Oct. 30, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A number of Kentucky swimmers and divers set in-season best times Saturday against Tennessee at the Lancaster Aquatic Center. It was the Cats’ first home meet of the year.
The Tennessee women’s and men’s teams got victories over Kentucky by the score of 177.5-122.5 and 203-96, respectively. University of Kentucky seniors Kayla Sergesketter and Colin Faris each earned victories in their team’s respective 50-freestyle events though, and lowered their previous times in many other events.
“We were very pleased with our effort,” head coach Gary Conelly said. “It is never fun to lose but we had some performances that took a lot of the sting out of the loss.”
Sergesketter had in-season bests in the 50-, 100- and 200-freestyle events and was the second leg in the Cats’ victorious 200-free relay. Faris turned in his best times of the season in the 50- and 100-freestyle and was the lead swimmer in the Cats’ victorious 200-free relay. Each team’s 200-free relay teams turned in their best times of their respective seasons.
“Kayla Sergesketter is swimming lights out,” Conelly said. “She’s very close to lifetime-best swims. She is on pace to have a fabulous season. Her win in the 100-free was very impressive.”
The women’s team had an especially strong 50-free. It was the first time Sergesketter had swam the 50-free this year, and she wound up turning in the team’s fastest time in the event all season with a 23.36. Jenna Newsome turned in her best time of the season in the 50-free Saturday with a 23.61, and Megan Eppler did the same with a time of 23.78.
In addition to Sergesketter and Faris, the Cats performed very well in the four relay events, winning the women’s 200-medley relay and the women’s and men’s 200-free relay.
The women’s 200-medley relay team of Claire Archibald, Lindsey Graessle, Mandy Myers and Jenna Newsome turned in a time of 1:44.15. The time is Kentucky’s fastest of the season in the 200-medley relay. In the 200-free relay, Eppler, Sergesketter, Myers and Newsome swam a 1:33.53 for first-place honors.
Myers, a junior from Apex, N.C., won the 100-butterfly for UK by tapping in at 55.47. Myers was followed by Kelcy Perry who tied Brooke Watson of Tennessee with a time of 57.33.
The men’s 200-medley relay team, consisting of Faris, Stephen Wimmer, Reinhardt Strijdom and Chip Aplin tapped in first place with a time of 1:22.38.
Faris swam a 20.80 in the 50-free Saturday to get the win for the Cats. His second-place 100-freestyle time was 46.26 seconds.
“Colin Faris led the way for the men with a monster swim in the 50-free,” Conelly said. “The men and women’s 200-free relay were a great finish to the meet. Both men and women free relays have the talent and speed to get to the NCAA Championships.”
Senior Lisa Faulkner and freshman Greg Ferrucci led the women’s and men’s diving teams. Faulkner won the one-meter and 3-meter diving events, scoring a 297.23 in the three-meter, her highest score of the season. Ferrucci, a freshman from Huntersville, N.C., continued his impressive season with a win in the one-meter thanks to a score of 347.40.
“On the boards, Lisa Faulkner and Greg Ferrucci came up with big wins against some of the best divers in the country,” Conelly said. “I really like the direction the team is going. The upcoming Tennessee Invite is going to be a lot of fun the way things are going now.”
The next time the Kentucky swimming and diving teams will compete will be the Tennessee Invitational from Nov. 18-20 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for more news on the swimming and diving teams.
