UK swimming and diving pick up victories against Missouri and SIU
October 27, 2013
By Andrew Adkins
UK swimming and diving captured its first victories of the season in Carbondale, Ill., Thursday and Friday against the University of Missouri and Southern Illinois University.
When the two-day tri-meet concluded, the UK men’s and women’s teams had recorded a combined 18 first-place finishes and a 3-1 record.
The women defeated SEC foe Missouri by a score of 228-218 and beat host-team SIU by a final tally of 310-138.
UK junior swimmers Abby Myers and Christina Bechtel and senior Diana Norkus, who finished with the top three times the 200-yard Butterfly, respectively, led the women’s team. Myers also took a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle.
Bechtel seized first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.71 and freshman Kendal Casey took the top time in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a close finish, narrowly defeating SIU senior Pamela Benitez by a score of 10:13:21-10:13:40.
On the men’s side, the Cats defeated SIU 312-136 but lost to Missouri by a final score of 267.5-177.5.
Senior Eric Bruck took home a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.85. The relay team finished first and third in the 200-yard freestyle as Bruck, along with fellow seniors Will Heidler and Chris Lott and junior Derrick Smith led the Cats.
UK freshman Brandon Flynn beat out Missouri junior Igor Kozlovskij in the 400-yard individual medley and also took the first-place honor in the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle.
The diving team was led by seniors Greg Ferrucci, who posted a score of 338.20 and a second-place finish in the men’s one-meter diving event, and Christa Cabot, who took a fourth-place finish in the women’s one-meter dive.
The Cats, led by first-year head coach Lars Jorgensen, will attempt to pick up more wins as they take on the University of Tennessee and University of Indiana in another tri-meet beginning on Nov. 1 in Bloomington, Ind.
