INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.? On the final night of the 2007 ConcoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships the Kentucky Wildcats watched three of their swimmers place in the top-16 in the country in the 50-freestyle event.
Rising sophomore Eric McGinnis held his 13th place seed, and finished in the same slot after shaving some more time off of his preliminary swim. McGinnis tapped in a career-best time of 23.03, besting his morning?s finish of 23.16. He entered the meet with an 88th place seed and rose to the top ranks in the nation with an impressive outing today. Alex Righi won the B-Final heat with a time of 22.87.
Seniors Heather and Jenny Bradford also solidified their seeding. Jenny touched in 12th with a time of 25.96, while Heather claimed 16th clocking in at 26.33. All three Wildcat times were good for Olympic qualifying times.
With the three swimmers tonight finishing things off, Kentucky placed five in the top-23. Senior Will Vietti easily enjoyed the best outing with a seventh place showing in the 100-breast and a 17th place finish in the 200-breast. Heather Bradford was the other swimmer to take two top-16 finishes, tonight?s 16th place and a 12th place showing in the 100-fly. Warren Grobbelaar rounds out the scoring for the Wildcats with a 23rd place tap in the 100-fly.
Every swimmer will return to the waters of the Lancaster Aquatic Center later this month. Kentucky?s women will look to improve upon a fourth place showing in the SEC Championships and 12th in the NCAA. The men will try to rise in the rankings in the SEC after an eighth place finish in 2007, and 31st in the NCAA.
Wildcats Schedule at the 2007 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships
Tuesday
Event 2- 200 LC Butterfly
Joe Retrum (junior, Noblesville, Ind.)
88th (2:07.68)
Event 4- 200 LC Breaststroke
Will Vietti (senior, Thermopolis, Wyo.)
17th (2:16.65-OLYM)
Wednesday
Event 9- 100 LC Freestyle
Heather Bradford (senior, Groveport, Ohio)
70th (57.94-JR-A)
Jenny Bradford (senior, Groveport, Ohio)
72nd (57.96-JR-A)
Event 10- 100 LC Freestyle
Warren Grobbelaar (junior, Pretoria, South Africa)
49th (51.46-OLYM)
Eric McGinnis (sophomore, Raleigh, N.C.)
38th (51.22-OLYM)
Tyler Reed (freshman, Morgantown, Ky.)
89th (52.32-SCN)
Event 12- 200 LC Backstroke
Shane Eliason (junior, Sturgeon Bay, Wisc.)
27th (2:04.66-OLYM)
Thursday
Event 17- 100 LC Butterfly
Heather Bradford (senior, Groveport, Ohio)
12th (1:00.51-OLYM)
Jenny Bradford (senior, Groveport, Ohio)
33rd (1:01.84-OLYM)
Megan Pulskamp (sophomore, Spartanburg, S.C.)
56th (1:02.57-NATS)
Event 18- 100 LC Butterfly
Warren Grobbelaar (junior, Pretoria, South Africa)
23rd (54.80-OLYM)
Friday
Event 21- 200 LC Freestyle
Kyle Greene (sophomore, Cincinnati, Ohio)
43rd (1:52.87-OLYM)
Event 22- 100 LC Breaststroke
Lindsay Myhre (senior, Aurora, Colo.)
90th (1:15.10-JR-B)
Event 23- 100 LC Breaststroke
Will Vietti (senior, Thermopolis, Wyo.)
6th (1:02.56-OLYM)
Event 25- 100 LC Backstroke
Shane Eliason (junior, Sturgeon Bay, Wisc.)
40th (58.22-NATS)
Saturday
Event 30- 50 LC Freestyle
Heather Bradford (senior, Groveport, Ohio)
16th (26.33-OLYM)
Jenny Bradford (senior, Groveport, Ohio)
12th (25.96-OLYM)
Jenna Newsome (freshman, Kennesaw, Ga.)
110th (27.50-JR-B)
Event 31- 50 LC Freestyle
Alex Forbes (freshman, Orlando, Fla.)
DNS
Warren Grobbelaar (junior, Pretoria, South Africa)
45th (23.66-NATS)
Eric McGinnis (sophomore, Raleigh, N.C.)
13th (23.03-OLYM)
