LEXINGTON, Ky.?The University of Kentucky men?s and women?s swimming and diving teams will compete in the prestigious Nike Cup Invitational for the second consecutive season Thursday through Saturday. The event is hosted by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and held in their Maurice J. Koury Natatorium.
Coach Gary Conelly expects 50 percent or more of his swimmers will enjoy lifetime personal-best times at the highly competitive championship-like meet. The Nike Cup is set up with preliminary rounds to take place in the morning and final heats to occur in the evening. The meet will act like a Conference Championship, allowing for competitive races and the opportunity for UK to achieve NCAA cuts. The diving competitions will also adhere to a qualifying round and a final round.
For the Wildcat freshmen, both men and women, this will be their first test in a non-dual meet setting.
?I expect the freshmen to thrive under the conditions,? said Conelly. ?They have all had impressive dual meets, but this will be the first time they will have a slight rest period and the competition of final races. I think the freshmen class will take a major step forward and jump-start their careers here.?
The list of freshmen Conelly believes could have break-out performances include Elvis Burrows, Alex Forbes, Kyle Green, Eric McGinnis, Chatham Penrod and Megan Pulskamp.
Conelly also thinks a few of his veterans could have stand-out performances while in Chapel Hill.
?Jenny Bradford is swimming so fast right now, I think she may come away with new team records this weekend,? a confident Conelly suggested about the junior from Groveport, Ohio.
Bradford currently holds team records in the 50- and 100-freestyle events which she topped just last season. Her name appears in the top-10 list in two other events as well, the 100-butterfly and the 200-individual medley.
For Bradford?s twin sister, Heather, Conelly feels this meet will be a good indicator at how far along she has come from her illness this summer that prevented her from training.
Conelly added that this competition will be a great opportunity for junior Lindsay Myhre to achieve NCAA cuts. ?This is a golden opportunity for Lindsay to qualify for the NCAA Championships,? he said. ?She has been swimming close to her lifetime best times in practice and she has developed quite nicely. I expect this to be a great meet for her.?
Added to the list are sophomores Leah Harms, Haleigh Kerns and Kristina Sledge who could all enjoy stellar meets and push their best times.
On the men?s side, Conelly feels senior Eric Weber will thrive the most this weekend. Weber suffered an injury-plagued junior season and he is just now reaching his prime conditioning.
?Eric has really come along the past two weeks, this will be a fantastic meet for him,? Conelly said.
Junior Grant Nelson is also expected to eclipse his previous-best times, particularly in the 200-butterlfy. Nelson was one of three swimmers to partake in the Summer Nationals and has enjoyed an extraordinary off-season of conditioning.
?I expect Mickey Malul to really take off at this meet,? said Conelly. Malul joined the team in late January and never endured the conditioning and preparation of the dual-meet season. Conelly believes Malul will be the one to benefit the most from the added conditioning.
For the men?s and women?s divers this will be another opportunity to compete in Championship-like conditions. The outlook is high for them as well, as the women are considered the top diving trio entering the Invitational.
Preliminary rounds will take place Thursday-Saturday mornings, with the finals beginning in the evening of all three days. It is expected that the teams will compete in every event. Complete results of UK?s finishes will be available at www.ukathletics.com.
