Kentucky’s swimming and diving team ended its tri meet against Southeastern Conference foe LSU and Atlantic Coast Conference member Virginia Tech on Saturday evening. The men recorded the only dual victory between the two teams, with a 198-188 decision over LSU, marking the first time since Jan. 17, 2009 against Alabama that the men had notched a dual victory in SEC action. They dropped their dual to the Hokies, 209-180. The women had a similar outcome against Virginia Tech, falling 203.5-185.5, and also lost to No. 24 LSU, 237.5-151.5.
The men secured four victories over LSU and three against Virginia Tech in the morning session. Against the Tigers, Brandon Flynn, Sean Gunn and George Greenhalgh each secured individual victories.
Flynn posted a 3:59.89 in the 400 IM to win against LSU and finish runner-up against VT, while Isaac Jones took third against the Tigers in 4:02.96. Gunn and Crosthwaite had a strong performance in the 200 free, going 1-2 against LSU and 2-3 against the Hokies in 1:40.19 and 1:40.54. Gunn’s time was just .12 seconds away from claiming the overall victory in the event. Greenhalgh led the Blue and White in the 100 breast, finishing in 55.96 seconds for a time that would win against LSU and finish runner-up against Virginia Tech.
The Wildcats claimed one individual victory against Virginia Tech, with Walker Thaning and Josh Swart going 1-2 in the 100 back in 49.68 and 49.80. In the remaining individual event, Kyle Higgins finished second to both LSU and VT in the 100 fly, touching in at 48.92 seconds.
The morning session featured two relays, beginning the day with the 200 medley relay. The quartet of Thaning, Greenhalgh, Higgins and Gunn combined to post a 1:30.46, which resulted in a victory over the Hokies and a runner-up finish to the Tigers. The 800 free relay highlighted the morning session, as Gunn, Crosthwaite, Higgins and Jones fended off Virginia Tech for the overall win in 6:40.14. The men also secured the second-place finish against LSU with Matthew Beach, Flynn, Andrew Aviotti and Bowen Anderson finishing in 6:49.54.
Freshman diver Seb Masterton secured another victory on the platform with a career-best 337.80 points, edging out VT’s Logan Stevens by a slim .15 points.
In the afternoon session, the men had two wins over LSU and were unable to secure a victory over the Hokies. The 500 free featured a sweep against the Tigers with Higgins in 4:30.33, Aviotti in 4:30.82, and Jones in 4:31.92. The trio finished behind VT’s Michal Szuba, who won the event in 4:30.02.
Another victory over LSU came in the 50 free, in which Cobe Garcia finished just .04 seconds behind VT’s Ian Ho in 20.45 seconds, while Gunn took third against Virginia Tech and fourth against LSU in 20.81 seconds. Crosthwaite led the team in the remaining individual event, clocking a 1:52.61 in the 200 IM to take third against LSU and fourth against the Hokies.
The men finished third overall and runner-up to LSU and Virginia Tech in both the 200 free and 400 medley relays. Garcia, Thaning, Swart and Greenhalgh were the lead lineup in the 200 free relay, clocking in at 1:23.37, while the meet closed out with Thaning, Greenhalgh, Higgins and Gunn combining for a 3:18.21 in the 400 medley relay.
In the first session of the day for the women, the Wildcats had two victories over LSU and three against Virginia Tech. Danielle Galyer and Kathryn Painter both secured overall individual wins, with Galyer recording an NCAA B cut in the 100 back in 54.71 seconds while Bridgette Alexander finished runner-up against LSU and third overall in 55.48 seconds. In the 400 IM, Painter made up ground in the latter 200 to come away with a victory in 4:19.64, less than half a second away from a B cut. Galyer also competed in the 400 IM, finishing second against LSU and third overall in 4:22.33.
In the remaining individual events for the morning session, the lead Wildcat finished runner-up against both opponents. Haley McInerny led the way in the 100 fly in 55.92 seconds, with Meredith Whisenhunt placing fourth against both teams in 57.59 seconds. The 100 breast saw a similar finish, with Kendra Crew placing second to both LSU and VT in 1:04.23 while Ann Davies finished fourth in both duals in 1:06.36. Geena Freriks led the way in the 200 free in 1:51.54 while Kendal Casey notched a 1:52.31, which put the two Wildcats at second and third in both duals.
The women finished runner-up to both LSU and Virginia Tech in the 200 medley relay, with Galyer, Crew, McInerny and Freriks finishing in 1:44.13. Three of the four also capped off the morning session in the 800 free relay, with Freriks, Casey, McInerny and Galyer posting a 7:26.05 to finish second behind LSU and win over Virginia Tech.
On the platform dive, Courtney Clark picked up a win over Virginia Tech and finished third to LSU with 241.35 points, while Rebecca Hamperian took third against the Hokies and fourth against LSU with 221.75 points.
