The Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team beat Northwestern and Southern Illinois as the UK men’s team beat SIU on the final day of quad meet competition Saturday at the Lancaster Aquatics Center.
The UK women beat Southern Illinois, 273-80 and Northwestern 206-147, while the men beat Southern Illinois, 273-80. The women lost to Missouri, 199-154, and the men lost 208-145 to Northwestern and 228-120 to Missouri.
Saturday, seniors Christina Bechtel and Abby Myers notched wins for the Wildcats after Bechtel and sophomore Kendal Casey and Kyle Higgins recorded wins on Friday.
“It was a great weekend, overall I was pleased with how both teams did,” UK head coach Lars Jorgensen said. “This quad meet format really helps prepare you for the Ohio State Invitational in two weeks and the SEC and NCAA Championships. For us, that was really beneficial. Both the men’s and women’s teams were more competitive than they’ve been, so it was a good weekend.”
Bechtel recorded Kentucky’s first win of the day with a 53.06 in the 100 butterfly. The win marked the senior’s seventh victory in seven races in the butterfly in the 2014-15 season. Bechtel’s win came by 0.70 seconds.
Two events later, the Wildcats tallied a one-two finish in the women’s 200 freestyle. Myers touched the wall first in 1:50.83, followed closely by fellow senior Kristen Wilson, who posted a season-best 1:51.35.
UK recorded six additional runner-up finishes, in addition to Wilson’s. The Wildcats opened the second day of competition with second-place finishes in two of the first three events, the women’s 200 medley relay and Andrew Aviotti in the men’s 1,000 freestyle. Kentucky’s relay squad finished in 1:42.36, while Aviotti touched the wall in 9:21.21.
Sophomore Danielle Galyer placed second in the 100 backstroke with a 55.22. Galyer also placed third with a season-best 4:23.68 in the 400 individual medley. On the weekend, she posted three second-place finishes and one third-place showing.
Fellow sophomore Brandon Flynn placed second in the 200 breaststroke with a season-best 2:06.52. Flynn also finished third in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:00.80.
Kyle Higgins, who won his first event of the season Friday, recorded a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly. The sophomore notched a season-best 49.73.
The Wildcats’ final second-place finish came in the final event of the day, the women’s 400 freestyle relay. Myers, senior Blair Kuethe, sophomore Kendal Casey and Wilson totaled a time of 3:27.77.
Bechtel and Casey also recorded a third-place finish, with a 23.58 in the 50 freestyle and a 10:11.78 in the 1,000 freestyle, respectively.
Kentucky closes the fall competition season at the Ohio State Invitational, Nov. 21-23 in Columbus, Ohio. The Wildcats will go up against host-Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Virginia and Kenyon.
The Southern Illinois University swimming and diving teams finished an action packed weekend on Saturday, with several individuals putting together strong races for the Salukis.
Competing against some of the toughest competition so far this season, SIU had some standout performances on day two.
Freshmen duo Kelsie Walker and Bryn Handley led the Salukis to a win in the 1000-yard freestyle in the dual against Missouri, finishing first and second respectively. The freshmen pair have been outstanding for the Salukis so far this season.
Till Pallmann kept his momentum from Friday, finishing first in the men’s 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle in the dual against Kentucky. Pallmann, along with Andre Brilhante, Shaun Wolfe, and Calvin Kolar gave the Salukis a boost in the 400-yard freestyle Relay, finishing second behind Northwestern, but earning wins in the duals against UK and Missouri.
SIU will have almost two weeks off before returning to action, when the teams travel to Louisville, Ky., Nov. 21-23 for the Louisville Invite.
