knight as well. That was spectacular. Asia (Seidt) in the 200 IM just missed the “A” cut, but that’s a time that’s going to be very competitive at NCAAs. I think she’ll be a lot better in March.
“The guys were really good. Jarod (Kehl) in the 500 free, Peter (Wetzlar) in the 50 free, Glen (Brown) in the 200 IM – that was pretty good. We had a couple of surprises like Meredith (Whisenhunt) in the 500 free. She’s had a really great year. We’ll try to be better tomorrow than we were today, and we hope to keep building momentum as we try to get more people to NCAAs and prepare for March.”
Seniors Geena Freriks, Paige Kelly, Ali Galyer and Meredith Whisenhunt each earned NCAA “B” cut times in the 500-yard freestyle preliminary, while Freriks, Kelly and Whisenhunt improved their qualifying mark in the finals – Freriks (4:40.50), Kelly (4:46.89) and Whisenhunt (4:43.12).
Junior Seidt also improved her “B” cut from the preliminaries to the finals, going head-to-head with senior Ella Eastin of Stanford in the 200-yard individual medley. Seidt rallied a 1:54.37, while finishing second overall in the event. Junior Glen Brown also scored a “B” cut in the men’s 200-yard individual medley, with a 1:45.19.
Junior Peter Wetzlar swam a fast 50-yard freestyle in the preliminaries recording a “B” cut of 19.80 and finishing second overall, but couldn’t make up ground in the finals posting a 19.95 – both marks are NCAA qualifying times.
Freshman Mason Wilby made his program record book debut as the sixth fastest swimmer in program history in the 200-yard individual medley with a 1:47.63.
PRELIMINARIES
Kentucky didn’t waste time when they arrived to McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, with seven Wildcats earning NCAA “B” cut times in Thursday’s preliminary events – two men and four women. Sophomore Hank Siefert found his in the 500-yard freestyle (4:23.30), finishing fifth overall in the category and earning a ticket to the “A” finals. Wetzlar swam a “B” worthy finish in the 50-yard freestyle (19.80), with a second-overall finish in the preliminary event and making a reservation in the “A” finals. In addition, Wetzlar’s time was just .01 from his career high.
Seidt was the lone Wildcat to earn a “B” cut time in the 200-yard individual medley preliminary (1:56.43), which also earned a second overall finish in the preliminary event and a spot in the “A” finals. Four UK women found their NCAA “B” cut finishes in the 500-yard freestyle, all of which are seniors –Freriks (4:42.63), Whisenhunt (4:43.22), senior Ali Galyer (4:46.73) and Kelly (4:47.09). Freriks and Whisenhunt earned “A” finals preliminary finishes.
Thirty-eight Wildcats earned spots in the finals, including 10 who reserved spots in “A” finals.
BRUSH UP
The top 10 finishers in each preliminary event make up the “A” draw in the finals of that specific event. The next 10 finishers (11-20) make up the “B” draw in the finals of that specific event. The following 10 finishers (21-30) make up the “C” draw, and the next 10 finishers (31-40) make up “D” draw in the finals of that specific event. Any remaining preliminary finishers do not make the finals.
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter and on Instagram, on Facebook and on the web at UKathletics.com.
