NR/No. 13 Wildcats Come Up Just Short, Falling at No. 16/18 Ohio State
COLUMBUS, OHIO – Eleven Wildcats had a combined 14 gold performances, but it didn’t accumulate enough points as the NR/No. 13 Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams lost to No. 16/18 Ohio State on Saturday at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
“It was a hard fought contest on both sides,” said Lars Jorgensen. “Ohio State swam really well in its home pool this weekend. Our women’s team fought really hard down to the last relay, but they came up short. Freshman Caitlin Brooks had an outstanding meet and really helped lead our women’s team.
“On the men’s side, there were a lot of bright spots. Freshman Jakob Clark did a terrific job in his events. Senior Alex Taylor had an outstanding meet, and senior Peter Wetzlar performed at a very high level as usual. We’ve got a couple weeks of training before we compete again at the end of the month at Louisville.”
The Kentucky women’s team lost to Ohio State after the final event of the meet, trailing Ohio State in the end by just seven points, 163-156. The men’s team also lost to Ohio State, falling 175.5.-142.5.
Kentucky earned 14 first-place finishes in the 34-event meet. Seven were earned by the men’s team and seven were earned by the women’s team. Three freshman were responsible for five of Kentucky’s 14 gold performances, including Brooks who won the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events, Clark who won the 500- and 1000-yard freestyle events and Gillian Davey who won the 200-yard breaststroke.
Brooks was the third-highest scorer of the meet among all female competitors with 20 points overall, while Clark tied for the highest scorer of the meet among all male competitors with 18 points.
The women’s team set the pace early on in its first dual meet of 2020, winning the first event of the meet. The 200-yard medley relay team, which included Brooks, junior Bailey Bonnett and sophomores Izzy Gati and Riley Gaines, took the top prize in the opening event with a time stamp of 1:39.50.
The Kentucky women’s team would go on to collect six more first-place finishes in the dual meet. In the women’s 200-yard freestyle, senior Ali Galyer defeated the field in 1:48.47. Less than two seconds behind Galyer was Gaines who took second place in the event in 1:50.00.
That wasn’t the only 1-2 sweep the women’s team would claim at the dual meet, as a pair of undergraduates would take their honors in the women’s 100-yard backstroke event. Brooks, a two-time Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honoree for her performances in the 100-yard backstroke this season, earned gold in the event with a time of 52.91. Sophomore Sophie Sorenson trailed behind Brooks, earning second place in 55.47.
Brooks, a native of Gainesville, Florida, has achieved a podium finish in the women’s 100-yard backstroke at all six of her meets this season. She has claimed first place three of her six performances in the event.
The freshman also led a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the women’s 200-yard backstroke. Brooks placed first in 1:55.74, followed by Sorenson in 1:58.25, then freshman Lauren Poole in 1:59.69, and senior Alex Nelson took fourth place in 2:02.37.
The UK women’s team didn’t let off the gas when they followed up the four-person sweep in the 200-yard backstroke with a 1-2 sweep in the women’s 200-yard breaststroke. Led once again by a freshman, newcomer Davey took first place in the event with a 2:13.53 time stamp. Bonnett trailed behind Davey, earning second place in 2:14.27.
Senior Asia Seidt won the final individual race of the dual meet, swimming the 200-yard individual medley in 1:59.06.
Sophomore Kyndal Knight recorded a season high on platform, earning a 268.50. The mark qualifies her for the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, an opportunity to earn a ticket to the 2020 NCAA Championships. Her score of 268.50 is just 10 points off her career high of 278.00, which ranks eighth in Kentucky’s all-time platform performances.
Knight won the 1-meter springboard competition Friday evening, defeating the nine-person field with a score of 278.78. It marked her fourth victory on the discipline this season.
The men’s team had its share of gold-worthy performances throughout the morning, winning four of the five freestyle events at the dual meet. Led by freshman Jakob Clark, the distance freestyler took first place in the men’s 500-yard freestyle in 4:30.26 and the 1000-yard freestyle in 9:13.60.
The UK men added two more freestyle event wins to its record as senior Peter Wetzlar grabbed a gold honor in the men’s 100-yard freestyle in 43.80 and senior Jason Head collected first place in the men’s 200-yard freestyle in 1:37.86.
Senior Alex Taylor rocked the men’s backstroke events. He collected a first-place finish in the men’s 100-yard backstroke in 49.07 and second place in the men’s 200-yard backstroke in 1:46.99, a season best. Sophomore Mason Wilby collected a gold finish in the men’s 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall in 1:47.56. Behind him, junior Daniel Orcutt earned second place in 1:48.93.
In the final individual race of the meet, senior Glen Brown led a 1-2 sweep in the 200-yard individual medley. Brown finished in first, touching the wall in 1:48.78, followed by Orcutt in 1:49.06.
Next on the Schedule
The Kentucky swimming and diving program will travel to Louisville, Kentucky, to face No. 13/11 Louisville at the Ralph Wright Natatorium on Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. ET.
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter and on Instagram, on Facebook and on the web at UKathletics.com.
