Kentucky Drops Pair of Duals to Cardinals

Final ResultsLOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Kentucky swimming and diving team dropped its afternoon duals to in-state rival Louisville on Saturday, with the women falling 190-110 to the No. 10 Cardinals while the No. 7 men came away with a 200-100 decision over the Wildcats.  “I thought we came out and fought hard in some areas,” commented head coach Lars Jorgensen.  “On the girls’ side, I think some of our freshmen stood out.  Kathryn Painter and Geena Freriks were really good for us today.  Our divers really dove well.  On the men’s side, Bones (Drew Aviotti) had a really nice 1000 coming out.  It was nice after the relay for the guys to get a 1-2-3 in the 1000.  But we still had too many gaps and too many holes, and we have to shorten those things up in the next three weeks or so before conference.”Overall, the women posted five event victories over Louisville while the men had three wins against the Cardinals.Rebecca Hamperian was the only Wildcat to notch two victories, taking top honors in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.  In the 3-meter, Hamperian recorded a 319.65 to start the day, and moved on to post a 285.68 on the 3-meter springboard.The distance group continued to showcase its strength with a pair of freshmen winning in the 500 and 1000 freestyles.  In the 500 free, Freriks pulled away in the final 100 yards to secure a victory in 4:51.12.  Freriks also led the team in the 200 free, finishing third overall in 1:51.01. Painter notched a victory in the 1000 free in 9:58.59, while Kelly Berger placed third in 10:07.37.The final victory for the women came by way of Danielle Galyer in the 200 back.  The junior posted an NCAA B cut time of 1:57.18, and was closely followed by Bridgette Alexander’s runner-up time of 1:59.20.  Galyer also paced the team in the 100 back, finishing runner-up with another B cut of 54.97 seconds, as well as the 200 IM with a third-place finish in 2:06.26.Haley McInerny led the way for the team in the butterfly races, going up against the 2015 NCAA champion in both the 100 fly, Kelsi Worrell.  McInerny finished runner-up in the 100 fly in 55.95 seconds, and also took third in the 200 fly in 2:01.91.  Additionally, McInerny was the top finisher for UK in the 100 free, taking third in 51.95 seconds.  The final sprint race, the 50 free, was led by Meghan Taylor in 24.36 seconds for third overall.In the breaststroke races, Kendra Crew finished third in both the 100 and 200 breast, while Ann Davies took fourth in both events.  In the 100 breast, Crew touched in at 1:04.45, followed by Davies in 1:04.72.  Crew went on to lead the Wildcats in the 200 breast in 2:16.41, and Davies posted a 2:18.71.The Kentucky women placed third in both relays.  The 200 medley relay consisting of Galyer, Crew, McInerny and Freriks finished in 1:44.42, while the 400 free relay of Freriks, Kendal Casey, Olivia Treski and Meredith Whisenhunt touched in at 3:31.04.  Similar to the women, the men saw success in the dives and distance freestyles.  In the diving events, Seb Masterton won the 3-meter dive with 374.03 points and finished runner-up on the 1-meter springboard with 344.48 points. Aviotti added another win to his resume with a victory in the 1000 free in 9:17.30, leading a sweep for the Wildcats.  Jamie Stevenson finished runner-up in 9:28.83, while Jarod Kehl touched in at 9:31.18 and Brandon Flynn’s 9:31.35 exhibition swim was the fourth-fastest in the pool.  Aviotti went on to finish runner-up in the 500 free with a 4:33.43.Kyle Higgins secured the final win for the Wildcats, notching an NCAA B cut of 1:47.76 to overpower the field in the 200 fly.  He also placed fourth in the 100 fly, touching in at 49.59 seconds.In the remainder of the freestyle events, UK saw Cobe Garcia place runner-up in the 50 free for the second consecutive meet and Scott Crosthwaite take third in the 100 and 200 free.  Garcia was one of just two swimmers under the 21-second threshold, touching in at 20.99 seconds for the second-place finish.  Crosthwaite clocked a time of 46.11 seconds in the 100 free as well as a 1:40.86 in the 200 free.  George Greenhalgh posted two runner-up finishes in the breaststroke races behind Venezuelan Olympic hopeful, Carlos Claverie.  In the 100 breast, Greenhalgh clocked in at 56.65 seconds for the second-fastest time in the pool, and went on to finish the 200 breast in 2:04.65.  He also led the team in the 200 IM, finishing fifth in 1:56.98.  In the backstroke races, Walker Thaning led the team in both distances.  Thaning first finished third in the 100 back in 50.29 seconds before taking fourth in the 200 back in 1:51.33, followed closely by Josh Swart in 1:51.75 for fifth.Also similar to the women, the men had a pair of third-place finishes in the relays.  The quartet of Thaning, Greenhalgh, Higgins and Garcia finished third in the 200 medley relay in 1:31.20, while the 400 free lineup of Thaning, Garcia, Shane Anderson and Swart notched a third-place time of 3:04.59 in the 400 free relay.Kentucky will have back-to-back duals next Friday and Saturday, first traveling to Columbus, Ohio, for a matchup with the Buckeyes of Ohio State at 5 p.m. on Friday before returning to Lexington on Saturday for Senior Day.  The Wildcats will honor their four seniors, Crosthwaite, Greenhalgh, Frida Jakobsson and Matt Roman, while the team takes on the Cincinnati Bearcats at 1 p.m. inside Lancaster Aquatic Center. For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive, and on the web at ukathletics.com.