ATHENS, Ga. – UK sophomores Laura Graham and Steven Manley led Kentucky with school-record performances Thursday in day two of the SEC Swimming & Diving Championships at Georgia?s Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Manley entered the 500-yard freestyle event with the fifth-fastest time among event entries but swam his way to a second-place finish in 4:19.95. The NCAA ?B? cut time broke Nat Lewis? six-year-old Kentucky record time of 4:20.76 and beat his own sixth-place finish at the 2003 SEC Championships by over two seconds. B.J. Jones, the first-place finisher from Auburn, swam the fastest time in the country to defeat Manley.
?This was probably a perfect swim for Steven. It was really exciting to see him perform as well as he did,? UK Coach Gary Conelly said.
After claiming the Kentucky 200-yard breaststroke record earlier this month against Cincinnati, Graham took the Kentucky 100-yard breaststroke mark, as well, completing the event in 1:02.27 to finish fourth, falling shy of an NCAA ?A? cut by 27 one hundredths of a second. Graham shaved over a second off of her ninth-place showing at the 2003 SEC Championships. Sophomore Shantel Commander clocked a 1:05.13 to take 10th place, while senior Kendra Trahan followed closely behind in 11th place at 1:06.29.
?Laura had a really good swim in the 100 (breaststroke) today,? Conelly said. ?She?s a great example of what hard work will do for you, and it?s nice to see her get the payoff. I was thrilled to see Shantel (Commander) and Kendra (Trahan) score in this meet, as well.?
The third Kentucky top-eight individual finish of day two went to junior Daniel Cruz, who took seventh place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 48.22. Junior Jessica Siegele clocked the second-fastest Kentucky time ever in the 100-yard butterfly, a 54.62 to finish in 10th place and capture an NCAA ?B? cut.
The Kentucky 400-yard freestyle team of juniors Daniel Cruz and Tim Patrick and sophomores Daniel Farnham and Steven Manley took third with an NCAA ?B? cut time of 2:56.85. In the women?s three-meter diving event, sophomore Jessica Thompson led Kentucky with a 449.00 for an 11th-place showing. Kari Retrum led all freshmen with a 442.25 to take 13th place, while freshmen Jillian Becker and Joey Brown took 15th and 19th, respectively.
?We had a really good night,? Conelly said. ?We scored in a lot of events, and this is probably one of the best days we?ve ever had at the SEC Championships. This was a very good session.?
The UK men sit in fifth place overall with 145 points, while the UK women remain in ninth with 98 points. The Auburn men and women have led after each day of competition.
Each swimming event was completed without preliminary rounds; the preliminaries were canceled after snow closed the University of Georgia for the day, delaying the start of the meet until 2:30 p.m. Friday?s preliminary rounds are expected to begin as scheduled at 10:30 a.m. EST.
Women?s Three-Meter Diving 11. Jessica Thompson 449.00 13. Kari Retrum 442.25 15. Jillian Becker 418.95 19. Joey Brown 396.05
Men?s One-Meter Diving 11. Mario Rodriguez 279.15
Women?s 500-Yard Freestyle 16. Caitlin Muldoon 4:57.52 20. Amanda Bourgeois 4:59.96 23. Marci Vrooman 5:00.81 25. Shawna Sechrist 5:01.66 26. Sunny Gibson 5:02.67
Men?s 500-Yard Freestyle 2. Steven Manley 4:19.95 (New Kentucky Record) 30. Eric Weber 4:38.02
Women?s 100-Yard Butterfly 10. Jessica Siegele :54.62 28. Sunny Gibson :57.53 34. Nikia Deveaux 1:00.44
Men?s 100-Yard Butterfly 7. Daniel Cruz :48.22 20. Eddie Clement :49.86 22. Tim Patrick :49.95 24. Chris Collins :50.58 26. Alejandro Bravo :50.70 27. Clay Gasparovich :50.75 36. Billy Nettling :52.39 38. Darren Berquist :52.81
Women?s 100-Yard Breaststroke 4. Laura Graham 1:02.27 (New Kentucky Record) 10. Shantel Commander 1:05.13 11. Kendra Trahan 1:06.29 20. Cassie Wit 1:11.32
Men?s 100-Yard Breaststroke 21. Mike Arce :58.89
Women?s 400-Yard Freestyle Relay 9. Kentucky (Siegele, Deveaux, McLean, Vrooman) 3:28.49
Men?s 400-Yard Freestyle Relay 3. Kentucky (Farnham, Patrick, Cruz, Manley) 2:56.85
