Nov. 20, 2009
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After night two of the Tennessee Invitational the Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams remain in control of the leaderboard with four more combined victories and seven NCAA `B’ qualifying time standards during the second day of competition.
Kentucky’s men have scored 614 total points and lead the host Volunteers by just 14 points as Tennessee has racked up 604 points. Alabama is third with 555 and Virginia Tech in fourth with 401 points.
On the women’s side UK has tallied 574.5 points with Virginia Tech in second having totaled 548.5 points. Tennessee is third with 543.5 and Alabama in fourth with 507.5 points.
Megan Pulskamp earned her second individual victory in as many days with a first-place tap in the 100-butterfly. Pulskamp posted an NCAA `B’ time having clocked in at 53.78. Mandy Myers placed fifth with a time of 55.98.
The women began the evening by capturing a win in the 200-medley relay. Kentucky charted a 1:40.60 first-place time which is good for an NCAA `B’ mark. Chatham Penrod earned a split of 25.63 in the backstroke leg and Lindsey Graessle totaled a 28.32 split in the breaststroke portion. Pulskamp clocked in a 23.71 split in the butterfly portion and Jenna Newsome anchored the freestyle leg with a time of 22.94.
Chelsea Peterson captured second in the 200-freestyle to lead four UK swimmers among the top seven finishers. Peterson touched the wall in a time of 1:50.30. Trina Winsor led a five-six-seven finish with Kayla Sergesketter and Casey Miller tapping in just behind her. Winsor clocked in a time of 1:50.79, Sergesketter in 1:50.90 and Miller in 1:52.06.
Graessle scored a third place finish in the 100-breaststroke with a time of 1:03.05. Penrod earned a second place finish in the 100-backstroke with an NCAA `B’ mark of 54.43 in the event. Claire Archibald posted a fourth place tap in a time of 56.32 and Megan Eppler scored a career-best time with a sixth place finish in 56.63 seconds.
The women capped off the night with a second place finish in the 800-freestyle relay. Peterson went first with a time of 1:51.81. Winsor followed with a split of 1:49.96. Miller was the third leg and clocked in a time of 1:51.57. Sergesketter anchored the race and tapped the wall in 1:51.09.
On the men’s side, Warren Grobbelaar and Tyler Reed earned individual victories for the Blue and White with both athletes also notching NCAA `B’ qualifying time standards in their wins.
Grobbelaar posted a 47.53 time in the 100-fly to lead all swimmers. Elvis Burrows (48.53) placed fourth and Alex Forbes (48.81) scored a fifth place tap to aid the Wildcat cause.
Reed led three UK swimmers in the 200-freestyle. He touched the wall in a time of 1:35.26 with Kyle Greene placing sixth with a clip of 1:38.87. Travis Green claimed eighth in a time of 1:40.82.
Julio Vallette captured quality points for the Wildcats with a fifth-place finish in the 100-breaststroke. Vallette totaled a 55.77 time – which is a career-best in the event.
Green earlier in the night led the Wildcat finishers with a sixth place touch in the 400-individual medley. Green needed 4:01.35 to earn the points for the Blue and White.
The men’s relays notched NCAA `B’ qualifying marks in both the 200-medley and the 800-free relay.
Despite a second place finish in the medley relay UK earned a 1:29.54 time in the event which meets the NCAA standards. Zach McGinnis took the backstroke leg and earned a clip of 23.72. Vallette scored a 25.05 time in the breaststroke portion with Burrows needed 21.46 in the butterfly leg. Forbes anchored the freestyle portion and posted a 19.31 split.
In the 800-free relay UK once again placed second overall with a time of 6:33.60 and an NCAA `B’ standard. Forbes went first for the Wildcats and posted a 1:40.46 split. Green swam a split of 1:38.91 and Greene a 1:39.05 for the middle legs of the race. Reed anchored and posted a team-best split of 1:35.18.
Action resumes tomorrow in Knoxville. Preliminary heats begin in the morning with the finals heats set for 3 p.m. ET.
For the most up-to-date information regarding the Kentucky swimming and diving squads please visit UKathletics.com.
