Dec. 7, 2002
Lexington, Ky. –
The University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams split a decision with the Missouri Tigers today, Sat., December 7. The UK men defeated the visiting Tigers by a score of 166-133, while the UK women fell short to MU, 177-121.
Freshman Daniel Farnham had a strong meet for the men. The Rome, Ga., native won both the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles. Farnham swam a 46.20 in the 100 free and a 1:41.69 to win the 200 free. Sophomore Daniel Cruz won the 200 butterfly for UK, with a time of 1:49.52 while senior Matt Nilson finished third in the event at 1:51.45. Cruz also won the 100 butterfly in a time of 50.19. Senior Roger Watkins swept the breaststroke events, winning the 100 (57.00) and the 200 (2:05.97). Fellow senior Aaron Cuker took third-place finishes in both events. Freshman Steven Manley continued his strong season by winning both the 500 free (4:43.30) and the 1,000 free (9:41.91).
“We had some strong performances on the men’s side today,” head coach Gary Conelly said. “The team as a whole did not perform as well as we would have liked, but some individuals really stepped up and gave some great efforts.”
Sophomore Cami Miller highlighted the meet for the UK women. Miller won the 1,000 free with a personal best time of 10:14.20. Freshman Brennan Moore finished third in the event in a time of 10:21.34. Freshman Shantel Commander was victorious in the 200 breast (2:22.07) and finished second in the 100 breast (1:06.02). Commander also got a third-place finish in the 200 IM (2:09.74). Junior Amanda Bourgeois scored a third-place finish for the Cats in the 500 free (5:08.00). Sophomore Jessica Siegele finished second in the 100 back (58.61).
“Cami Miller swam a great race to win the 1,000 free,” Conelly said. “Several of the women gave a good effort, but we just didn’t have enough to depth to compete with a strong Missouri team today. We had to swim a great meet across the board to win. Unfortunately we didn’t have our strongest performance today.”
The Cats dominated the diving side of the meet. Senior All-American Clayton Moss won both the one-meter and three-meter boards. His 327.15 on the one-meter board was ahead of teammate Mario Rodriguez, who finished second with a score of 292.05. Jessica Thompson won the one-meter board for the women, scoring 256.23, while Kelli Frost finished second with 227.63. The two women switched places in the three-meter, with Frost (264.53) taking the victory and Thompson (260.63) finishing second.
The Wildcats will take a month off action before facing off against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Jan. 11. That meet is scheduled to take place in Erlanger, Ky.
— UK —
