Kentucky Women Veterans and Freshmen Lead As Wildcats Top South Carolina, Ohio

Kentucky vs. South Carolina, Ohio

• Friday, October 18, 2019
• Lancaster Aquatic Center, Lexington, KY
• SCY
• Full Results
• Scores
  • Men: Kentucky – 197.5, South Carolina – 1:02.50
  • Women: Kentucky – 200, South Carolina – 100; Kentucky 251, Ohio 49; South Carolina – 234, Ohio – 66

Women’s Recap

Kentucky won by wide margins over South Carolina (200-100) and Ohio (251-49), led by both experienced veterans and a strong contingent of freshmen.

The Wildcats opened up the action by sweeping top two spots in the 200 medley relay, with the ‘A’ relay winning with a 1:41.22. Freshman Caitlin Brooks (#8 recruit in 2019) led off that relay in 24.92, out splitting Kentucky’s senior backstroke star Asia Seidt, 24.92 to 25.32.

Ali Galyer doesn’t swim much distance freestyle, but she swam her first 1000 free in two years tonight and won with a new personal best time of 10:01.65. She also swam the 200 back, a much more traditional event for her, and took that in 1:56.25.

Seidt also doubled for the Wildcats, following up Galyer’s first victory with a 1:48.84 in the 200 free, and she also won the 100 fly in 54.51.

Bailey Bonnett also got two wins for the Wildcat, and just like Seidt and Galyer, one of those wins came in an “off” event for her. First, she took the 100 breast in 1:02.28, then won the 500 free, an event she doesn’t swim much, in 4:52.79, touching over three seconds ahead of the field.

We ranked the Wildcats freshman class as #8 in the nation, and the early returns have been promising. The aforementioned Brooks out dueled Galyer in the 100 back, 53.28 to 54.57. Fellow freshmen Gillian Davey won the 200 breast (2:14.72) and Lauren Poole won the 200 IM in 2:03.23. Kentucky also got wins from Lauren Edelman (2:00.85 in the 200 fly) and Riley Gaines (50.65 in the 100 free).

South Carolina picked up two wins, with Christina Lappin taking the 50 free in 23.24, and the Gamecocks 400 free relay capping off the meet with a 3:25.32.

Ohio wasn’t able to clip Kentucky or South Carolina for any event wins, but Hannah Schlegel did manage a 2nd place finish in the 1000 free, recording a time of 10:10.23 that was over two second ahead of the next-closest finisher.

Men’s Meet

Just as on the women’s side, Kentucky got things going with a win in the 200 medley relay, taking it by over a second in 1:28.91.  South Carolina’s ‘B’ relay finished 0.02s ahead of its ‘A’ relay.

Glen Brown led the Wildcats with three individual wins. First, he led a Wildcat 1-4 sweep in the 200 free, touching first in 1:38.45. He later won the 200 breast (2:03.20) and the 200 IM (1:50.01), capping an impressive triple.

Hank Siefert swept the distance events for the Wildcats, first taking the 1000 free in 9:26.06, as Kentucky swept the top three spots. He completed the distance double by winning the 500 free in 4:30.04. South Carolina used to have one of the better distance crews in the nation, but have taken a step back in that discipline after a couple key graduations, not to mention the departure of distance coach Mark Bernardino for NC State.

Peter Wetzlar also won two events for Kentucky, first taking the 50 freshman in 20.01, then the 100 free in 44.26. South Carolina’s Lewis Burris, who transferred from UVA and had a strong summer in LCM, took 2nd in both events (20.35/44.87).

South Carolina got a pair of victories from Kevin Liu, who first tied Kentucky’s Alex Taylor in the 100 back (49.93), and then went on to win the 200 back (1:49.07).

Kentucky Release

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Claiming first place in 28 of 32 events, the RV/No. 19 University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Ohio and South Carolina in their second meet of the season on Friday.

The No. 19 Kentucky women’s team defeated Ohio in a 251-49 decision and took down its first Southeastern Conference opponent of the season, South Carolina, on a 200-100 mark. The squad remains undefeated this season, claiming a perfect 4-0 record thus far.

The men’s team defeated South Carolina, 197.5-102.5, giving them a 2-1 record on the season.

“On the women’s side, I thought we competed well,” said UK head coach Lars Jorgensen. “Lauren Edelman’s 200-yard butterfly was probably the swim of the meet. I thought Ali Galyer was outstanding in the 200-yard backstroke and the 1,000-yard freestyle. I think we’re going to have to be a little bit better next week against a really good Texas team, but we look forward to going to Austin.”

“On the men’s side, Peter Wetzlar and Glen Brown led the way,” Jorgensen said. Peter is swimming great right now, and Glen continues to rise to the occasion. As for the divers, Chase Lane and Kyndal Knight won both springboards. They have been phenomenal through our first two meets of the season.”

