April 11, 2003
Scrimmage on Saturday: The Kentucky football team marks the midway point of spring football drills with a practice – including a scrimmage – on Saturday, April 12.
Practice begins at 11 a.m. at Commonwealth Stadium. The scrimmage begins at approximately 11:55 a.m. and is scheduled to last 90 minutes.
Fans and media are welcome to attend.
UK Student-Athletes Help With Special Olympics Swim Meet: University of Kentucky student-athletes will be helping operate the Special Olympics UK Invitational Swim Meet on Saturday, April 12, at the Lancaster Aquatics Center.
Approximately 90 Special Olympics swimmers will compete at the meet, which begins at 10 a.m. and will end at approximately 2 p.m. The public and media are invited to attend.
Seitze on Watch List for Rimington Trophy: Senior center Nick Seitze has been named to the preseason watch list for the Dave Rimington Trophy, presented annually to the nation’s best college football center.
Seitze has started the last 18 games for Kentucky, dating back to the middle of the 2001 season. He has emerged as an outstanding center, with good quickness and athletic ability. He is adept at the shotgun snap and is an excellent communicator with a good grasp of making line calls.
Seitze played very well last season, earning frequent commendation from the coaching staff. He totaled 63.5 knockdown blocks during the season, including a personal best of 11 knockdowns in the win over Vanderbilt. He tied for the team lead in the Indiana win (10 knockdowns) and the upset at Arkansas (seven knockdowns). His blocking helped Artose Pinner lead the Southeastern Conference in rushing and his pass protection helped give Jared Lorenzen the time to throw 24 touchdowns with only five interceptions.
As a team, Kentucky finished second in the SEC in scoring offense with 32 points per game. Seitze’s fine performance was enhanced by the fact that he played with a nagging ankle injury for most of the season.
The Rimington Trophy is entering its fourth year of existence. The award is presented by Canon USA and Black and Decker. The award is hosted by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which supports the research and treatment of cystic fibrosis. Esiason and Dave Rimington, the award’s namesake, were teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-87.
The trophy is named for Rimington, who was a consensus first-team All-America center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982. He became the only double winner of the Outland Trophy which goes to the premier interior lineman in college football.
Siganos Selected for Athletic Hellenic Hall of Fame: Former Wildcat Mike Siganos has been selected for the Athletic Hellenic Hall of Fame and will be inducted at the annual banquet on Fri. Apr. 18 in Orlando, Fla.
The Hall of Fame is part of the American Hellenic Education Progressive Association (AHEPA). AHEPA includes more than 50,000 members and the Athletic Hellenic Hall of Fame honors athletes of Greek descent.
Siganos, who came to Kentucky from Norwalk, Conn., was a four-year letterman as a defensive back and kick returner from 1974-77. As a senior, he earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference and honorable-mention All-America honors while leading the SEC in punt returns. He was second-team All-SEC in 1976 while helping the Wildcats earn a share of the SEC championship and post a shutout of North Carolina in the Peach Bowl.
Siganos still holds the Kentucky career records for most punt returns in a game (nine), season (43), and career (113). He is second in Wildcat history in punt return yardage in a career with 785 yards. He grabbed 10 interceptions in his career, including one in the Peach Bowl victory.
After leaving UK, Siganos played two seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. In 1990, during the 100th season for Kentucky football, both the Lexington Herald-Leader and Louisville Courier-Journal selected Siganos for their all-time Kentucky teams.
Siganos is the second Wildcat selected for the Athletic Hellenic Hall of Fame. UK basketball player Lou Tsiropoulos was a member of the Hall of Fame’s inaugural induction class in 1975.
Kentucky Football Calendar
Fri. April 11Practice, 2:25 p.m.
Sat. April 12Practice, 11 a.m., Commonwealth Stadium
Mon. April 14Practice, 2:25 p.m.
Wed. April 16Practice, 2:25 p.m.
Fri. April 18Practice, time TBA
Sat. April 19Practice, time TBA
Mon. April 21Coach Rich Brooks on WLAP Spring Football Call-in Show, 7-9 p.m.
Wed. April 23Practice, time TBA
Fri. April 25Practice, time TBA
Sat. April 26Blue/White Spring Football Game, 1 p.m., Commonwealth Stadium
– UK –
