TUSCALOOSA, Ala.? Senior Kari Retrum earned her third career medal at the SEC Championships when she took second overall in the women?s one-meter diving event to being the 2008 SEC Championships hosted by the University of Alabama Wednesday.
Retrum scored her highest finish of her career on the one-meter board with her silver medal tonight after notching a 313.95 score. The senior took the second seed into the finals and registered her season-best clip in the event while taking second place overall. It was her third career medal at the conference meet as she has previously won a gold medal in 2004 on the platform, and bronze a year ago on three-meter. Tonight?s second place finish on one-meter was the best in her career, as she has gradually moved up spots in her four seasons. As a freshman she took 15th, as a sophomore she placed seventh and as a junior she finished fourth.
Highlighting the opening of the conference meet on the men?s side was the 200-medley relay squad who broke a two-year old school record in the event. Kentucky took fourth overall in the meet, but secured the best time in school history in the process. Sophomore Shane Eliason, senior Will Vietti, junior Warren Grobbelaar and sophomore Eric McGinnis etched their names into UK allure with a 1:27.14 time. The previous school record was held with a time of 1:27.38. Auburn took the crown tapping in a time of 1:24.81. The Blue and White achieved an NCAA ?B? qualifying mark with the achievement.
Freshman Jessie Snowden joined Retrum with another stellar night for the UK women?s divers. Snowden placed fourth overall on the one-meter after registering a 304.25 score. The mark is the fourth best score all-time in UK record books. The individual performances of the two divers helped propel the UK women into fourth place overall through the first three events of the meet. Kentucky scored 78 points tonight and trails first-place Florida by just eight points.
The Lady Wildcats achieved an NCAA ?A? qualifying clip with their 200-medley relay squad. The quartet comprised of seniors Jill Southerlan, Lindsay Myhre, Heather Bradford and Jenny Bradford tallied a season-best time of 1:39.33 on their way to a fifth-place finish in the race. Florida?s winning team set an SEC record with a time of 1:37.23.
Kentucky placed ninth overall in the women?s 800-free relay as sophomore Casey Miller, junior Haleigh Kerns, freshman Kayla Sergesketter and junior Kristina Sledge touched in a time of 7:25.43. Adding to the highlights for the women, the 800-free relay time is a season-best mark.
On the boards for the men, freshman Stephen Andrews led the way with a 10th place individual finish. He scored a 336.10 score on his way to securing his first career points at the conference championship. Junior Justin Smith placed 13th overall with a clip of 312.05.
The 800-free relay team of freshman Tyler Reed, sophomore Kyle Greene, freshman Reinhardt Strijdom and junior Shane Eliason turned in another NCAA ?B? qualifying mark for the men with a time of 6:28.72 in their fourth place finish.
The UK men stand in fifth place after three events with a score of 71 points. Auburn is in first after scoring 126 points.
The Championships resume tomorrow at 10 a.m. CST with the preliminary rounds of the 500-free, 200-individual medley, 50-free, women?s three-meter and the men?s one-meter. Complete coverage of the UK swimming and diving teams can be found at www.ukathletics.com.
Additional coverage of the SEC Championships can be found at the host school?s website, www.rolltide.com or by visiting the SEC website at www.secsports.com.
Team Standings
Women
Florida ? 89
Tennessee ? 79
LSU ? 79
Kentucky ? 78
Georgia ? 77
Auburn ? 74
South Carolina ? 65
Alabama ? 63
Arkansas ? 59
Vanderbilt ? 28
Men
Auburn ? 126
Tennessee ? 86
LSU ? 84
Alabama ? 78
Kentucky ? 71
Florida ? 66
Georgia ? 66
South Carolina – 50
UK Results
Event 1 Women?s 1-Meter Diving
Kari Retrum ? 2nd ? 313.95 (season-high score, NCAA Zone Diving qualifying score)
Jessie Snowden ? 4th ? 304.25 (4th in UK record books, career-best score, NCAA Zone Diving qualifying score)
Event 2 Women?s 200-Medley Relay
Kentucky (Southerlan, Myhre, H. Bradford, J. Bradford) – 5th overall ? 1:39.33 ? (NCAA ?A? qualifying time, season-best time)
Event 3 Men?s 200-Medley Relay
Kentucky (Eliason, Vietti, Grobbelaar, McGinnis) – 4th overall ? 1:27.14 ? (School record, NCAA ?B? qualifying time, season-best time)
Event 4 Men?s 3-Meter Diving
Stephen Andrews ? 10th ? 336.30 (NCAA Zone Diving qualifying score)
Justin Smith ? 13th ? 312.05 (NCAA Zone Diving qualifying score)
Event 5 Women?s 800-Free Relay
Kentucky (Miller, Kerns, Sergesketter, Sledge) – 9th overall ? 7:25.43 ? (season-best time)
Event 6 Men?s 800-Free Relay
Kentucky (Reed, Greene, Strijdom, Eliason) – 4th overall ? 6:28.72 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, season-best time)