The Wildcat women had one overall victory in the afternoon session, with an additional victory against the Hokies. After dropping a tight 1650 free yesterday to Virginia Tech’s Jessica Hespeler, Casey came back in force in the 500 free to best the Hokie by more than a second and a half in 4:53.68, her fastest dual time of the year. Kelly Berger touched in at 4:59.06, taking third in the LSU dual and fourth against Virginia Tech.
Freriks delivered the final win for the Wildcats, finishing fourth behind an LSU sweep but winning against the Hokies in the 50 free in 24.03 seconds. Haley McInerny paced the team in the 200 IM, finishing third in the VT dual and fifth in the LSU dual in 2:06.36.
The 200 free relay took third in both duals behind Meghan Taylor, Alexander, Erin Hart and Frida Jakobsson’s time of 1:37.06. The women capped off the meet with a 3:44.93 in the 400 medley relay, led off by an NCAA B cut of 54.97 seconds in the 100 back by Galyer along with Crew, McInerny and Freriks.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Jan. 23, when the team will travel to Louisville, Ky., for the annual rivalry meet against the No. 7/11 Cardinals of the University of Louisville. The meet is slated to begin at 1 p.m. inside Ralph Wright Natatorium.
LSU
The No. 24 LSU women’s swimming and diving team improved to 8-0 with a dominating 237.5-151.5 victory over Kentucky and 247-142 win over Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon at the Lancaster Aquatic Center.
“The women came in today with control over the meet and refused to let up,” LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “The intensity from their racing over the three sessions will pay big dividends when it comes to conference time.”
Junior Kara Kopcso dominated the day for the Lady Tigers with two victories. Kopcso finished first in the 100 fly with a time of 53.91 to start things off. The Mandeville, Louisiana capped the afternoon off by touching the wall first in the 200 IM (2:01.21).
The LSU divers also had a strong showing on the final day. Senior Cassie Weil won her ninth event of the season after finishing with a score of 299.50 on platform. Sophomore Madison Sthamann finished second in the event with a score of 243.65.
The LSU women were in total of control of the relay events Saturday, winning all four. The team of Haylee Knight, Colleen O’Neil, Kopcso and Leah Troskot finished the 200-medley relay in 1:41.93. Troskot, Kopcso, Stirrat and Cox teamed up to finish the 800-free relay in 7:21.15.
In the final session, Troskot, Knight, Megan Cox and Stirrat finished the 200 free relay in 1:33.22. Stirrat, O’Neil, Kopcso and Troskot finished things off with the 400-medley relay in 3:42.64.
To start individual competition, Cox took the victory in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.22. O’Neil followed for the women with a win in the 200 breast in 1:02.34. Taryn MacKenzie finished fourth overall in the event with a time of 1:04.29.
To start off the afternoon session, Devon Dabney finished third overall and second to Kentucky and Virginia Tech in the 500 free with a time of 4:56.84. O’Neil finished third overall in the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.56
The Lady Tigers capped off the emphatic victory with a 1-2-3 finish in the 50 free. Troskot earned the victory with a time of 23.31. Knight and Cox followed in second and third with times of 23.56 and 23.78 respectively.
The LSU men fell 237-149 to Virginia Tech and narrowly dropped 198-188 to Kentucky. The Tigers are now 1-3 going into the final stretch of conference season.
The men started off the morning with a victory in the 200-medley relay. Logan Rysemus, Silas Dejean, Alex Linge and Joao Mescolote finished in 1:29.98.
Rysemus finished second against Virginia Tech and took the victory over Kentucky with a time of 48.90 in the 100 fly. Alex Linge and Devin McCaffrey finished fourth and fifth overall respectively.
Dejean was the lead Tiger in the 100 breast. Dejean finished second to both the Wildcats and Hokies with a time of 56.29. Garrett House and Harry Ackland followed in third and fourth place respectively.
The Tigers dominated the 100 back with a strong 1-2-3 finish. Rysemus led the way with a time of 48.82. Thomas Smith (49.52) and Austin Drummond (49.64) followed in second and third place.
The men bookmarked the final session with a victory over Kentucky in the 200 free relay and first place finish overall in the 400-medley relay. Mescolote, McCaffrey, Tyler Harper and Linge finished the 200 in 1:21.39. Rysemus, Dejean, McCaffrey and Linge capped the meet off with a 3:16.63 in the 400.
“Our men refused to roll over at this meet as we showed in our final session,” Geyer added. “When there are so many races over the course of a day and a half, it’s easy to look back and have some what ifs. That being said, we had some areas where we stepped up huge.”
The entire squad returns to action Thursday at 1 p.m. CT against Missouri in the LSU Natatorium. The meet against the Tigers marks the first conference competition at home this season.
