Kentucky womens swim and dive places 19th in NCAA Championships

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Kentucky freshman Caitlin Brooks swims in the women’s 200 yard butterfly during the meet against the University of Cincinnati on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, at the Lancaster Aquatic Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo by Jordan Prather | Staff

Kierra Oney, Reporter

Kentucky womens swim and dive concluded its season with a 19th place finish at the 2023 NCAA Championships at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The Cats scored forty-nine points over the duration of the Championships, which took place from Thursday to Saturday. This outcome is the sixth successive top twenty finish for the Cats.

This season marked the third-straight year of Caitlin Brooks and Gillian Davey earning All-American status in their respective events.

Brooks’ season best time of 1:52.35 qualified her for the consolation final in the 200 backstroke and earned her a 15th overall finish.

Davey also recorded a season best time in the 200 breaststroke, reporting a 2:07.26 and taking 13th.

Kentucky had four entries total in the 200 backstroke. The group, led by Brooks, also consisted of Lydia Hanlon, Grace Frericks and Paige Taber, who all completed their first NCAA 200 backstroke swims.

Kaitlynn Wheeler competed in the 100 freestyle, earning a new career best and finishing in 52nd with a time of 49.20.

In the 200 breaststroke, Denise Phelan, Bridget Engel and Olivia Mendenhall also competed with Davey. Engel and Mendenhall made their NCAA debuts in the event.

Senior Lauren Poole made an appearance in the meet by swimming the 200 butterfly for the first time at the NCAA Championships.. She placed 51st with a time of 1:59.47.

Kyndal Knight and Abby Devereaux competed in the diving competition, finishing in 37th and 40th place, respectively.

This was Devereaux’s first appearance at the NCAA Championships, while Knight rounded off a triumphant meet during which the fifth-year earned two All-America accolades.

Megan Drumm earned her personal best 1000 split of 9:42.36 in the mile.

The NCAAs conclude the season for Kentucky as the Cats will now look forward to the upcoming swim and dive season in the fall.