Jan. 23, 2010
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Several Kentucky swimmers and divers notched NCAA qualifying standards in a loss to Louisville on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals defeated the UK men 181-119 and the women by a 207.5-90.5 margin.
The UK women opened the meet with a victory in the 200-medley relay behind an NCAA `B’ qualifying time standard. Kentucky clocked in a time of 1:41.79 behind the quartet of juniors Chatham Penrod and Lindsey Graessle, senior Megan Pulskamp and junior Jenna Newsome. Penrod opened the race in the backstroke leg with a clip of 25.82, followed by a 28.70 split from Graessle’s breaststroke leg. Pulskamp took the butterfly portion of the race and earned a 24.52 split, while Newsome anchored with a 22.75 time in the freestyle leg.
Penrod paced the field with a first-place finish in the 100-backstroke. The junior edged the field while earning an NCAA `B’ time standard with a time of 55.61. Penrod then took her second event of the day with a win in the 200-back by clocking in at 2:00.82 to lead the field.
Pulskamp was the first finisher in the 100-butterfly with a time of 55.08. She would then go to place second in the 200-fly behind a clip of 2:02.42 in the event.
On the men’s side, the Blue and White placed second with the squad of senior Kyle Greene (23.62), sophomore Matt Russell (25.28) and seniors Elvis Burrows (21.35) and Eric McGinnis (19.42) in the 200-medley relay. Despite the second-place tap the quartet did achieve an NCAA `B’ time standard by clocking at 1:29.67.
Kentucky’s junior Tyler Reed and Greene claimed a one-two finish in the 200-freestyle. Reed edged his teammate for the top spot with a time of 1:38.71. Greene tapped the wall with a time of 1:39.66 for second place.
McGinnis and Burrows led the field by earning the top two slots in the 50-free, and both also achieved an NCAA `B’ time standard in the event. McGinnis touched the wall in 20.02 while Burrows came in at 20.07.
Burrows would then lead the 1-2 finish for the Blue and White in the 100-fly. Burrows claimed a time of 48.90 to lead the pack and classmate Warren Grobbelaar took second with a clip of 49.04.
On the boards, freshman John Fox won the three-meter event with a score of 324.08, nearly 20 more points than the next finisher. After a first-place finish on the three-meter, Fox also earned valuable points with a second place score on the one-meter. He turned in a 282.23 mark on the one-meter for a solid all-around day.
The men concluded the meet by taking the 400-free relay with the quartet of McGinnis, Alex Forbes, Reed and Greene with a time of 2:58.06 and the final NCAA `B’ time standard of the day. McGinnis took the opening leg with a 45.07 clip followed by Forbes’ 44.42 split. Reed was third with a time of 44.41 and Greene anchored with a 44.16 split.
The Wildcats will wrap up their dual meet season with a final home meet on Sat. Jan. 30. Kentucky welcomes Vanderbilt’s women’s squad and both Cincinnati squads. The meet will also serve as senior day as 15 UK athletes will compete at the Lancaster Aquatic Center for the final time. Meet time is set for a 1 p.m. ET start.
For the most up-to-date information regarding the Kentucky swimming and diving squads please visit UKathletics.com.
