LEXINGTON, Ky.? The University of Kentucky men?s and women?s swimming and diving teams both dropped their opening meets of the spring season against Ohio State, Saturday, in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State?s men?s squad remains undefeated in dual meet action and are ranked 13th in the country, but were threatened by eight individual wins by Kentucky.
Ohio State?s men prevailed with a score of 181-117, while the women Buckeyes rallied with an identical score. Ohio State?s McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion will be the site of the 2008 NCAA Women?s Swimming and Diving Championships.
Kentucky?s first competition in 43-days saw some impressive individual performances in their losses.
On the men?s side, sophomore Alex Forbes and junior Shane Eliason each emerged with two individual titles. Forbes took both the 50-yard freestyle (20.50) and the 100-free (45.49), while Eliason was best in both the 100- (50.11) and 200-backstroke (1:48.92). This marks the first meet Forbes has claimed both individual wins in the two sprint events in his career. Additionally, Eliason placed third in the 200-individual medley with a time of 1:53.84.
Freshman Tyler Reed jump-started the scoring for the Wildcats with a first place showing in the 200-free. The Kentucky native clocked first with an impressive time of 1:39.54 to out-touch the rest of the field. Eliason claimed the 100-back following Reed?s win, and senior Will Vietti took the Cats? to their third consecutive win when he tapped first in the 100-breast. Vietti touched in 56.00 to take top honors.
Senior Grant Nelson used a 1:49.98 time in the 200-butterfly to earn a second-place finish and top time for the Blue and White. Forbes would then claim the 50-free, with junior Warren Grobbelaar tapping in second with a time of 20.57.
Grobbelaar earned a win of his own in the 100-fly, clocking in 48.86, bettering the field by almost two seconds.
Concluding the swimming portion of the night, the men rallied for a win in the 400-free relay behind Reed, sophomore Eric McGinnis, Forbes and Grobbelaar notching a 3:00.50 first-place time.
Junior diver Justin Smith highlighted the diving portion of the meet with an outstanding showing on the three-meter. Smith scored the second-best mark in school history with a 387.00 score, easily the best tally of his career. Smith placed third in the event, as Ohio State divers? Sean Moore and Ryan Jefferson turned in scores of 420.53 and 388.65, respectively in the high-scoring affair.
On the women?s side, UK opened the night behind their powerful relay group. Kentucky?s ?A? squad disqualified with an early jump, but the ?B? squad prevailed with an impressive start to the meet. Freshmen Jenna Newsome and Lindsey Graessle, sophomore Megan Pulskamp and senior Lauren Willis clocked in a time of 1:46.60 to win the 200-medley relay.
Kentucky continued to dominate the sprint events, as they have in every meet this season, going 1-2-3-4 in the 50-free. Seniors Jenny Bradford (22.87), Heather Bradford (23.34), Lauren Willis (23.94) and Beth Parsons (24.11) proved too fast for the Buckeyes as they all touched in before any Ohio State athlete. Jenny Bradford?s clip is good for an NCAA ?B? qualifying standard.
Bradford went on to win the 100-free in a time of 50.90, earning another NCAA qualifying cut, and edging out freshman Kayla Sergesketter who placed second with a time of 52.20.
Heather Bradford and Pulskamp went 1-2 in the 50-fly, with Bradford edging her teammate with a time of 55.22 (an NCAA qualifying mark). Pulskamp touched in 56.40.
Rounding out the meet was another relay win in the 400-free. Newsome, Sergesketter, Heather Bradford, and Jenny Bradford secured a 3:26.80 time to win the event.
Kentucky next is in action on Jan. 19 when both teams travel to Alabama for a showdown with the Crimson Tide. Tuscaloosa, is the site of the 2008 SEC Championships.
Meet time for the dual meet against Alabama is slated to start at 1:00 p.m. Complete coverage of the Wildcats can be found at www.ukathletics.com.
