Masterton Dives His Way into UK Laurels at Miami Open
OXFORD, Ohio/FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Kentucky’s swimming and diving team had a small contingent of competitors in action over the weekend, split between the Miami Open for six divers and the AT&T Winter Nationals for a group of four swimmers.
On the first day of the Miami Open, Seb Masterton was the highest collegiate finisher in the platform diving, notching a career-best 335.80 points for fifth overall and moving the freshman up from seventh to fourth on the Kentucky all-time top-10 list, followed by Stephen Jou in sixth with a personal-best 258.25 points. Noah Richter rounded out the UK men’s competitors with 197.95 points, good for 12th. For the women, Rebecca Hamperian had a season-best 200.85 points on platform, also finishing as the top collegiate competitor and fifth overall, while Courtney Clark recorded 198.60 points to finish sixth and Kailey Francetic took seventh with 196.60 points.
The second day of the Miami Open saw a victory from Masterton in the 1-meter dive, with a personal record of 378.10 points. Masterton broke into the top-10 dives in UK history in the event, with the fifth-highest score in program laurels. In the consolation finals, Richter placed second with 294.35 points, and Jou took fourth with 269.30 points. Hamperian and Clark both made the A final for the 3-meter dive, paced by Hamperian’s 282.65 points for sixth while Clark notched 263.60 points for seventh place and a personal best. In the consolation finals, Francetic took second with 267.20 points, also a career best for the freshman.
Masterton recorded another career best on the 3-meter springboard, placing second overall with 384.90 points. With his score, Masterton now owns the fifth-best 3-meter performance in school history. In the consolation finals for the men, Jou and Richter went 1-2 with 306.55 and 305.15 points, marking a career best for Jou. Francetic paced the women on the 1-meter springboard with a career-best 288.85 points to take third overall, followed by Hamperian in fifth with 283.35 points. Clark took the title in the consolation final with a career mark of 285.30 points.
At the AT&T Winter Nationals, UK had four representatives between current swimmers and postgrad athletes. Kentucky alum Abby Myers was the only Wildcat to advance to a final out of the preliminary heats, earning the 15th seed in the long course meters 200 fly in 2:15.75. Myers went on to finish eighth in the B finals in 2:17.70. The former Wildcat also competed in the C final of the LCM 100 fly after posting a seed time of 1:01.11 in the prelims, and took eighth in the final in 1:01.53. Competing alongside Myers was UK record holder Christina Bechtel, who finished the LCM 100 fly in 1:02.50 and the LCM 200 fly in 2:17.78. The final postgrad to compete was Kristen Wilson in the LCM 100 and 200 free, who touched in at 1:00.37 and 2:14.93, respectively. George Greenhalgh represented the current Wildcats, notching a 1:04.15 in the LCM 100 breast.
Kentucky swimming and diving will be off until the New Year, when UK hosts Southeastern Conference foe LSU as well as Virginia Tech in a tri meet on Jan. 8-9, 2016.
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.
