March 20, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Junior Megan Pulskamp scored her first career individual All-America honorable mention distinction with a 14th place finish in the 100-butterfly Friday night at the 2009 NCAA Championships.
The junior earned a time of 52.75 for her third career All-America honor and first career top-16 individual finish. As a sophomore she was a member of the fifth place 200-free relay squad and 15th in the 400-free relay. Earlier this season she set the UK school record with a time of 52.21 in her second place finish in the event at the SEC Championships.
In addition to her stellar individual performance, Pulskamp teamed up with sophomores Chatham Penrod and Lindsey Graessle and freshman Kelsi Hall in the 200-medley relay. The Wildcats secured an 18th place finish, despite a pair of suit issues, in that event with a combined time of 1:39.66. The time was a mere shade off of placing in the top-16 in the country.
Penrod took the first leg of the event, swimming backstroke, and she earned a split of 25.17. Graessle took the breaststroke leg and earned a split of 28.09. Pulskamp swam the butterfly leg in a split of 23.57, with Hall anchoring the freestyle leg in a time of 22.83. Both Penrod and Hall suffered tears in their suits during the event.
Additionally, Graessle and Penrod were among the individual field in the 100-breast and 100-back, respectively. In their first ever individual races on the national stage, both turned in impressive performances.
Graessle placed 48th overall with a time of 1:03.02. She will return to the pool in the individual 200-breast leg as well.
Penrod scored a 39th place finish with a time of 54.00, nearly matching her career-best time of 53.92 she set at the SEC Championships. She was a member of the 2007 NCAA Championship team, but did not get to compete in any individual races–making today’s run her first career individual appearance. The redshirt sophomore will also compete in the 200-backstroke Saturday.
With Pulskamp’s finish, Kentucky scratched the scoreboard with three points to finish 33rd through two days of the NCAA Championships.
Complete coverage of the Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team at the NCAA Championships can be found by visiting UKathletics.com. For complete information regarding the national meet please visit www.aggieathletics.com/ncaa2009/swimming/women/
