Wildcats Top Northwestern and Southern Illinois, Fall to Mizzou
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Kentucky swimming and diving team finished up the second day of the Mizzou Quad meet on Saturday, securing wins over both Southern Illinois and Northwestern while falling to host No. 15/19 Missouri. Against the Salukis, the men captured a 239-106 victory while the women recorded a 238-106 win. Only the men’s team took on Northwestern, downing the Big Ten Wildcats, 231.5-112.5. Both teams dropped to Mizzou, with the men falling in a 193.5-144.5 decision while the women dropped a 214-124 contest.
With the weekend’s results, the men advance to 2-5 on the season with a 0-3 record in the Southeastern Conference. The women now stand at 1-6 overall and 0-4 in league dual action.
The team showed improvement from yesterday’s competition, recording seven overall victories. The women picked up three wins, while the men had four. Additionally, the women won eight of the 10 events against Southern Illinois and four against Mizzou, while the men won eight against both the Salukis and the Wildcats as well as four over the Tigers.
Brandon Flynn highlighted the meet for the Blue and White with an overall victory in the 400 IM. The junior held a commanding lead over the field in 3:53.52, which is not only an NCAA B cut but is also the ninth-fastest mark in the nation for this season. Flynn also led a sweep of the event against the Salukis, with Andrew Aviotti and Sam Day finishing second and third against SIU in 4:07.07 and 4:09.36, respectively.
Flynn also captured a victory over both SIU and NU in the 200 breast after churning out a season-best 2:04.03, finishing second to Mizzou behind All-American Fabian Schwingenschlogl.
Aviotti paced the Wildcats in an overall win in the 1000 free, clinching a close race over SIU’s Michael Wolfe in 9:18.18. Along with Jamie Stevenson and Bowen Anderson, the trio swept the Tigers, with Stevenson posting a time of 9:25.75 and Anderson completing the trifecta in 9:27.10.
The final individual overall win for the men came from Walker Thaning in the 100 back, who finished in 50.16 seconds with just under one-tenth of a second margin of victory. Against Northwestern, Thaning ad Josh Swart held the top two spots, with the freshman Wildcat finishing in 50.68, also placing third against both Mizzou and SIU.
In the remaining individual races, Kentucky had at least one dual victory in each event. Sean Gunn turned in a winning 50 free performance over SIU, taking second to Northwestern and tying for third with Mizzou in 20.89 seconds. Gunn also swam in the 200 free, rounding out a sweep over Northwestern along with Scott Crosthwaite and Isaac Jones. Crosthwaite led the pack in 1:39.84 to take runner-up against MU and SIU, while Jones’s time of 1:40.09 was good for third against MU and SIU as well as second against NU. Gunn posted a mark of 1:40.33, placing third against Northwestern and fourth in the Mizzou and Southern Illinois duals.
Kyle Higgins and Matt Roman went 1-2 over Northwestern in the 100 fly in 49.28 and 50.38 seconds. Higgins finished second overall behind a Mizzou athlete, taking the win against Southern Illinois.
On the 3-meter springboard, Seb Masterton won over both Northwestern and Southern Illinois with his score of 335.55 points, finishing runner-up overall. Against the Salukis, Masterton led a sweep along with Levi Lindsey’s 308.80 points and Stephen Jou’s 286.80 points.
The men also saw success in the relays, taking an overall victory in the 400 free relay thanks to Gunn, Crosthwaite, Higgins and Jones in 3:02.84. The 200 medley relay lineup of Thaning, Mike Summe, Roman and Cobe Garcia finished in 1:32.34, winning against Southern Illinois and finishing behind both MU and NU.
The women saw two individual victories from a pair of freshmen. Kathryn Painter delivered success in the 400 IM, winning just two and a half seconds away from an NCAA B cut in 4:21.88. The freshman also wrote herself into the UK record books, posting the 10th-fastest time in program laurels. The event was a sweep for the Wildcats with Danielle Galyer finishing second in 4:25.15 and Ann Davies placing third in 4:29.19.
Haley McInerny took the other overall title in individual swims, matching her UK career best of 55.00 seconds. Paired with Kate Kelly’s time of 57.02 seconds, the duo claimed the top two spots against the Salukis.
Kentucky posted sweeps against SIU in the 100 back, 200 free and 200 breast as well. Galyer led the team in the backstroke, finishing third overall in 55.14 seconds. Bridgette Alexander placed immediately behind Galyer in 55.69 seconds, and Kristen Keifer took third against SIU in 58.80 seconds. The 200 free was led by Geena Freriks in 1:51.48, just missing out on an overall win by less than two-hundredths of a second. Meredith Whisenhunt and Kendal Casey finished second and third against SIU in 1:53.06 and 1:53.09. Freriks also led the team in the 50 free in 23.94 seconds, taking fourth overall but winning over SIU.
Kendra Crew led the 200 breast, finishing third overall behind two of the nation’s strongest breaststrokers in 2:18.60. Ann Davies was fourth overall in 2:20.46, good for second against the Salukis, and Allyson Dupay touched in at 2:22.84 for third against SIU.
On the 1-meter springboard, Courtney Clark and Kailey Francetic finished second and third, respectively, 3against SIU with 249.15 and 247.70 points.
The women picked up an overall relay win in the 400 free, as McInerny, Alexander, Casey and Whisenhunt combined for the fastest time of the season in 3:27.64. Kentucky also secured another win over SIU in the 200 medley relay, placing behind Mizzou with Galyer, Crew, McInerny and Freriks’s combined time of 1:44.39.
Kentucky will take a two-week break in preparation for the Ohio State Invitational. The Wildcats will head to Columbus, Ohio, for a three-day meet on Nov. 20-22.
“I thought we were pretty good today. A little inconsistent; some good, some not so good or need to be better,” noted head coach Lars Jorgensen. “So I’m looking forward to being really good two weeks from now.”
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive, and on the web at ukathletics.com.
