TUSCALOOSA, Ala.? Junior swimmer Warren Grobbelaar and freshman diver Stephen Andrews set school records on their way to qualifying for the finals of tonight?s SEC Championships hosted by the University of Alabama.
Grobbelaar will take the fifth seed into tonight?s 100-butterfly race after tapping in a school-record time of 47.09. The time is also a personal-best mark and an NCAA ?A? qualifying time. Andrews competing in the six dives platform diving event scored a career-best 362.50, which is also a school record. Andrews placed third overall in the morning?s preliminary rounds and will take the third seed at his first ever SEC Championships.
Seniors Heather and Jenny Bradford also qualified for top-eight competition for the second consecutive night. Heather Bradford earned the third seed in the 100-fly with a season-best and NCAA ?A? qualifying time of 53.21. Jenny Bradford earned her best time of her career in the event on her way to earning an NCAA ?A? qualifying clip and the fourth seed in the event tonight with a time of 53.25. Sophomore Megan Pulskamp will compete with the 13th overall seed after registering a career-best time, fifth at Kentucky, and an NCAA ?B? qualifying time of 54.43.
Freshman Tyler Reed was equally impressive as he also earned the third seed in the 200-freestyle event. Reed paced the Wildcats with a time of 1:35.29, the second best mark in school history. Reed also earned an NCAA ?B? qualifying standard. Sophomore Kyle Greene will also be in action in the event after he turned in a career performance with a time of 1:38.09. Greene?s time is sixth best at UK all-time.
Senior Will Vietti, the reigning silver medalist in the 100-breast, earned a season-best clip of 54.04 and the third seed into tonight?s finals. His time is also an NCAA ?B? provisional mark. Senior Kristian Outinen will compete with the 14th seed overall after securing his season-best time in the event clocking in a time of 56.72.
Freshman Lindsey Graessle will represent the Lady Wildcats in the 100-breast after she notched a 1:02.97 time in the event. Graessle earned the third best time in Kentucky history on her way to an NCAA ?B? standard.
Capping off tonight?s competitors are juniors Shane Eliason and Joe Retrum in the 100-backstroke. Eliason tapped in a time of 49.38 to earn the 12th seed, while Retrum placed 13th with a time of 49.67. Retrum?s time is a career-best clip and also the sixth best in UK allure.
Seniors Blair Barrett and Grant Nelson placed 25th and 27th, respectively in the 400-individual medley. Barrett?s time of 4:33.35 is a season-best time.
Sophomores Anna Sirmon, Alex Forbes, Elvis Burrows and Travis Muzzillo and Retrum all tallied career-best times in the 100-fly. Retrum took 17th in a time of 48.66, the fifth best time in UK history. Forbes, 19th overall, clocked in 48.95, the sixth best time at Kentucky, while Burrows, 23rd overall, cleared the 10th best time in school records with a 49.48 time. Muzzillo scored a 24th place finish in a time of 49.66, while Sirmon finished 26th in 56.65.
Freshman Kayla Sergesketter set a career-best time, while junior Leah Harms etched a season-best clip in the 200-free. Sergesketter tapped in a time of 1:51.82 good enough for 32nd in the race, while Harms placed 40th with a time of 1:54.42.
Freshman Reinhardt Strijdom and sophomore Marco Iemmola both achieved career-best times in the 200-free. Strijdom placed 21st with Iemmola finishing in 28th in times of 1:39.69 and 1:42.57, respectively.
Senior Lindsay Myhre just narrowly missed the cut for the 100-breast consolation heat as she tapped in 17th overall in a time of 1:03.52. The time is good enough for an NCAA ?B? standard. Sophomore Julio Vallette secured his career-best time in the event with a time of 57.89 as he too placed 17th overall.
Junior Justin Smith scored a career-best score in the platform diving event on his way to earning UK points with his 12th place finish. Smith tallied 275.20 points, besting last year?s total of 231.60.
After night two, stand in fifth place with 169 points. Florida retained their first night lead and have now combined a 272 score. On the men?s side, Kentucky stands in sixth after tallying 150 points. Auburn is ahead of the pack with 322 points, nearly 100 more than second place Florida.
