Mizzou Invite: McNeese, Zhang Earn Triumphs on Night One

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 25/No. 8 University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams concluded the opening night of the Mizzou Invite on Thursday, November 19, as Beth McNeese and Danny Zhang recorded a pair of wins in the 500 freestyle and on 1-meter springboard, respectively. Meanwhile, the Wildcats carded a combined 11 NCAA Championship “B” standards and three NCAA Zone “C” Championship standards through night one.
 
Zhang recorded Kentucky’s first triumph of the invitational, doing so on the men’s 1-meter springboard. He rallied 343.05 points in the discipline’s finals competition, his season best, after carding 302.80 points during preliminaries. The junior defeated Chase Lane, a senior who finished in second place on a score of 330.85, by more than 14 points. The meet marks just the second time Zhang has competed this season, beyond the intrasquad scrimmage in early October.
 
In the opening individual swimming event of finals, McNeese carded a time of 4:40.69 in the 500 freestyle to finish in first place among the 18-person finals field. The sophomore dropped more than three seconds off her preliminaries time of 4:44.28 to earn the top time in the meet, and the third-best time in the nation. Meanwhile, McNeese also carded a NCAA Championship “B” standard in the event for the first time this season.
 
The other championship standards are as follows:
 
NCAA Championship “B” Standards
Beth McNeese                  500 freestyle      4:40.69
Kaitlynn Wheeler             500 freestyle      4:46.21
Kaylee Williams                500 freestyle      4:46.59 (prelims)
Adam Rosipal                    500 freestyle      4:22.52
Hank Siefert                       500 freestyle      4:21.48 (prelims)
Sophie Sorenson              200 IM                 1:58.42 (prelims)
Lauren Poole                     200 IM                 1:59.34 (prelims)
Izzy Gati                              200 IM                 1:59.51 (prelims)
Bailey Bonnett                  200 IM                 1:59.75
Kyle Barker                        200 IM                 1:46.36
Mason WIlby                     200 IM                 1:46.57
 
NCAA Zone “C” Championship Diving Standards
Danny Zhang                     1m                        343.05
Chase Lane                        1m                        330.85
Kyndal Knight                    3m                        314.45 (prelims)
 
Following the first night of the midseason invitational, the Kentucky women’s team tops the team standings and the men’s team is strong in second place with more points to claim throughout the weekend.
 
Women’s Team Standings

1. Kentucky 296
2. Arkansas 272
3. Missouri 262
4. Unattached 13
5. BYU 10

Men’s Team Standings

1. Missouri 437
2. Kentucky 319
3. Unattached 32
4. BYU 15

The remainder of the schedule is as follows:
 
Friday, November 20
10 a.m. ET           Swimming preliminaries
1:30 p.m. ET       Women’s 1m preliminaries, Men’s 3m preliminaries
2:45 p.m. ET       Women’s 1m finals
7 p.m. ET             Swimming finals, Men’s 3m finals
 
Saturday, November 21
10 a.m. ET           Swimming preliminaries
1:30 p.m. ET       Women’s and Men’s platform preliminaries
2:45 p.m. ET       Women’s and Men’s platform finals
7 p.m. ET             Swimming finals
 
The meet will resume tomorrow with the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay, the 800 freestyle relay, the women’s 1-meter springboard and the men’s 3-meter springboard.
 
Missouri has adopted a no general-attendance plan inside the Mizzou Aquatic Center. Fans are encouraged to follow live scoring or tune into the finals events on SEC Network+.
 
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.