Justin Peresse, Distance Set Leads Kentucky to Sweep of West Virginia
Justin Peresse won a pair of sprint events, and Kentucky’s distance depth saw it to a 168-132 win over West Virginia on Friday in Lexington.
The Wildcats’ women’s team claimed a decisive 222-77 decision behind two wins each from Hayden Penny, Bridget Engel and Sammie Hamilton, among eight different individual winners.
Peresse led the way for the Wildcats with two individual wins. He went 20.44 to claim the 50 freestyle, then clocked in at 49.58 to win the 100 fly.
Peresse finished the meet with a leg on the winning 200 free relay, teaming with Piotr Kowalczyk, Radoslav Polcic and Drew Johnson to go 1:21.65.
Peresse’s sprinting star turn teamed with Kentucky’s distance prowess. Levi Sandidge set the tone with a time of 15:00.75 in the 1,650 free, an NCAA B cut, to lead a 1-2-3 finish with Carson Hick and Chris Nagy. Ryan Merani followed by capturing the 200 free in 1:39.71. Merani was second in the 500 to teammate Caue Gluck, who went 4:30.60 to win.
Devin Naoroz, who teamed with Kowalczyk and Merani on the winning 200 medley relay, won the 200 butterfly in 1:51.02, a 1-2 with Jackson Mussler. Kentucky scored well in diving, with Sam Duncan scoring 319.88 on 1-meter with the Wildcats also taking third and fourth place. Duncan was second to West Virginia’s Owen Recker (340.05) on 3-meter, Kentucky taking 2-3-4.
Danny Berlitz was the top individual of the meets, despite the Mountaineers being on the wrong side of the ledger. He won the 100 breaststroke in 55.51, the 200 breast in 2:01.70 (ahead of teammate Jake Young) and the 200 individual medley in 1:48.76, ahead of Merani.
Berlitz’s win in the 100 breast built on the momentum of Justin Heimes’ win in the 100 back. Out of the diving break, Conner McBeth won the 100 free in 45.11 after finishing second in the 50. Joey Stebbins (1:50.22) followed with a win in the 200 back, a 1-2 with Christian Simpson.
Engel and Penny led Kentucky’s domination, that included seven 1-2-3 results in the swimming events. Engel swept breaststroke, in 1:02.13 and 2:17.40. She also swam that stroke on the winning medley relay. Penny went 2:02.06 to win the 200 fly, then 2:01.75 to dominate the 200 IM. Hamilton swept the 500 free and 1,000 free.
There were compelling races among them. Grace Frericks, for instance, won the 200 free, in 1:52.06, .16 ahead of West Virginia’s Maddie Smutny and .29 up on Lauren West in a race where 1.2 seconds blanketed the top five. Torie Buerger won the 100 back ahead of Ally Frame, who was second to Libby Grether in the 200 back. Kaelan Daly won the 50 free ahead of McCall Freiburger, who was also second in the 100 free, claimed by Lauren West. Avery Giese won both diving events.
West Virginia’s lone win came via Victoria Kidney, who won the 100 fly in 57.40.
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