Nov. 6, 2009
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The University of Kentucky swimming and diving teams fell just short in a dual meet with Virginia Tech this afternoon. A number of UK individuals once again put on spectacular performances, but the Hokies claimed a 161.5-136.5 win over the UK men and a 176-122 victory over UK’s women.
Kentucky combined for 13 victories in today’s meet with juniors Chatham Penrod and Lisa Faulkner both capturing two individual wins for the Blue and White.
To begin the meet, Kentucky’s 200-medley relay taking the opening event. Penrod combined with juniors Lindsey Graessle and Megan Pulskamp and sophomore Kelsi Hall for a 1:44.67 time in the event. Penrod (26.45) opened the backstroke leg with Graessle earning a 30.03 clip in the breaststroke portion. Pulskamp earned a 24.71 clip in the butterfly leg and Hall anchored the freestyle portion with a 23.48 time.
UK’s men narrowly missed a win in the same event as Virginia Tech edged the Wildcats by a tiny margin. The Hokies earned a 1:31.26 clip while UK tapped in a time of 1:31.54.
Junior Tyler Reed picked up the first individual win of the day for the Cats when he captured first in the 200-free with a time of 1:39.84. Reed would go on to earn a second place finish in the 500-free in a time of 4:35.71.
Penrod clocked in a time of 56.81 for her win in the 100-back. The junior followed that performance with a win in the 200-back with a clip of 2:03.77.
Junior Jenna Newsome placed first overall in the 50-free with a time of 23.81. Senior Eric McGinnis followed suit with a win in the same event in a time of 20.58. McGinnis led a sweep in the event by the Blue and White as seniors Elvis Burrows (20.98) and Alex Forbes (21.04) tapped in just behind McGinnis.
Forbes then took his turn as a first-place finisher when he won the 100-free in a time of 45.87. McGinnis placed second clocking in at 46.26. Burrows led a 1-2 finish for the Cats in the 100-fly. Burrows (50.07) edged out classmate Warren Grobbelaar (50.19) in the event.
Pulskamp posted a win in the 100-fly as well on the women’s side by earning the victory in a time of 55.78. Earlier in the meet Pulskamp was the second-place finisher in the 200-fly with a time of 2:04.18.
Sophomore Matt Russell posted his first win of the season by tapping first in the field of the 200-individual medley. Russell clocked in a time of 1:55.26 in the event. He also earned second place in the 100-breast earlier with a time of 58.33.
For the third consecutive meet Faulkner won both diving events by a wide margin. Faulkner scored a 298.50 score in her win on the three-meter. She totaled a 280.20 score on the one-meter in her first win of the day.
Rounding out the wins for the day the UK men capped off the meet by claiming first in the 400-free relay. McGinnis (46.16), Reed (45.39), Forbes (45.77) and senior Kyle Greene (45.95) dominated the event by earning a 3:03.27 time.
The Blue and White also had a number of second place performances in the loss. Freshman Zach McGinnis continues to climb the ladder as he scored two second place taps in the backstroke events. McGinnis touched in a time of 51.89 in the 100-back and a 1:52.49 time in the 200-back.
Graessle placed second in the 100-breast clocking in a time of 1:06.10 in the event. Freshman Maclin Simpson earned a 1:54.28 time in the 200-fly for second place. Senior Casey Miller was second in the women’s 200-individual medley with a time of 2:08.39 and freshman John Fox scored a second-place score of 316.57 on the three-meter board.
Kentucky will have little rest as they hit the water again at 10 a.m. ET Saturday morning. UK will travel to Charlottesville, Va., for a matchup with the Cavaliers of Virginia.
For the most up-to-date information regarding the Kentucky swimming and diving squads please visit UKathletics.com.
