Kentucky Women Top Georgia for First Time in Rare December Dual Meet
Four consecutive wins late in the meet plus a 1-2-3 sweep of 3-meter diving led the Kentucky women’s team to an upset win over Georgia at home Monday afternoon.
The No. 20 Wildcats used that late burst to notch a 166-134 win over the No. 9 Bulldogs. Georgia’s men’s team, ranked 10th in the nation, scored a comfortable 185-108 victory. It was the Bulldogs’ first December dual meet since 1993.
For Kentucky, it was the program’s first win over Georgia in 16 attempts.
The Wildcats rode their stroke depth to the historic victory. Lydia Hanlon started the winning run with a time of 1:55.49 to claim the 200 backstroke, a 1-2 result with Caitlin Brooks. Kentucky also got fourth in that event via Torie Buerger, then went 1-3-4 in the 200 breaststroke, led by Gillian Davey’s winning swim of 2:09.18.
Izzy Gati picked up her third win of the day by outkicking Georgia’s Abigail McCulloh, the winner of the 1,000 free, in the 500 with a time of 4:50.81. Brooks then won the 100 butterfly, edging Georgia’s Callie Dickinson by three tenths in 54.22. Hanlon grabbed points in third.
That would be enough, with Kyndal Knight’s score of 363.00 leading a sweep of 3-meter diving and the foursome of Gati, Buerger, Kaelan Daly and Grace Frericks winning the 400 free relay in 3:23.69.
“I am very happy with how the meet went today,” Gati said in a Kentucky statement. “The team atmosphere was incredible. We brought a lot of energy and it really showed in our races. A lot of people stepped up and won races that were going to be super close and it was good to end the [calendar] year with a win against a good SEC team.”
Gati also won the 200 free and 200 fly. Brooks was victorious in the 100 fly, where Hanlon was again third. Knight finished second in 1-meter diving.
Georgia’s sprint contingent forced Kentucky into its late rally. Eboni McCarty powered 1-2 results in both the 50 and 100 free, winning in 23.03 and 50.29, respectively. Julianna Stephens was second in the 50, Sloane Reinstein in the 100. Zoie Hartman edged Davey to the 100 breast win, then won the 200 individual medley after finishing second in the 200 breast. Meghan Wenzel won 1-meter diving for the Bulldogs, edging Knight by five points with a score of 301.65.
The Georgia men took control early, right about the time that Ian Grum led a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 back by going 48.07. Grum also won the 200 back and led off the victorious Bulldogs 200 medley relay.
Zach Hils and Dillon Downing dominated in sprint free. Hils won the 200 easily in 1:36.77. Downing claimed the 50 in 20.29, then Hils’ 44.10 bested Downing (45.40) in the 100 free. Hils also won the 200 IM.
Andrew Abruzzo swept the 200 fly and 500 free. Arie Voloschin won the 100 breast and was third in the 200, won by teammate Jackson Bates. Connor Haigh landed second in both. Zach Franklin edged teammates Ananda Lim and Peter Sacca to win the 100 fly in 49.06.
Levi Sandidge picked up the lone swimming win for Kentucky by going 9:06.22 in the 1,000 free. Max Berg was second in the 200, second in the 50 and third in the 100 free. Mason Wilby finished second in the 200 fly and 200 IM. Men’s diving was swept by Sam Duncan, who scored 409.13 on 3-meter and 353.10 on 1-meter.
