LEXINGTON, Ky.? Kentucky men?s and women?s swimming coach Gary Conelly announced the signing of four student-athletes for the 2007-08 season. Lindsey Graessle (Mason, Ohio), Jenna Newsome (Kennesaw, Ga.), Tyler Reed (Morgantown, Ky.) and Kayla Sergesketter (Jasper, Ind.) all signed national letters of intent to join the Wildcat swimming program during the fall signing period.
On the men?s side, UK signed a local prodigy and one of the top male swimmers in the nation.
Reed is a senior at Butler County High School and swims for the Greater Bowling Green Swim Team. The Morgantown native is a top-tier freestyler and was a finalist in the 2006 Summer Junior National Championships in the 100-freestyle event.
?We are really excited to sign Tyler because he is on a lot people?s lists,? said Conelly. ?He is incredibly talented and very fast. We?re really excited to watch him take off for us and even more pleased that he is a local kid. He grew up a Wildcat fan and will be a force for us immediately.?
Conelly and his staff added much needed depth to the women?s team with the three early signers.
Graessle will contribute greatly to the depth of the breaststroke events for the Wildcats in 2007. The senior at Kings High School is already an Olympic trial qualifier in the breaststroke events. According to Conelly, Graessle was already approaching Kentucky team records in the breaststroke events during her junior season.
?She really stands out for us,? said Conelly. ?As a junior in high school she was swimming times that would have made NCAA cuts. She?ll be an immediate impact for us and will join Lindsey Myhre in the breaststroke events to form a potential 1-2 punch.?
Newsome will add to the potent freestyle and backstroke depth for Conelly and his staff. Newsome is a senior at North Cobb High School and has qualified nationally in both sprint free and backstroke events.
?She is a very versatile swimmer,? Conelly said. ?She will give us a tremendous boost in both the freestyle events and the back events. With her addition we really have a great core of backstrokers.?
Conelly will look for all of his additions to compete for spots in the relay events, and Newsome will most likely have a big impact on the shorter relays he said.
Sergesketter is a senior at Jasper High School. She is a national qualifier in sprint events.
?She is incredibly talented, and will be even faster her senior year,? said Conelly. ?We already have a good core of freestyle swimmers and she will just add to that depth and give us quality speed in the 50- and 100-freestyle events.”
Conelly is excited about the class of signings, as all four of the swimmers were the most coveted swimmers on the staff?s list.
?We filled some spots that we needed,? Conelly said. ?What?s most exciting for us is that this women?s class is one of the best we?ve ever had. All three of these girls were on the top of our list and we got all three of them that has never happened before. This class is going to be phenomenal.?
The men?s side had a very large incoming class in the 2006-07 season and did not have as many spots to fill. ?Tyler was who we really wanted,? said Conelly. ?It is very satisfying for us to get our top recruit and him to be a local kid.?
The incoming class will make their first appear in the pool in the fall of 2007.
