LEXINGTON, Ky.? On an afternoon where 12 senior athletes were honored prior to their last home meet of their careers, the class of 2008 led the way for the Kentucky men?s and women?s swimming and diving teams as they concluded dual meet action with wins over Cincinnati. The Lady Wildcats earned a 154-116 decision, while the men won by the score of 142-116.
The UK women remained perfect over their border-state rivals under Head Coach Gary Conelly, while the men picked up their ninth consecutive victory over Cincinnati.
Kentucky powered its way to their second consecutive victories in as many weeks, behind a stellar showing from the senior class who accounted for 12 wins.
Kicking the meet off, were the senior quartet of Jill Southerlan, Lindsay Myhre, Heather Bradford, and Jenny Bradford who claimed their fourth 200-medly relay win in dual meet action by tapping in a time of 1:42.93.
Senior Will Vietti swam the breaststroke leg of the winning men?s 200-medley relay and was teamed with juniors Shane Eliason and Warren Grobbelaar and sophomore Alex Forbes. UK took the event in a time of 1:30.20.
Southerlan and classmate Blair Barrett went 1-2 in both backstroke events. Southerlan earned the top finish in the 100-back, with Barrett winning the 200-back.
Myhre led the way in both breaststroke events, winning the 100-breast in a time of 1:04.23 and the 200-breast in a time of 2:20.73. Freshman Lindsey Graessle placed second in the 100-breast, helping the Wildcats earn the top two spots in that event.
Senior Kristian Outinen clocked in a time of 57.10 to win the 100-breast on the men?s side. The Copenhagen, Denmark, native also placed second in the 200-individual medley, while Vietti placed second in the 200-breast.
Fellow senior Grant Nelson also chipped in on the winning ways, getting his second consecutive victory in the 200-fly. Nelson eclipsed the field in an impressive time of 1:50.81.
It was a 1-2-3-4 finish for the Wildcat women in the 50-free. Jenny Bradford, Heather Bradford, Beth Parsons and Lauren Willis tapped the wall in times of 22.58, 23.14, 23.80 and 24.38, respectively. The Blue and White also clocked in the top three times in the 100-free, led by Parsons and sophomores Sydney Witzky and Casey Miller.
Kentucky got a big win out of the distance group, when senior Kelley Morrison bested the field in the 500-free with a time of 5:07.84. Morrison also earned a second place showing in the 200-free, behind junior Haleigh Kerns who won the event.
Not to be out-done, senior Kari Retrum scored first place finishes in both diving events. Retrum and teammate Jessie Snowden took the top two spots on both boards. Retrum tallied totals of 297.75 on the one-meter, and 323.03 on the three-meter. Both clips were the best marks of the season for the senior.
Also earning victories for the Wildcats today, were freshman Reinhardt Strijdom who earned his first career victory in the 200-free with a time of 1:43.52. Eliason won both backstroke events, winning the 100 in a time of 50.18, and the 200 in a time of 1:51.39. Junior Justin Smith scored 329.48 on the one-meter and 363.46 on the three-meter to lead the way on the boards.
The 2008 class consists of Blair Barrett, Heather Bradford, Jenny Bradford, Kelley Morrison, Lindsay Myhre, Grant Nelson, Kristian Outinen, Beth Parsons, Kari Retrum, Jill Southerlan, Will Vietti and Lauren Willis.
Today?s meet concludes dual meet season for the Wildcats. They will have a little more than three weeks to prepare for the SEC Championships beginning Feb. 20. Alabama is the host of the conference championships this season, held in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Complete coverage of the UK swimming and diving teams can be found at www.ukathletics.com.
