Dual Meet Update: RV/No. 10 Kentucky at No. 14/11 Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The RV/No. 10 University of Kentucky swimming and diving program completed half of its dual meet against No. 14/11 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Thursday night, collecting eight first-place finishes through the first 16 events. The dual meet will resume tomorrow for the final three sessions beginning at 10 a.m. ET. It will be carried on SEC Network+, and results can be found on DiveMeets.com, the Meet Mobile app, or online here.
 
First-Place Finishes
Women

 
Men

 
Highlights

• Kyndal Knight, a junior diver from Stanley, North Carolina, dominated the 1- and 3-meter springboards, scoring a pair of personal records on first-place finishes.
  • 1-meter springboard (320.78)
    • Knight remains undefeated on the 1-meter springboard this year, earning wins against Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and now Alabama.
    • Her score was more than 49 points better than second place.
    • Her previous personal record was 313.60, which she earned at the at the 2020 Southeastern Conference Championships, placing first place in the 1-meter springboard preliminaries.
    • Her new personal record of 320.78 moves up one spot in the record book, ranking fifth in the program’s all-time top-10 performances list.
  • 3-meter springboard (355.58)
    • Her score was more than 66 points better than second place.
    • Her previous personal record was 353.75 points, which she earned at the 2020 SEC Championships and helped her earn a gold medal.
    • Both scores (353.75 and 355.58) ranked/rank second in the program’s all-time top-10 performances list.  
      • Her new personal record of 355.58 is just 7.42 off from the school record, which was set by Jessica Thompson in 2005.
• The men’s team took the 1,650 freestyle event by storm, earning first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finishes in that event.
  • Adam Rosipal, a transfer junior from the University of Indianapolis, earned the top time in 15:32.42.
  • Jakob Clark, the 2020 All-SEC Freshman Team selection, earned second place, touching the wall in 15:34.06.
  • Daniel Blake, a junior from Campbell, California, filled third place, earning a time of 15:55.02.
  • Zane Rosely, a freshman from White Lake, Michigan, rounded out the four-person sweep in 16:00.72.
• Kyle Barker, a junior from Aldie, Virginia, rallied a first-place finish on a personal record in the 200 backstroke, touching the wall in 1:46.17.
  • It marks the second-best time anyone has recorded in this event on the men’s team this season.
• Bailey Bonnett paced a group of 200 breaststrokers to first-, second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishes.
  • Bonnett, a senior from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, touched the wall in 2:11.53 to lead the event.
  • Gillian Davey, a sophomore from Urbandale, Iowa, finished in second place in 2:12.16.
  • Jaclyn Hill, a senior from Canton, Georgia, took third place in 2:16.25.
  • Lauren Poole, a sophomore from Crofton, Maryland, finished in fourth place, earning a time of 2:16.97.
  • Finally, rounding out the five-person sweep, Anna Havens Rice, a freshman from Greenville, South Carolina, touched the wall in 2:18.08 to earn fifth place.
• Kentucky earned first place in both 200 butterfly events.
  • Izzy Gati took the top time on the women’s side in 1:58.48.
  • Mason Wilby took the top time on the men’s side in 1:46.22.
• Danny Zhang, a junior from Cypress, California, earned a season-best score on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 427.28 points to take first place.

 
Head Coach Lars Jorgensen
“Kyndal Knight was outstanding for the women’s team tonight. There were some good races today, too, including great performances by Bailey Bonnett, Adam Rosipal and Mason Wilby. Both teams came out and raced hard, and they were excited with it being their face meet in a month. There are still three more sessions left tomorrow, so there is a lot of meet left. Overall, it was a good start, but we have to step up our game tomorrow.”
 
Head Diving Coach Ted Hautau
“Kyndal Knight came into the meet and was authoritative and consistent throughout the meet. She is really starting to come into a groove, and I thought she was great mentally. She had a clean 3-meter event, and she is starting to figure out her dives and getting more comfortable. I thought the team came out much stronger mentally and had some better performances in the second session. Rodrigo Romero showed some good stuff on 3-meter, and Danny Zhang had a good event on 3-meter, too.”
 
Team Scores
Women

 
Men

 
Friday, December 18 Schedule
Session Three – 10 a.m. ET (swimming only)
Session Four – 2 p.m. ET (platform)
Session Five – 5 p.m. ET (swimming only)
 
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