Kentucky junior Laura Graham collected her second and third All-America selections and junior Jessica Thompson picked up her first All-America honor and rewrote a school record Friday evening on day two of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Purdue?s Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Graham, a native of E. Sussex, England, placed eighth in the finals of the 100 breaststroke, clocking a time of 1:01.56. She becomes Kentucky?s first female first-team All-American swimmer since former Cat and Olympic gold medalist Rachel Komisarz earned first-team All-America honors in the 500 and 1,650-freestyle events in 1999. Graham joins Komisarz and Kellie Moran as the only Kentucky women?s swimmers to collect three All-America selections at a single NCAA meet. She could become the first female Wildcat swimmer to earn four All-America selections at a single NCAA meet when she competes in Saturday?s 200 breaststroke.
Graham added her third All-America selection of the championships as a part of UK?s 200-medley relay team. Graham, along with senior Jessica Siegele and freshmen Heather and Jenny Bradford, stood in ninth place after the preliminary round and missed a spot in the final by six one-hundredths of a second. They held on to the ninth position by winning the consolation final with a time of 1:01.56, earning honorable-mention All-America honors. The same quartet placed 16th in Thursday?s 400-medley relay to earn their first career honorable-mention All-America honors.
Elsewhere on day two, Thompson, the 2005 SEC women?s three-meter diving champion, took 11th in the three-meter event with a score of 472.85, earning her first career honorable mention All-America selection. She breaks Tina Johnson?s 10-year-old record score of 455.95. The Matthews, N.C., native becomes UK?s first female All-American diver in three years, as Trisha Tumlinson collected an honorable mention All-America honor in 2002. Thompson climbed 25 spots from her 36th-place showing in the same event at the 2004 NCAA Championships. Sophomore Taryn Ignacio added a 33rd-place finish in the event.
Siegele contributed a 26th-place showing in the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.99 and clocked a 36th-place time of 55.46 in the 100 butterfly. Junior Shantel Commander placed 30th in the 100 breaststroke with a personal-best time of 1:03.46., and Heather Bradford placed 49th in the 100 butterfly.
Kentucky ascends to 19th place with a two-day total of 31 points after sitting in 29th place with two points after day one. UK will wrap up the NCAA Championships Saturday with the 400-freestyle relay, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke and platform-diving events.
NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships ? W. Lafayette, Ind.
Day Two Kentucky Results
200 Medley Relay
9. Kentucky (Siegele, Graham, H. Bradford, J. Bradford) ? 1:41.22
100 Breaststroke
8. Laura Graham ? 1:01.56
30. Shantel Commander ? 1:03.46
100 Butterfly
36. Jessica Siegele ? 55.46
49. Heather Bradford ? 56.63
100 Backstroke
26. Jessica Siegele ? 54.99
Three-Meter Diving
11. Jessica Thompson ? 472.85
33. Taryn Ignacio ? 236.80
