LEXINGTON, Ky.?The University of Kentucky women and Auburn?s men hold leads entering the swimming portion of the 2007 SEC Championships set to kick off Wednesday night at the Lancaster Aquatic Center.
Kentucky?s female divers scored 103 points, to edge LSU who scored 101.5. Auburn is in third with 84 points. Auburn?s men have a commanding lead over Florida 177-71, after the three diving events.
The Wildcats? were led by senior Taryn Ignacio who took home two gold medals and a silver this weekend to lead all female divers. Ignacio became just the second woman to three-peat on the platform event in the SEC?s history, and also captured her second one-meter title in three seasons. She placed second on the three-meter. For her efforts, Ignacio was named SEC Female Diver of the Year for the third consecutive season yesterday, and her coach Mike Lyden was also awarded Coach of the Year for the third straight year.
Now, it?s time for the races.
Eighteen teams, 109 All-Americans, 39 Academic All-Americans, 12 National Champions and 11 Olympians headline the field. The Auburn Tigers men?s and women?s teams are the reining National Champions in swimming and diving. Auburn?s men?s team and Georgia?s Lady Bulldogs are the reining SEC Champions.
The Lady Wildcats will enter the meet with a slight lead, and will look to veteran swimmers Jenny and Heather Bradford, Lauren Willis, Nikia Deveaux, Jill Southerlan, Beth Parsons and Lindsay Myhre to improve on their fourth place showing a season ago. The Wildcats will need their rookies, Chatham Penrod, Megan Pulskamp and Casey Miller to aide in the effort.
Jenny Bradford has led the way for the women, as the junior has already achieved three personal-best, and UK-best times in her three marquee events the 50-free, 100-free, and 100-fly. She will carry with her the top time in the SEC for the season in the 50-free and 100-fly entering this year?s championships.
Heather Bradford is the reigning SEC Swimmer of the Week, and will look to continue to improve on her already stellar career. She was named second-team All-SEC as a sophomore after placing fourth in the 100-fly, fifth in the 50-free and 10th in the 100-free at the 2006 SEC Championships.
Deveaux and Southerlan have been a part of winning relay events and have each earned All-America distinctions in their career. Their experience and leadership will be looked on heavily this season, as Deveaux is the lone female senior swimmer.
Parsons and Myhre have enjoyed break-out seasons and will be looked on to continue their improved performances on one of the highest stages. Penrod, Pulskamp and Miller have experienced quality rookie seasons in dual meet season. Now, Coach Gary Conelly will rely on the growth of his talented freshmen to score quality points against the nation?s stiffest competition.
On the men?s side, youth is a key factor as the team only carries one senior in Eric Weber. The bulk of the men?s lineup is in the sophomore and freshmen classes.
Juniors Grant Nelson, Kristian Outinen and Will Vietti, along with Weber are the veteran leaders of the squad. Sophomores Warren Grobbelaar, James Batley, Shane Eliason, Mickey Malul, and Joe Retrum will all be asked to improve on their rookie campaigns if the Wildcats want to continue their string of sixth-place or better finishes in the conference championships.
The freshmen class led by Alex Forbes, Kyle Greene and Eric McGinnis will need to use the comfort of their home waters to their advantage as they try to help propel the 2007 squad to new heights.
?You?re comfortable with the water temperature, you?re comfortable with the way the wells are set up and you?ve been off these blocks quite a few times,? said Conelly. ?It should be a very fast and exciting meet.?
Weber will pace the distance freestyle swims, with Nelson and Batley seeing time there as well. Outinen, Vietti and Malul are perhaps three of the strongest breaststrokers in the conference and should all place in the top-16 at the meet. Grobbelaar is the leader of the short swims in the 50-free and 100-fly, and has already surpassed his own personal-best times this season. Retrum is a versatile swimmer who can see action in a variety of events, while Eliason has been on a torrid pace in the backstroke events the last half of the season, not losing a single race in either backstroke event.
Forbes and McGinnis are sprinters who will look to close the gap on some of their older opponents. Greene may see time in the mid-distance freestyle swims or backstroke events.
Fast times are a given on any championships stage, but predictions are high for many records to be broken this week as the swimmers will race into the diving well at the Lancaster Aquatic Center.
Less than 100 tickets are available for the four day swimming session that begins on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Deck and bleacher tickets will be available for each day and will cost $20 for two sessions (one day of competition). Wed., Feb 7, preliminary heats will begin at noon with finals set to begin at 6 that night. Thursday-Saturday preliminary events begin at 10 a.m., with the finals taking place at 6.
Complete coverage and live results of the 2007 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships can be found at www.ukathletics.com.
