Jan. 11, 2015
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Kentucky men’s swimming and diving team opened the new year with a loss at Virginia Tech Saturday.
Against the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions, the Wildcats tallied four wins, with a 1-2-3 finish in addition to a first- and second-place showing.
“The men competed hard today against a really good Virginia Tech team,” UK head coach Lars Jorgensen said. “We have to do a lot better in two weeks when we host Louisville, but we’re happy with the progress the team made after the last month away from competition.”
Sophomores Drew Aviotti, Brandon Flynn and Kyle Higgins and freshman Isaac Jones each posted one win, while Flynn also had two second-place finishes and Jones had one.
Kentucky’s most dominating performance came in the 400 individual medley as the Wildcats claimed the top three spots. Flynn won with a 3:59.21, while Jones was second in 4:04.63 and junior Matt Roman third in 4:05.36.
UK’s first win of the day came in the 1,650 freestyle, thanks to Aviotti. The sophomore touched the wall in 15:32.01 to notch the victory by over six seconds. Flynn also finished third in 15:44.01.
Higgins earned the win in the 200 butterfly with a 1:49.93, with Roman finished second in 1:51.56. Jones also notched a victory for the Wildcats with a 4:33.01 in the 500 freestyle.
Roman also placed second in the 100 fly in 50.41, and Flynn’s second runner-up finish was in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:05.79. Freshman Walker Thaning recorded two second-place finishes, in the 100 backstroke with a 50.76 and in the 200 backstroke with a 1:51.27. Sophomores Tanner Anderson and Sean Gunn also finished second, in the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle, respectively.
The Wildcats return home for an in-state clash with Louisville on Jan. 24. The Senior Day contest begins at Noon, ET with diving, while swimming commences at 1 p.m.
For complete news and updates on the Kentucky Swimming and Diving program, go to UKathletics.com/SwimmingDiving. Breaking news, behind-the-scenes updates, photos and more can be found on Twitter at @UKSwimDive and Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive.
