Jan. 30, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A week ago the University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams saw two athletes break school records, eight achieve NCAA provisional standards and 29 athletes score career-best marks. Saturday the two squads will return to action for the final dual meet of the season when they travel to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats.
The diving portion of the meet begins at noon, with the swimmers hitting the blocks at 1 p.m. at the Keating Aquatics Center.
A week ago, the UK women thumped in-state rival Louisville for their 16th consecutive victory over the Cardinals. Juniors Casey Miller and Megan Pulskamp etched their names atop the record books with victories in the 200-individual medley and 100-fly, respectively. Both times in their victories are school records and NCAA `B’ time standards.
Adding to the success of the Blue and White were sophomores Chatham Penrod and Jessie Snowden. Penrod, who was a medical redshirt a season ago, has blossomed in her second season and set career-best times in both backstroke wins a week ago. Snowden has been a force to be reckoned with all season long on the boards. The reigning SEC Freshman Diver of the Year has been on a torrid run racking up seven wins in the team’s last four meets on the springboards.
On the men’s side, freshman Morne’ Boshoff earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after posting a pair of wins in UK’s loss to Louisville a week ago. He set career-best times in the 500 and 1000-free, and achieved an NCAA `B’ mark in the 500. Sophomore Tyler Reed secured an NCAA provisional mark both the 200 and 500-free a week ago to continue his surge in the latter half of the season. Junior Elvis Burrows eclipsed a career-high mark in the 100-fly in his victory, while earning NCAA qualifications for the first time in his career.
Senior diver Justin Smith also had a great meet last week tallying a sweep on the boards for just the second time this season. Smith notched a score of 334.65 on the one-meter which is a career-best and moves him into fourth place all-time at Kentucky.
The Wildcat women will be going for their 16th straight win over the Bearcats, while the men are in search of their 10th consecutive win.
A complete recap following the meet’s action can be found at UKathletics.com on Saturday.
