Bechtel Sixth, UK Earns Six All-America Honors at NCAAs
March 20, 2015
Day Two Results: Prelims, Finals | Video: Bechtel Recaps Day Two
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior Christina Bechtel placed sixth in the 100 butterfly and four Kentucky swimmers earned a total of six All-America accolades on the second day of the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday in Greensboro, N.C.
Bechtel earned her fourth All-America honor of her career and the third of this year’s championships with a sixth-place finish in the 100 butterfly. She became third Wildcat in program history to be named First Team All-America in the 100 butterfly.
Bechtel, along with sophomore Danielle Galyer and seniors Abby Myers and Kristen Wilson also hauled in Honorable Mention All-America accolades when they placed 15th in the 800 freestyle relay.
Galyer earned a trip to the consolation finals in the 100 backstroke and placed 11th overall in 51.83. She finished just 0.07 seconds shy of matching her own school record time and was named an Honorable Mention All-American for a team-high-tying third time in the past two days.
“I’m really proud of our team effort today,” head coach Lars Jorgensen said. “I’m extremely happy with Christina’s first 100 butterfly final. Danielle was outstanding again, her first individual NCAA points of her career. It was a great day and tomorrow is going to be another big day and we need to finish on a high note.”
After the second day of the NCAA Championships, UK is in 19th place with 44 points. The Wildcats are sixth among SEC teams. The three-day championship concludes Saturday with the final seven events.
Bechtel’s sixth-place finish came in 51.68 after a 51.24 in the prelims. The senior edged Missouri’s Dani Barbiea by 0.05 seconds to finish sixth in her first second individual NCAA final of her career.
Kentucky’s 800 freestyle relay team of Galyer, Bechtel, Myers and Wilson recorded a time of 7:07.23 in the morning’s prelims. The Wildcats had to wait until the evening’s finals to determine they earned a top-16 finish and All-America honors. UK placed in the top 15 by a 0.10-second margin.
Along with Bechtel in the 100 butterfly, Myers placed 21st overall. The senior won her heat with a personal best time of 52.30, the third-fastest time in program history.
Freshman Bridgette Alexander also swam in the 100 backstroke and finished 24th overall. She swam a personal-best 52.86, the second-fastest time in the UK record books to finish second in her heat.
On 3-meter diving, senior Christa Cabot finished 27th with a 304.30. Sophomore Rebecca Hamperian was 35th with a 289.75.
The NCAA Championships conclude Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. UK will have seven entries in four events on Saturday. Live swimming results are available at swmeets.com/Realtime/NCAA/2015/, while diving results can be found on DiveMeets.com. Video from prelims will be streamed on GoPack.com, while ESPN3 and WatchESPN will have a live stream of Saturday’s finals action.
Additional updates and behind-the-scenes notes and photos can be found at @UKSwimDive, the official Twitter account of the UK swimming and diving program.
For complete news and updates on the Kentucky Swimming and Diving program, go to UKathletics.com/SwimmingDiving. Breaking news, behind-the-scenes updates and more can be found on Twitter at @UKSwimDive and Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive.
