Jan. 5, 2013
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Kentucky swimming team dropped its first meet of 2013 to LSU Saturday. The men fell 155-107 and the women were defeated 176-83. With a short turnaround after the holiday break and a long road trip ahead of them, head coach Gary Conelly thought this might be a tough start to the New Year. It proved to be so, but not without some bright spots on the afternoon.
“Some ups and downs,” said Conelly. “I was very happy with Lucas Gerotto, John Bullock and Abby Myers. They swam some very tough, competitive races and took a big step towards having great SEC meets.”
Junior Lucas Gerotto continued to be a force for the men’s team this season with a two-win performance on the afternoon. Gerotto, typically known for his dominance in the 100-butterfly, not only won that event, but also picked up a win in the 100-backstroke. The latter came first, as Gerotto touched the wall first with a time of 50.41. Later in the meet, he continued his season-long winning streak in the 100-butterfly with a winning time of 49.37.
Travis Green also had a solid day for the men’s side. The senior earned a pair of second place finishes on the afternoon. His first came in the 1650-freestyle with a final time of 16:13.37. He picked up another second place time in the 500-freestyle, finishing with a 4:40.17.
A sophomore and a freshman had the biggest days for the women. Sophomore Abby Myers picked up a winning time of 5:03.83 in the 500-freestyle. She also came in second in the 1650-freestyle earlier in the meet, finishing at 17:36.37.
Freshman Laura Dawson had two backstroke runner-up times on the day. The first came in the 100-backstroke finishing at 58.34. In the 200-backstroke, she earned a final time of 2:05.81.
John Bullock, a senior out of Louisville, Ky., picked up a solid win in the 200-freestyle. His time of 1:42.02 was good for the victory and his lone win of the day.
“Some of the team was a little flat and looked like they needed to make up for some missed training from the holidays,” said Conelly. “We are going to hunker down and get ready for our last two dual meets.”
Kentucky will be in action again in a few weeks when the host the University of Louisville on Senior Day on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 12:30 p.m. at the Lancaster Aquatic Center.
