No. 13 UK Women’s Swimming Defeats Marshall, 159-92, on Wednesday
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After sweeping a total of 10 events, the No. 13 University of Kentucky women’s swim team cruised past Marshall, 159-62, on Wednesday afternoon at the Lancaster Aquatic Center.
“Overall, I thought we had a good meet after a long stretch of hard training,” said head coach Lars Jorgensen. “A big thanks goes to Marshall for making the trip on such short notice, and I thought they had a great meet. I’m excited for our team to get a little better before we go again next weekend.”
Riley Gaines won three individual events during the meet, taking the top spot in the 50 free (22.92), 100 free (49.66), and 200 free (1:46.68). The senior also anchored the 200 medley relay in 22.79 along with Sophie Sorenson (26.17), Bailey Bonnett (27.99), and Izzy Gati (24.52) who combined in a winning time of 1:41.47.
Taking first in both the 100 breast and 200 breast was Gillian Davey who clocked in at 1:02.82 and 2:13.51, respectively. Bonnett touched at 2:17.27 to place second in the 200 breast, also getting her hands to the wall second in the 200 fly in 2:01.88 behind Gati’s winning time of 2:00.04.
Like Bonnett, Kaelan Daly also registered a pair of runner-up finishes in both the 50 free (24.01) and 100 free (51.98). Olivia Mendenhall (1:03.00) and Bridget Engel (1:03.27) finished second and third behind Davey in the 100 breast while Engel also took third in the 200 breast (2:18.52).
The Wildcat backstrokers were led by Caitlin Brooks and Sorenson, with Brooks finishing first in the 100 back (53.04) and second in the 200 back (1:56.61). Sorenson finished just ahead of Brooks in the 200 back with a time of 1:56.61 in addition to posting a time of 54.62 to earn the runner-up spot in the 100 back.
Beth McNeese paved the way in the 1000 free, turning in a time of 10:03.21 to finish ahead of teammates Kelly Rodriguez (10:04.98) and Kaylee Williams (10:14.66).
Both the UK men and women squads return to action on Saturday, Jan. 22 when the Wildcats travel to Louisville to face the Cardinals at 1 p.m. ET inside the Ralph Wright Natatorium.
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.
