Jan. 7, 2009
BATON ROUGE, La. – BATON ROUGE, La. — Despite the team loss to LSU on Wednesday afternoon, several of Kentucky’s athletes enjoyed stellar performances in the water in their first competition in nearly two months.
The host Tigers captured a 177-123 win over the UK men, while the women earned a 175-118 edge over the Wildcats.
Diver Jessie Snowden continued her rampant winning streak chalking up another pair of first place finishes in today’s meet. Snowden captured first place on both spring boards with scores of 299.85 on the three-meter and 296.03 on the one-meter. Her score on the one-meter board is a season-high clip.
On the women’s side between the lanes, seniors Haleigh Kerns and Leah Harms tapped in first and second place, respectively in the 1000-freestyle. The duo finished in times of 10:18.14 and 10.21.97 to take the top two spots. The times for both seniors are season-bests.
Sophomore Lindsey Graessle clocked in a time of 1:04.43 for first place in the 100-breast for the team’s next victory.
She was followed by junior Megan Pulskamp’s first of two wins of the day when she tapped in a time of 2:01.13 in the 200-butterfly. Pulskamp’s finish was once again a season-best finish for a UK individual. Pulskamp also captured first in the 100-fly with a clip of 55.53.
Despite a second-place tap in the 400-medley relay, Kentucky’s squad captured a season-best time in the event with a finish of 3:46.25, bettering the previous mark of 3:46.57 set at the Tennessee Invitational. Freshman Claire Archibald, Graessle, Pulskamp and sophomore Jenna Newsome comprised the quartet that topped the season-high time.
On the men’s side, sophomore Tyler Reed and junior Kyle Greene formed a one-two punch to take the top two spots in the 200-free for the first wins of the afternoon for the Blue and White. Reed used just 1:39.39 to finish, while Greene earned a time of 1:40.73 in the event.
Senior Shane Eliason earned a season-best time in his second-place finish in the 100-back with a finish in a time of 49.81. Eliason would later capture the top spot in the 200-back with a clip of 1:48.79.
Juniors Eric McGinnis and Alex Forbes swept the two sprint freestyle events for Kentucky as they finished in that order in both the 50- and 100-free. McGinnis touched in 20.49 and Forbes in 20.88 in the 50-free, and then scored times of 45.02 and 45.51, respectively in the 100-free. Both men earned season-best times in the 100-free in their finishes against the Tigers.
The Blue and White wrapped up the meet with a victory in the 200-free relay. McGinnis and Forbes were joined by Greene and Eliason in the event tapping in a time of 1:21.30, a full second ahead of LSU.
Kentucky returns to action again on Saturday at Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. The men will dual with Missouri, while the women will face both the Tigers and the host Razorbacks.
Complete coverage of the UK swimming and diving teams can be found at Kentucky’s homepage on UKathletics.com.