The Championships resume tonight at 6:30 p.m. CST with the finals heats of the 400-individual medley, 100-butterfly, 200-freestyle, 100-breaststroke, 100-backstroke, men?s platform diving and the 400-medley relay. 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 ? Through 16 events
Women
Florida ? 272
Auburn – 230
Tennessee ? 200.5
Georgia ? 187
Kentucky ? 169
LSU ? 139.5
South Carolina ? 118
Arkansas ? 105
Alabama ? 98
Vanderbilt ? 46
Men
Auburn ? 322
Florida ? 233
Tennessee ? 208
Georgia ? 169
LSU ?160
Kentucky ? 150
Alabama ? 140
South Carolina – 101
UK Results
Event 1 Women?s 1-Meter Diving
Kari Retrum ? 2nd
(Medalist)
? 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 (26.24), Myhre (28.30), H. Bradford(23.35), J. Bradford (21.44)) – 5th overall ? 1:39.33 ? (NCAA ?A? qualifying time, season-best time)
Event 3 Men?s 200-Medley Relay
Kentucky (Eliason (22.79), Vietti (24.10), Grobbelaar (20.90), McGinnis (19.35)) – 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 (1:51.73), Kerns (1:49.88), Sergesketter (1:52.09), Sledge (1:51.73)) – 9th overall ? 7:25.43 ? (season-best time)
Event 6 Men?s 800-Free Relay
Kentucky (Reed (1:35.35), Greene (1:36.72), Strijdom (1:38.08), Eliason (1:38.57)) – 4th overall ? 6:28.72 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, season-best time)
Event 7 Women?s 500-Free
Haleigh Kerns ? 25th ? 4:58.87
Leah Harms ? 31st ? 5:03.68
Event 8 Men?s 500-Free
Tyler Reed ? 11th ? 4:21.26 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, third in UK history, career-best time)
Kyle Greene ? 20th ? 4:31.55
Marco Iemmola ? 24th ? 4:39.54 (season-best time)
Event 9 Women?s 200-Individual Medley
Casey Miller ? 33rd ? 2:06.53
Lindsay Myhre ? 38th ? 2:07.97
Jill Southerlan ? 40th ? 2:09.44
Blair Barrett ? 42nd ? 2:10.12 (career-best time)
Lindsey Graessle ? 43rd ? 2:11.36
Danielle Weiss ? 45th ? 2:19.59
Event 10 Men?s 200-Individual Medley
Shane Eliason ? 22nd ? 1:51.58
Grant Nelson ? 26th ? 1:52.79 (career-best time)
Kristian Outinen ? 33rd ? 1:55.20
Event 11 Women?s 50-Free
Jenny Bradford ? 2nd
(Medalist)
? 22.18 – prelim time – 22.00 (NCAA ?A? qualifying time, UK record, career-best time)
Heather Bradford ? 3rd
(Medalist)
? 22.24 (NCAA ?A? qualifying time, career-best time)
Lauren Willis ? 12th ? 23.03 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, season-best time)
Megan Pulskamp ? 22nd ? 23.40 (seventh best time in UK history, career-best time)
Beth Parsons ? 26th ? 23.53 (ninth best time in UK history, career-best time)
Jenna Newsome ? 31st ? 23.83
Kayla Sergesketter ? 34th ? 23.89 (career-best time)
Kristina Sledge ? 45th ? 24.59
Event 12 Men?s 50-Free
Eric McGinnis – 4th ? 19.88 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, fourth best time in UK history, career-best time)
Warren Grobbelaar ? 9th ? 19.90 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, fifth in UK history, career-best time)
Alex Forbes ? 12th ? 20.23 (season-best time)
Colin Faris ? 18th ? 20.36 (career-best time)
Elvis Burrows ? 23rd ? 20.55 (career-best time)
Chris Richard ? 25th ? 20.64 (career-best time)
Reinhardt Strijdom ? 34th ? 21.13 (career-best time)
