Jan. 25, 2014

Complete Results | Photo Gallery  | Jorgensen Interview

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Kentucky divers claimed the top two scores in all four events, including three events where the Wildcats swept the field, as UK suffered a defeat at No. 7/13 Louisville Saturday afternoon.

Wins in three of the first four events for the women gave UK a lead early over the 13th-ranked Cardinal, and helped set up a closely-scored meet halfway through the competition. The Wildcats were unable to hang on for the upset and lost 193-107. The men fell by a final score of 212.5-87.5 to the Cardinals, ranked seventh nationally.

“The women’s race was very competitive for a while,” UK head coach Lars Jorgensen said. “We had a couple of really close races that we lost. Overall, I thought the women competed well. We’ve made some progress, but we raced a really good team. They have a great men’s team as well, they performed well against us, but I thought some of our guys competed pretty well.”

Junior Christa Cabot won both the 1- and 3-meter dive, while fellow junior Lindsay Keahey placed second in both events to round out UK’s scoring. On the men’s side, seniors Greg Ferrucci and John Fox won the 1- and 3-meter, respectively. Fox placed second in the 1-meter, while senior Zack Peterson was second in the 3-meter. The Wildcats also claimed third and fourth place in the 1-meter to sweep the competition.

Along with four diving wins, freshman Kelly Berger won the 1,000 yard freestyle and senior Kristen Wilson claimed victory in the 200 yard freestyle. Berger added a second-place finish, while Wilson finished third in three additional races.

“Wilson and Berger were great for us today. Kristen in the 200 just put her hand on the wall first, she trains hard and does a good job for us. Kelly is an emerging freshman, but is a really good swimmer and has really improved a lot since she got to Kentucky.”

The Wildcats host their final home contest of the season, Feb. 1 at 12 p.m. ET against Cincinnati at the Lancaster Aquatics Center. The senior day meet marks the end of the regular season for Kentucky before the Southeastern Conference and NCAA Championship competitions.

“It’s going to be fun,” Jorgensen said of Saturday’s home finale. “It’ll be nice to be back at home and recognize our seniors, who have given a lot to this program. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to race another good team as we prepare for the postseason.”

Cabot and Keahey got UK off to a great start on the 1-meter event. Cabot claimed first with a 304.95, while Keahey was right behind in second with a 255.75. The one-two finish gave the UK women a lead heading into the first swimming event.

The male divers also got the Wildcats off to a good start with a sweep of the top four spots in the 1-meter springboard. Ferrucci placed first with a 353.85, while Fox finished second with a 313.87. Not to be outdone, UK’s other two divers, Peterson and freshman Noah Richter, finished right behind their teammates in third and fourth with a 298.35 and a 276.82, respectively.

In the women’s second swimming event, the 1,000 yard freestyle, Berger finished in 9:58.23 to win by over six seconds. The only swimmer to touch the wall in less than 10 minutes, the freshman beat out a fellow first-year swimmer from U of L and teammate Kendal Casey, who finished third in 10:04.94. Casey came in just 0.34 seconds out of second place.

Wilson notched the Wildcats’ fourth win in the 200 yard freestyle. A time of 1:50.42 gave her the win in a tightly contest race that saw the top three finishers all touch the wall within 0.44 seconds. Junior Abby Myers finished third in 1:50.86.

Cabot tallied her second win of the day in the 3-meter dive. A 324.98 was good enough for the win, ahead of Keahey’s 293.40, who finished second.

UK’s final win came in the men’s 3-meter, where Fox posted a 349.81 to win the event. Peterson placed second with a 333.30, while Richter was fifth with a 275.92. Ferrucci, who hit the board on his final dive, recorded a final score of 272.17 to finish sixth.

For complete news and updates on the Kentucky Swimming and Diving program, go to UKathletics.com/SwimmingDiving. Breaking news, behind-the-scenes updates, photos and more can be found on Twitter at @UKSwimDive and Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive.