Freriks Sets Kentucky Record to Propel Wildcat Sweep Over Cincinnati

Kentucky V. Cincinnati

• February 1st, 2019
• Cincinnati, OH
• Meet Results
• Final Scores
  • Men: Kentucky 156- Cincinnati 101
  • Women: Kentucky 157- Cincinnati 100

In their final dual meets of the 2018-19 season, the Kentucky Wildcats travelled to the Cincinnati Bearcats on Friday. The Kentucky men and women swept Cincinnati 156-101 and 157-100, respectively.

Women’s Meet

The Kentucky women won 11 events over Cincinnati and exhibitioned all swimmers in the final 2 events. The meet kicked off with a Kentucky win in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:43.62.

After the relay, Kentucky senior Geena Freriks swam to a win and a new school record in the 1000 free.. Her winning time of 9:30.78 set a new Kentucky program record, eclipsing the previous 1999 mark of 9:41.53, set by Rachel Komisarz. Freriks’ time also ranks 19th all-time for the women’s 1000 free. Freriks showed her versatility later on in the meet when she won the 50 free with a 23.22.

Along with Freriks’ 50 free win, Kentucky kept the ball rolling with wins in the next 4 events:

• 200 Free: Riley Gaines (1:50.40)
• 100 Back: Sophie Sorenson (56.16)
• 100 Breast: Alaina Potts (1:04.32)
• 200 Fly: Bailey Bonnett (1:59.96)

In the 100 free, Cincinnati teammates Olivia Schemlzer (51.61) and Abby Johnston (52.20) broke the Kentucky winning streak with their 1-2 finish.

Shortly after, Sophie Sorenson earned her second win in the 200 back (2:00.05) to sweep both backstroke events. Lizzy Merriman scored another win for the Wildcats in the 200 breast with a 2:21.11. Bailey Bonnett also became a double winner with her win in the 500 free (4:54.62).

The 100 fly had the closest race for the women’s meet, with Kentucky’s Izzy Gati and Cincinnati’s Simone Palomo duking it out. Palomo was first to the wall in the first half of the meet, taking it out in a 26.78. However, Gati out-split Palomo in the last 50 to out-touch Palomo 56.75 to 56.95.

In the 400 IM, Camryn Streid (4:27.22) earned Cincinnati their second win of the evening. Kentucky’s Asia Sedt had the top time in the event with her exhibition time of 4:17.32.

The 200 free relay featured a tight race between Kentucky and Cincinnati. Kentucky had the top time in the event of 1:34.40, with Geena Freriks’ 23.16 anchor split. However, Kentucky exhibitioned their relay swims. Cincinnati then took the win in the event with a 1:34.72.

Men’s Meet

The Kentucky men had top times in 11 events, along with exhibitions in the last 2 events. The Wildcats kicked the meet off with their 400 medley relay win of 3:19.43. Kentucky kept their winning streak alive in the next 4 events:

• 1000 Free: Jarod Kehl (9:20.26)
• 200 Free: Peter Wetzlar (1:37.91)
• 100 Back: Alex Taylor (50.18)
• 100 Breast: Glen Brown (55.44)

Parker Saladin earned Cincinnati their first victory of the meet in the 200 fly as the only man under 1:50 with his time of 1:49.48.

Kentucky teammates Jason Head and John Mitchell swept the sprint events with their wins in the 50 free (20.53) and 100 free (46.03), respectively.

Blake Hanna gave Cincinnati their second victory of the meet with his dominant performance in the 200 back (1:47.80).

In the 200 breast, Kentucky’s Austin Haney had established a comfortable lead until Cincinnati’s Dom Polling challenged Haney in the last 50. Despite Polling’s 31.35 split, Haney was able to hold off Polling 2:03.14 to 2:03.55. In a similar situation, Cincinnati’s Din Selmanovic broke off from the lead trio in the 500 free in the last 100 yards of the race to finish first in a 4:29.64.

In the last individual events of the meet, Kentucky took top times in the 100 fly (David Dingess, 49.07) and 400 IM (Glen Brown, 3:55.48). Kentucky exhibitioned all swimmers in the 400 IM, so the win went to Blake Hanna (4:01.05) for his second victory of the meet.

Cincinnati closed out the meet with their win in the 200 free relay with a 1:24.15. The top time from Kentucky’s exhibitioned relays was a 1:21.15, propelled by Peter Wetzlar’s 20.06 lead-off.

Both schools can be seen next at their respective conference championships. Kentucky will compete at the SEC championships February 19th-23rd while Cincinnati will be at the AAC championships February 27th-March 2nd.