Mizzou Invite: Kentucky Dominates Night Two, Wins Eight Events, Breaks One School Record
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 25/No. 8 University of Kentucky swimming and diving teams dominated the second night of the Mizzou Invite in Columbia, Missouri, on Friday, November 20, winning an electric eight of 16 events during the evening session. Of those triumphs, Riley Gaines broke the school record in the 200 freestyle, while she also helped the 800 freestyle relay team earn the second-fastest time in the nation.
Gaines, a sophomore, had a sensational night, breaking the school record in the 200 freestyle. The Nashville, Tennessee, native touched the wall in 1:43.68, more than three full seconds faster than second place and just narrowly more than three tenths of a second faster than the previous record holder Ali Galyer (1:43.99). It marks the first individual school record for Gaines, while she also helped reset the 800 freestyle relay school record in 2019 (6:56.23).
In addition to a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle, Gaines also helped the 800 freestyle relay team to the top time in 7:05.78 – the second-fastest time in the nation. Gaines swam a 1:44.46 in the first 200 yards, followed by Kaitlynn Wheeler (1:46.79), then Izzy Gati (1:47.95) and anchored by Sophie Sorenson (1:46.58).
The men’s team earned a first-place showing in the event, too, earning the top mark of 6:32.28, more than a second faster than Missouri’s second-place finish (6:33.44). Leading the foursome to its victorious finish was Hank Siefert in 1:38.63, followed by Mason Wilby in 1:38.05, then Adam Rosipal in 1:38.98 and anchored by Jakob Clark in 1:36.62.
On the diving side, Kyndal Knight and Danny Zhang swept the springboards in the finals session.
Knight, a junior, remains undefeated this season on the 1-meter springboard, after she topped the preliminaries field on 285.85 points, then rallied a score of 292.70 in the final six dives, her season high on the discipline. Zhang rallied his second first-place finish of the meet, earning 403.75 points on the 3-meter springboard. It marked his season high, too, and the first time he surpassed the 400-point threshold this season. Zhang, a junior, also remains unbeaten on the 3-meter springboard in finals events this season.
The full list of individual triumphs through night two are as follows:
Riley Gaines 200 freestyle 1:43.68
Gillian Davey 400 IM 4:09.68
Izzy Gati 100 butterfly 53.16
Caitlin Brooks 100 backstroke 51.56
Kyndal Knight 1-meter 292.70
Danny Zhang 1-meter 343.05
3-meter 403.75
Beth McNeese 500 freestyle 4:40.69
Hank Siefert 800 freestyle-r 6:32.28
Mason Wilby 800 freestyle-r 6:32.28
Adam Rosipal 800 freestyle-r 6:32.28
Jakob Clark 800 freestyle-r 6:32.28
Riley Gaines 800 freestyle-r 7:05.78
Kaitlynn Wheeler 800 freestyle-r 7:05.78
Izzy Gati 800 freestyle-r 7:05.78
Sophie Sorenson 800 freestyle-r 7:05.78
NCAA Championship “B” Standards
Beth McNeese 500 freestyle 4:40.69
Kaitlynn Wheeler 500 freestyle 4:46.21
200 freestyle 1:46.69
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)
100 backstroke 52.75
Lauren Poole 200 IM 1:59.34 (prelims)
Izzy Gati 200 IM 1:59.51 (prelims)
100 butterfly 52.61 (prelims)
Bailey Bonnett 200 IM 1:59.75
400 IM 4:14.42
Kyle Barker 200 IM 1:46.36
400 IM 3:51.26
Mason WIlby 200 IM 1:46.57
Caitlin Brooks 100 butterfly 53.23
100 backstroke 51.56
Lauren Poole 400 IM 4:10.29
Gillian Davey 400 IM 4:09.68
100 breaststroke 1:00.51
Zane Rosely 400 IM 3:50.88
Riley Gaines 200 freestyle 1:43.68
— 800 freestyle-r 7:05.78
NCAA Zone “C” Championship Diving Standards
Danny Zhang 1m 343.05
3m 403.75
Chase Lane 1m 330.85
3m 382.50 (prelims)
Rodrigo Romero 3m 348.15
Kyndal Knight 1m 292.70
3m 314.45 (prelims)
Following the first two nights of the midseason invitational, the Kentucky women’s team is solid at the top of the team standings and the men’s team is strong in second place with more points to claim tomorrow.
Women’s Team Standings
- Kentucky 844
- Arkansas 597
- Missouri 541
- BYU 55
Men’s Team Standings
- Missouri 866
- Kentucky 722
- Unattached 99
- BYU 29
The remainder of the schedule is as follows:
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 conclude tomorrow, Saturday, November 21, with the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 1650 freestyle and platform.
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.
