TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Kentucky swimming and diving teams concluded their participation in the Southeastern Conference Championship meet today. The men finished fifth overall, their highest finish ever, scoring 315.5 points. The women placed fifth and totaled 315 points. Winning the conference meet for the men was Auburn with 814 points, while Georgia came away with the win for the women, scoring 716 points.
“This meet was a roller coaster ride. We had a hard time stringing together a whole, good day,” UK coach Gary Conelly said. “We came together, though, in the last session and swam great. I wish the women could have gotten the five points needed to beat Tennessee because the effort was there and was strong on both sides. In a way, this was the most satisfying SEC meet ever.”
The Wildcats came away with three more broken school records, two coming in the 400 mens freestyle relay. Shaun Zitani broke the six-year-old record in the 100 freestyle with his 44.12 split in the relay. The team, comprised of seniors Zitani, Macon White, David Tweedie, and Aaron Workman, broke the record the same team members set last year and captured silver in the event.
The mens team broke every Kentucky relay record at this meet. Kentuckys womens 400 freestyle relay finished fifth in the race.
In the preliminaries this morning, Roger Watkins broke the seven-year-old school record in the 200 breaststroke. He came back for consolation finals to finish 16th, while teammate Aaron Cuker placed 14th. On the womens side in the 200 breaststroke, Kelli Stein took ninth at her first conference championships.In the 1,650 freestyle, Tweedie and David Kuendig scored points for the Wildcats, finishing 11th and 14th, respectively. In womens platform diving, Sarah Fields took fifth as Carrie Knoeber finished ninth.
Melissa Olson, Sarah Carter, and Shawna Sechrist all made consolation finals of the 200 backstroke, with Olson finishing ninth, Carter 11th, and Sechrist 12th. Cody Nath swam to a 16th-place finish in the mens 200 backstroke.
In the 100 freestyle, Zitani took ninth as teammate Workman tied for 11th, and in the womens 100 freestyle, Jaime Siegele placed 10th.
UKs women were out in full force in the 200 butterfly as Debra Hinsley qualified in the championship heat, and Carolyn Rader and Emily Johnston qualified for the consolation finals. Hinsley finished seventh in the race, while Rader took ninth and Johnston took 15th. For the men, Eddie Clement put some points on the board for Kentucky with a 15th-place finish in the 200 butterfly.
Mens 1, 650 Freestyle1. Ricardo Monasterio Florida 15:01.922. Kevin Clements Auburn 15:04.373. James Galloway Auburn 15:10.0011. David Tweedie Kentucky 15:39.4614. David Kuendig Kentucky 15:54.07Womens 1, 650 Freestyle1. Janelle Atkinson Florida 16:04.422. Julie Hardt Georgia 16:13.853. Magda Dyskiewicz Auburn 16:14.2020. Amanda Bourgeois Kentucky 17:21.07Womens Platform Diving1. Jamie Watkins LSU 459.302. Lizzy Flynt Tennessee 447.553. Ashley Culpepper LSU 442.855. Sarah Fields Kentucky 396.759. Carrie Knoeber Kentucky 355.90Mens 200 Backstroke1. Marc Lindsay Georgia 1:42.532. Bryce Hunt Auburn 1:43.833. Mike Jansen Florida 1:44.3816. Cody Nath Kentucky 1:53.0620. Darron Berquist Kentucky 1:53.96Womens 200 Backstroke1. Keegan Walkley Georgia 1:55.392. Pam Hanson Tennessee 1:57.123. Taylor Spivey Auburn 1:57.299. Melissa Olson Kentucky 2:01.0311. Sarah Carter Kentucky 2:02.2912. Shawna Sechrist Kentucky 2:02.7318. Jenaca Pumphrey Kentucky 2:05.57Mens 100 Freestyle1. Greg Busse Auburn 43.242. Michael Gilliam Tennessee 43.273. Nathan Summers Florida 43.459. Shaun Zitani Kentucky 44.3011. Aaron Workman Kentucky 44.5718. Macon White Kentucky 45.2243. Daniel Wimer Kentucky 46.8344. Fernando Barros Kentucky 46.8645. Jamie Peterkin Kentucky 47.2149. Derek Perkins Kentucky 48.18Womens 100 Freestyle1. Maritza Corriea Georgia 49.052. Leah Martindale Florida 49.103. Stefanie Williams Georgia 49.1610. Jaime Siegele Kentucky 50.4931. Sarah Hoppe Kentucky 52.2946. Tracy Sullivan Kentucky 53.9748. Kelly Neal Kentucky 54.2553. Michelle Inzetta Kentucky 55.03Mens 200 Breaststroke1. David Denniston Auburn 1:55.522. Justin Caron Auburn 1:56.663. Jeremy McDonell Tennessee 1:56.9114. Aaron Cuker Kentucky 2:01.8216. Roger Watkins Kentucky 2:02.7225. Eddie Wolling Kentucky 2:11.5826. (EXH.) Tom Vogt Kentucky 2:12.46Womens 200 Breaststroke1. Anne Poleska Alabama 2:13.932. Tricia Rye South Carolina 2:13.193. Jamie Skinner Georgia 2:13.509. Kelli Stein Kentucky 2:16.2822. Kendra Trahan Kentucky 2:24.24Mens 200 Butterfly1. Jeff Somensatto Auburn 1:42.802.Greg Reeves Florida 1:43.903. Zsolt Gaspar South Carolina 1:43.9915. Eddie Clement Kentucky 1:49.4917. Matt Nilson Kentucky 1:50.26Womens 200 Butterfly1. Maggie Bowen Auburn 1:58.002. Linn Thorburn Georgia 1:59.433. Demerae Christianson Auburn 2:00.717. Debra Hinsley Kentucky 2:02.349. Carolyn Rader Kentucky 2:01.7215. Emily Johnston Kentucky 2:06.86Mens Platform Diving1. Gabi Chereches Tennessee 638.352. Hank Richardson Florida 551.353. Corey Fox LSU 533.0011. Aaron Kirkpatrick Kentucky 374.3014. Clayton Moss Kentucky 354.35Mens 400 Freestyle Relay1. Tennessee 2:54.272. Kentucky (Zitani, White, Tweedie, Workman) 2:56.053. Georgia 2:56.82Womens 400 Freestyle Relay1. Auburn 3:17.092. Florida 3:19.033. Georgia 3:19.285. Kentucky (Siegele, Hoppe, Rader, Sechrist) 3:24.45
