The Kentucky women?s swimming and diving team got off to a tremendous start at the Southeastern Conference Championships by finishing in first after day one of competition in Knoxville, Tenn. The women totaled 163 points in the first three events of the meet to jump out to a 42-point advantage over South Carolina.

The women began the day by tallying 44 points with a second place finish in the 200 medley relay. The team of sophomore Jill Southerlan, senior Laura Graham, as well as sophomores Heather and Jenny Bradford set a school record in the event with a time of 1.39.19.

The majority of the points on the day came from the team?s divers. In the 1-meter diving event, four Wildcats finished in the top-6. Defending 1-meter SEC champion junior Taryn Ignacio came in second place behind 2005 national champion Allison Brennan of South Carolina. Junior Joey Brown finished in third place, while senior Jessica Thompson and sophomore Kari Retrum finished fifth and sixth respectively.

The men currently stand in eighth place after one day. According to official SEC site, UK was disqualified in the 200 medley relay and finished fifth in the 800 freestyle relay.

?We really had a great opening day,? head coach Gary Conelly said. ?The day began by getting a tremendous lift from (diving coach) Mike Lyden showing up when we weren?t sure he?d be able to. Our lady divers were fabulous with four making the top-6 (in the 1-meter). They (the divers) had a lot to do with our women finishing first today.?

?Our men turned out a really good 200 medley relay time and the correction will be reflected in tomorrow?s standings. We are looking forward to returning to the pool tomorrow and continuing to compete.?

The SEC Championships will resume tomorrow at the UT Student Aquatics Center at 10 a.m. EST beginning with the 500 freestyle event. Fans can check ukathletics.com for a complete recap of the day?s action.