Wetzlar helped lead the men to its second win of the season, finishing in first place in three of his four events in the tri-meet. For the second time this season, he topped the 50-yard freestyle field in 20.01, improving his season-opener time by a tenth of a second for the fifth-fastest time in the nation. He also took first place in the 100-yard freestyle in 44.26, the seventh-fastest time in the nation.

The senior from Zimbabwe also swam the fastest anchor leg in the 200-yard medley relay on a split 19.83 (1:28.91).

Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Caitlin Brooks remained undefeated in the 100-yard backstroke, recording first place in 53.28. She shed over one full second off her season-opening time to record the fourth-best time in the nation on Friday.

Brooks wasn’t the only freshman standout for the women’s team. Freshman Gillian Davey collected her first individual win of her collegiate career, claiming gold in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:14.72. Freshman Lauren Poole also recorded her first career first-place finish, touching the pad in 2:03.23 in the 200-yard individual medley.

Once again, Kentucky won each of its diving events. Knight remains undefeated on the springboards this season, claiming gold on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 309.20 and on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 334.20.

Lane took gold on both springboards, too.  He recorded a 350.65 on the 1-meter board and 360.50 on the 3-meter board.

“I thought today was a good day for us,” said head diving coach Ted Hautau. “We’re still in a bit of a learning phase for us, but I thought for early season we did well. Kyndal came back after missing a dive on the 3-meter list but drilled the remainder of them to clutch out a win. I thought the girls on the 1-meter board were extremely consistent, and they were able to stay vertical. We weren’t quite as consistent on the 3-meter board.

“They’re getting a lot better, and the freshman still have to learn their air game. But they’re learning faster, and the upperclassmen are good at teaching them. Chase was awesome, and he and Kyndal added points that we needed to contribute to our team scores. Chase was excellent at this time in the season, and I’m really pleased with that. He showed a lot of poise and technique.”

Next on the Schedule
The Kentucky swimming and diving program will compete against No. 2/5 Texas on Friday, Oct. 25 in Austin, Texas.

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.

Ohio Release

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Ohio women’s swimming & diving team opened up the 2019-20 regular season today with a tri-meet against host Kentucky and South Carolina. The Bobcats fell to the Wildcats, 251-49, and the Gamecocks, 234-66.

Junior Hannah Schlegel (Birdsboro, Pa.) turned in a second-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle, clocking in at 10:10.23. She also placed sixth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:03.94.

Junior Samantha Glass (Villa Hills, Ky.) took fifth place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:06.53. She also finished seventh in the 200-yard backstroke, posting a time of 2:05.89.

Freshman McKenzie Grau (Mason, Ohio) logged a pair of sixth-place finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. Grau recorded a time of 1:05.36 in the breaststroke and finished in 2:07.85 in the IM.

Junior Katherine Garrity (Eagan, Minn.) took sixth in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:26.68.

Redshirt senior Olivia Dillon posted a sixth-place finish on the three-meter dive with a score of 243.70.

Ohio opens up Mid-American Conference competition next Friday (Oct. 25) as it visits Bowling Green for a 5 p.m. ET matchup.

South Carolina Release

COLUMBIA, S.C— The South Carolina swimming and diving women were able to pick up its first team win on the year as they defeated Ohio 234-66 at the Kentucky Tri-meet. The Gamecocks improve to 2-0 all time versus the Bobcats.

The Gamecocks fell to Kentucky on both the men and the women’s side, 197.5-102.5 and 200-100 respectively.

Three South Carolina senior swimmers; Christina Lappin, Kevin Liu and Lionel Khoo each picked up at Friday’s meet.

GAMECOCK NOTABLES
– Senior Christina Lappin took home her first individual win of the season in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.24. Lappin is the program record holder in the event.
– Senior Kevin Liu picked up his first win of the new campaign, as he won the 200 backstroke in 1:49.07, more than a second faster than the second place finisher. He also tied for first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.83.
–  Senior Lionel Khoo continued his winning ways, notching a win in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 55.41.
– The 400 freestyle relay team of Christina Lappin, Mari Kraus, Emily Cornell and Edith Lingmann won its first race of the year with a winning time of 3:25.32.
– Freshman diver Mathilda Roxne reached her NCAA zone qualifying score in the 1-meter dive, registering a 274.35

QUOTEABLE: HEAD SWIMMING COACH MCGEE MOODY
“This is the first time this season we have been on the road against an SEC team. Our women got a good win over a talented Ohio team, our sprinters were solid today and Kevin Liu got two strong event wins. Now we shift our focus to racing a top-5 NC State team next week.”

QUOTEABLE: HEAD DIVING COACH TODD SHERRITT
“Things went very well today. Everything that we’ve been working on got a little bit better here so I really couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m looking forward to getting back and taking some momentum into the next competition.”

Up next for the Gamecocks
The Gamecocks will return home before hitting the road again to face off against No. 3/4 NC State.

For more swimming updates, follow South Carolina Swimming and Diving on Twitter at @GamecockSwim.