Feb. 23, 2002
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Kentucky men placed seventh and the women finished ninth as action wrapped up at the 2002 Southeastern Conference Championships on the University of Arkansas’s HPER Natatorium on Saturday, Feb. 23. The men closed out the event in with 282 points while the women placed ninth with 203 points. Auburn won the men’s event with 763 points while Florida won the women’s event with 742.5 points.
Freshman Caitlin Muldoon started off the final night of competition for the Wildcats by scoring in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 17:00.96. Sophomores Shawna Sechrist and Jenaca Pumphrey were next up for UK, placing 11th and 15th, respectively, in the 200 backstroke.
Senior Debra Hinsley collected her first NCAA provisional time of the season, clocking a 2:03.11 in the 200 butterfly and placing 15th to finish out the individual scoring for UK. Freshman Marci Vrooman closed out the championships by swimming a 51.57 in the first leg of the 400 freestyle relay, the ninth-fastest time in UK women’s swimming history.
In the men’s lanes, senior co-captain David Kuendig began the night with a 14th-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle, touching the wall in 15:49.00, bettering his own UK mark by 1.85 seconds.
As he had done all week, sophomore Joey Faltraco continued to pace the male swimmers as he placed sixth in the 200 backstroke. His preliminary time of 1:45.33 broke the previous UK record by .35 seconds, which he set in the Wildcats’ last dual meet of the season. The time also was also an improved NCAA provisional time for him.
Juniors Aaron Cuker and co-captain Roger Watkins placed 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 200 breaststroke while junior Eddie Clement placed 12th in the 200 butterfly to collect the final individual points for UK.
The Wildcats had numerous individuals who just missed scoring during the final day of competition. Senior Sarah Carter clocked a 2:07.22 to place 18th in the 200 backstroke while junior Emily Johnston just missed making the consolation finals in the 200 butterfly, finishing 17th with a time of 2:03.80. Vrooman’s time in the 100 freestyle also just missed scoring for UK, placing 18th and missing the consolation finals by .71 seconds.
The story was the same on the men’s side. Freshman Daniel Cruz (1:50.22) and junior Matt Nilson (1:50.92) placed 17th and 18th, respectively, in the 200 butterfly with Cruz being edged out of the consolation finals by .01 seconds.
“Collectively, we are very disappointed,” UK Coach Gary Conelly said. “We had some real outstanding individual performances over the week. Marci Vrooman, Chrissy Miller and Joey Faltraco all had great individual weeks. We didn’t do what we could have done to place better. Hopefully this will make us stronger for when we come back the next time.”
For the weekend, UK netted seven NCAA provisional times, with Vrooman leading the way with two more individual (200 and 500 freestyles) times. UK divers senior Aaron Kirkpatrick and junior Clayton Moss finished in the top-10 for individual total points. Moss was third at the event with 56 points after winning the one-meter diving competition, placing second on the platform and third in the three-meter competition. Kirkpatrick collected 46 points thanks to a second-place finish in both the one- and three-meter competitions and seventh in the platform competition, which tied him for 10th for total points.
SEC Champions and UK FinishesPl. NameYRSchoolPrelims Finals (UK Seed)Women's 1,650 Freestyle1. Sara McLartySOUF16:12.2016. Caitlin MuldoonFRUK17:00.9620. Cami MillerFRUK17:22.97X-Audrey JohnsonFRUK17:51.64
Men’s 1,650 Freestyle1. Robert MargalisFRUGA15:03.9714. David KuendigSRUK15:49.0019. Chris ManceFRUK16:16.25
Women’s 200 Backstroke1. Margaret Hoelzer FRAU1:56.151:55.3511. Shawna SechristSOUK2:02.242:03.15 (9)15. Jenaca PumphreySOUK2:05.462:05.85 (14)18. Sarah CarterSRUK2:07.2221. Jessica SiegeleFRUK2:08.92
Men’s 200 Backstroke1. Chris KellamSOUF1:43.051:42.48
Joey FaltracoSOUK1:45.331:45.51 (6)20. Cody NathJRUK1:53.88
Women’s 100 Freestyle1. Maritza CorrieaJRUGA48.4748.2918. Marci VroomanFRUK51.8120. Chrissy MillerFRUK51.8522. Sarah HoppeSRUK51.8827. Carolyn RaderSRUK52.5235. Amanda BourgeoisSOUK53.0439. Tracy SullivanSRUK53.67X-Kelly NealJRUK53.87
Men’s 100 Freestyle 1. Zsolt GasparSRUSC43.4442.9928. Daniel CruzFRUK45.9129. Daniel WimerSOUK45.9233. Adam GustafsonJRUK46.3235. Clay GasparovichFRUK46.3439. Ryan BowmanFRUK46.9240. Russ ThrockmortonSOUK47.0544. Jamie PeterkinSOUK47.6646. Derek PerkinsSRUK48.79X-Jon CartledgeFRUK48.78X-Dane RedingerFRUK49.11
Women’s 200 Breaststroke1. Anne PoleskaSOUALA2:15.212:09.2121. Kendra TrahanSOUK2:23.38
Men’s 200 Breaststroke1. Kyle SalyardsSOUGA1:58.601:56.7211. Aaron CukerJRUK2:02.412:02.47 (11)12. Roger WatkinsJRUK2:02.942:02.57 (12)X-Mike ArceFRUK2:08.23
Women’s 200 Butterfly1. Rebecca HarperFRUF1:56.921:55.9715. Debra HinsleySRUK2:03.262:03.11 (15)17. Emily JohnstonJRUK2:03.8021. Xenavee PangelinanFRUK2:06.24X-Audrey JohnsonFRUK2:13.29
Men’s 200 Butterfly1. Stefan GherghelFRUALA1:45.851:44.7312. Eddie ClementJRUK1:49.401:49.41 (12)17. Daniel CruzFRUK1:50.2218. Matt NilsonJRUK1:50.92
Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay1. Georgia (Williams, Mabry, Kearns, Corriea)3:15.208. Kentucky (Vrooman, Hoppe, Ch. Miller, Bourgeois)3:25.81
Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay1. Florida (Jayme, Odendaal, Mangabeira, Sioui)2:52.746. Kentucky (Wimer, Barros, Cruz, Gustafson)3:01.52Final Team ScoresMen1. Auburn7632. Florida7443. Georgia522.54. Tennessee4765. S. Carolina3396. Alabama3147. Kentucky2828. LSU174.5
Individual High Point
1. Zsolt GasparSRUSC602. Kevin ClementsSRAU573. Clayton MossJRUK564. Chris KellamSOUF555. Adam SiouiFRUF526. Eric DonnellySRUF507. Gabriel MangabeiraFRUF48 Carlos JaymeSOUF48 Mark GangloffSOAU4810. Aaron KirkpatrickSRUK46 Ryan WochomurkaFRAU46Women1. Florida742.52. Georgia7193. Auburn693.54. Alabama340.55. LSU3126. S. Carolina285.57. Tennessee2408. Arkansas2149. Kentucky203Individual High Point
1. Maritza CorrieaJRUGA572. Kirsty CoventryFRAU53 Anne PoleskaSOUALA534. Sara McLartySOUF525. Stefanie WilliamsSRUGA516. Margaret HoelzerFRAU50.57. Janelle AtkinsonSOUF508. Barb GorstJRLSU49 Ashley RobySRUGA4910. Katie YevakFRUGA47 Jamie EllisSOUF47
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