Travis Muzzillo ? 40th ? 21.45 (career-best time)
Will Vietti ? 44th ? 24.75 (career-best time)
Event 13 Men?s 1-Meter
Justin Smith ? 9th ? 307.45 (NCAA Zone qualifying score)
Stephen Andrews ? 10th ? 307.00 (NCAA Zone qualifying score)
Event 14 Women?s 3-Meter
Kari Retrum ? 6th ? 295.85
Jessie Snowden ? 11th ? 274.15
Event 15 Women?s 200-Free Relay
Kentucky (H. Bradford (22.60), Willis (22.53), Pulskamp (22.36), J. Bradford (21.63)) 2nd overall
(Medalists)
? 1:29.12 ? (NCAA ?A? qualifying time, UK school record, season-best time)
Event 16 Men?s 200-Free Relay
Kentucky (McGinnis (20.03), Forbes (19.75), Grobbelaar (19.82), Eliason (19.79)) 5th overall ? 1:19.39 ? (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, season-best time)
Event 17 Women?s 400-Individual Medley
Blair Barrett ? 25th ? 4:33.35 (season-best time)
Event 18 Men?s 400-Individual Medley
Grant Nelson ? 27th ? 4:00.93
Event 19 Women?s 100-Butterfly
Heather Bradford ? third seed ? 53.21 (NCAA ?A? qualifying time, season-best time)
Jenny Bradford ? fourth seed ? 53.25 (NCAA ?A? qualifying time, career-best time, second in UK history)
Megan Pulskamp ? 12th seed ? 54.43 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, career-best time, fifth in UK history)
Anna Sirmon ? 26th ? 56.65 (career-best time)
Event 20 Men?s 100-Butterfly
Warren Grobbelaar ? fifth seed ? 47.09 (UK record, NCAA ?A? qualifying time, career-best time)
Joe Retrum ? 17th ? 48.66 (career-best time, fifth in UK history)
Alex Forbes ? 19th ? 48.95 (career-best time, sixth in UK history)
Elvis Burrows ? 23rd ? 49.48 (career-best time, 10th in UK history)
Travis Muzzillo ? 24th ? 49.66 (career-best time)
Event 21 Women?s 200-Freestyle
Casey Miller ? 27th ? 1:51.23
Haleigh Kerns ? 28th ? 1:51.25
Kayla Sergesketter ? 32nd ? 1:51.82 (career-best time)
Kristina Sledge ? 38th ? 1:54.12
Leah Harms ? 40th ? 1:54.42 (season-best time)
Event 22 Men?s 200-Freestyle
Tyler Reed ? third seed ? 1:35.29 (second in UK history, career-best time, NCAA ?B? qualifying time)
Kyle Greene ? 13th seed ? 1:38.09 (career-best time, sixth in UK history)
Reinhardt Strijdom ? 21st ? 1:39.69 (career-best time)
Marco Iemmola ? 28th ? 1:42.57 (career-best time)
Event 23 Women?s 100-Breaststroke
Lindsey Graessle ? 12th seed ? 1:02.97 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, third in UK history, career-best time)
Lindsay Myhre ? 17th ? 1:03.52 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time)
Danielle Weiss ? 28th ? 1:07.83
Event 24 Men?s 100-Breaststroke
Will Vietti ? third seed ? 54.04 (NCAA ?B? qualifying time, season-best time)
Kristian Outinen ? 14th seed ? 56.72 (season-best time)
Julio Vallette ? 17th ? 57.89 (career-best time)
Event 25 Women?s 100-Backstroke
Jenna Newsome ? 25th ? 59.11
Jill Southerlan ? 27th ? 59.32
Event 26 Men?s 100-Backstroke
Shane Eliason ? 12th seed ? 49.38
Joe Retrum ? 13th seed ? 49.67 (career-best time, sixth in UK history)
Event 27 Men?s 10-Meter
Stephen Andrews ? third seed ? 362.50 (UK record, career-best score, NCAA Zone diving qualifying score)
Justin Smith ? 12th ? 275.20 (career-best score, second in UK history, NCAA Zone diving qualifying scores)
