No. 14/10 Swimming and Diving Split With Kentucky

Saturday, January 20

Louisville, Ky.

1 p.m. (Diving @ Noon)

University of Louisville

Kentucky

Photo by: Kyle Hess

January 20, 2018 | Swimming & Diving

18 Uof L v KY Complete Results Photo Gallery

The Louisville men captured their 10th consecutive victory against the Wildcats.

By: Nancy Worley

In their first dual meet of 2018, the No. 14/10 University of Louisville men's and women's swimming and diving teams split a tightly contested competition with the University of Kentucky. The Louisville men downed Kentucky by a score of 168.5 to 131.5 for their 10th consecutive victory against the Wildcats, while the women fell by a score of 161-139.

In the first event of the day, the Cardinals won the 200 medley relay when Alina Kendzior (25.72), Mariia Astashkina (28.78), Mallory Comerford (23.01), and Casey Fanz (22.43) boarded the winning time of 1:39.94. The Cards' B-relay team of Ashlyn Schoof (26.04), Avery Braunecker (28.67), Nastja Govejsek (23.63) and Lainey Visscher (23.65) touched second in 1:41.99.

The Wildcats won the men's 200 medley relay with a 1:29.16. The B-relay team for Louisville touched second in 1:30.09 put up by Nikkos Sofianidis (22.99), Evgenii Somov (24.81), Daniel Sos (22.23), and Matyi Kovacs (20.06).

In the women's 1000 free, UK's Geena Freriks touched first with a time of 9:52.05. UofL's Sophie Cattermole was second in 9:56.84 and Maggie Jahns was fourth in 10:06.64.

In the men's 1000 free, UK's Isaac Jones put the winning time of 9:05.29 with Cardinal Marcelo Acosta into the wall second with a time of 9:15.96. T.C. Smith (9:17.40) and Graham Barrett (9:17.72) took third and fourth for the Cardinals.

Michaela Sliney (277.20) and Molly Fears (269.78) finished 1-2 in the 1-meter dive. Daniel Fecteau placed 2nd in the 3-meter dive with a score of 361.43.

Reigning NCAA champion Comerford was dominant in the 200 free, taking first by nearly three seconds with a time of 1:46.53. Rachael Bradford-Feldman took fourth with a time of 1:50.10.

In the men's 200 free, Zach Harting touched 2nd in the 200 free (1:38.48) and Sam Steele placed 4th with a 1:38.88. The event was won by UK's Jason Head with a 1:38.26.

Kendzior had a third place finish in the 100 back (54.77) with Schoof just behind in fourth with a 55.75. The Cards had another 1-2 finish when Sos took top honors in the 100 back with a time of 49.31, with teammate Sofianidis just 0.07 behind, with a time of 49.38.

Silvia Guerra took third in the 100 breast with a time of 1:03.19 for the Cards. Teammate Lauren James placed fourth (1:03.76), and Morgan Friesen was 5th (1:03.81). The event was won by UK's Bailey Bonnett's 1:02.09. For the men, Carlos Claverie surged at the finish to take first with a time of 54.92 in a tightly contested 100 breast with UK's Wyatt Amdor touching in 55.01 for second. UofL newcomer Somov was third in 55.71.

Grace Oglesby led wire-to-wire in the 200 fly to take first in a time of 1:59.35. The Cards swept the top three spots in the men's 200 fly, led by freshman Nicolas Albiero, who turned in a 1:46.72. Jarrett Jones was second in 1:47.48 and Etay Gurevich was third in 1:49.05.

The Cards posted another top-three sweep when sprinters Fanz (22.93), Visscher (23.23), and Braunecker (23.24) swept in the 50 free. The men took the top two spots in the same event with Andrej Barna going 19.89 and Kovacs (20.52) taking first and second.

Fears took second in the 3-meter dive with a score of 306.68 for the Cardinals. Teammate Breanna Price took fourth (279.30) and Sliney was fifth (274.52). In the men's 1-meter dive - Fecteau took second with a score of 335.63 and Daniel Pinto took third with a 309.98.

Comerford delivered another win -- this time in the 100 free -- as she took first with a 49.21, Fanz touched third (50.89), and Visscher placed fourth in 51.17. Barna won the 100 free by nearly a second with a blazing time of 44.29. Kovacs touched third with a time of 45.11.

Kendzior (1:59.21) and Schoof (2:02.04) placed second and third in the 200 back. The event was won by UK's Bridgette Alexander. It was a 1-2 sweep in the men's 200-back when Sos posted a winning time of 1:46.11 in the 200 back while Sofianidis touched second (1:49.46).

In the 200 breast, Bradford-Feldman finished second with a time of 2:14.59. Teammate Friesen took fourth with a time of 2:15.44, and James placed fifth (2:17.30). The event was won by UK's Bailey Bonnett's 2:13.14. Claverie earned another win for the Cards, capturing the 200 breast with a time of 2:00.11. Todd Owen touched third (2:02.40), while Keegan Foulke was fifth (2:04.49).

Cattermole put up a second place finish in the 500 free, touching the wall in a time of 4:48.74. Jahns also scored points for the Cardinals, finishing fifth with a 4:58.92. On the men's side, Smith (4:30.68) Acosta (4:30.73), and Barrett (4:31.66) finished second, third, and fourth respectively.

In the 100 fly, Comerford finished her third event of the day with a second place in a time of 53.40, followed by Oglesby in third with a 54.28 and Govejsek in fourth (55.11). Kentucky's Seidt captured the victory in a 52.88. Moments later, Harting (48.24) and Albiero (48.65) turned in another 1-2 finish for the Cardinals in the men's 100 fly.

The women's 200 IM was won by UK's Seidt with a 1:58.36. Bradford-Feldman touched second with a time of 2:01.63, while Oglesby was fifth in a 2:03.65. Kentucky's Glenn Brown won the men's 200 IM in a time of 1:47.99. Sos completed a successful day with a second place finish in a time of 1:48.50. Gurevich placed third in a 1:49.66.

To close out the day, UofL's A team of Fanz (50.98), Govejsek (51.12), Braunecker (50.53), and Bradford-Feldman (51.64) took second in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:24.27. The Louisville men captured the final event of the day as the A team of Kovacs (45.21), Barna (43.59), Albiero (44.19), and Harting (45.16) took first in the 400 free relay with a time of 2:58.15, securing the Cardinals' 168.5 to 131.5 win over the Wildcats.

"This can be a great learning opportunity," said head coach Arthur Albiero. "We've been in a couple close dual meets this year. It's championship time. What we want to see right now is progression, how we execute the little things that define our sport, and we've got to put things on the scoreboard. That's really what the main focus is going forward."

Louisville will be back in action on Friday, January 26 at 2 p.m. in Ralph Wright Natatorium for the Cardinals' Senior Day against the No. 3/7 ranked Indiana Hoosiers.