By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
West Virginia vs. Kentucky
- October 25, 2024
- Lexington, KY
- 25 Yards (SCY)
- Scores
- Women: Kentucky, 222 – West Virginia, 77
- Men: Kentucky, 168 – West Virginia, 132
- Full Results
Women’s Meet
The Wildcat women moved to 2-1 on the season as they rolled West Virginia in their home opener. They won all but one event as freshmen Sammie Hamilton and Hayden Penny and fifth-year Bridget Engel were double event winners.
After Kentucky won the 400 medley relay (3:47.54), Hamilton got the ball rolling in the individual events, winning the 1650 freestyle in 17:03.32. The 1650 freestyle was the rare event on the program where the Mountaineers were able to disrupt the Wildcats’ grip on the podium, as Emily Knorr and Miranda Kirtley notched a 2-3 finish. Hamilton went on to win the 500 freestyle as well, posting a season-best 4:58.04.
Penny, a three-time champion at the 2024 YMCA LCM Nationals, claimed her victories in the 200 fly and 200 IM. She came within a second of her 2:01.14 lifetime best in the 200 fly, earning the win in 2:02.06. She won the 200 IM in 2:01.75, well ahead of her teammate Marie Belli, who touched second in 2:05.18.
Engel swept the breaststroke events after splitting 1:01.96 on the winning 400-medley relay. She swam 1:0213 in the 100 breaststroke, splitting 29.44/32.69. Like the 100 breaststroke, she led from start to finish in the longer distance and was the only one in the field sub-2:20, clocking 2:17.40.
The Wildcats had no shortage of event wins or podium sweeps. Grace Frericks (200 free, 1:52.06), Torie Buerger (100 back, 56.21), Kaelan Daly (50 free, 23.97), Lauren West (100 free, 51.72), and Libby Grether (200 back, 2:01.26) earned the team’s other individual event wins. Frericks, West, Avery Freece, and McCall Freiburger closed the meet with a 1:35.11 to win the 200 freestyle relay.
The highlight of the day for the Mountaineers was the 100 butterfly, where Victoria Kidney and Jayla Thompson went 1-2. Thompson was out first at the halfway mark (27.16), separating herself from a field of 27-mid/high opening splits. Kidney made a move on the second 50 of the race; she split a field-best 29.88 to close the gap to her teammate and win the race by nine-tenths in 57.40.
Freshman MJ Gilligan had a strong outing for West Virginia as well, collecting two top-three finishes in the 200 butterfly (2:04.90) and 200 IM (2:11.55). She was part of a 2-3 finish for West Virginia in the 200 IM as senior Morgan Burton clocked 2:09.78.
Men’s Meet
The battle between the Kentucky and West Virginia men was more even, though Kentucky did win nine events in the pool to West Virginia’s six. Redshirt senior Danny Berlitz continued his strong start to the fall semester by winning three individual events—the 100 breaststroke (55.51), 200 breaststroke (2:01.70), and 200 IM (1:48.76).
He was the only swimmer on the men’s side to sweep a stroke, as though West Virginia won both the 100 and 200 backstroke, they got their wins from senior Justin Heims in the 100 (49.76) and freshman Joey Stebbins (1:50.22). Connor McBeth rounded out West Virginia’s wins for the day, splitting 21.87/23.24 to win the men’s 100 freestyle by more than a second in 45.11.
But even as West Virginia kept in touch with Kentucky, the Wildcats were able to pull away and win by 36 points. Kentucky won the first three events. First, Kentucky won the 400 medley relay with Devin Naoroz (49.64), Jonathan Rom (55.40), Ryan Merani (47.62), and Piotr Kowalczyk (45.14) combined to win in 3:17.80.
Then, the Wildcats went 1-2 in the 1650 freestyle as Levi Sandidge and Carson Hicks earned NCAA ‘B’ cut times in 15:00.74 and 15:15.90, respectively. Then, Merani was back up on the blocks in the 200 freestyle. He pulled away from the field early, flipping in 48.46 at the 100-yard mark. He was the only man to break 1:40, taking the win in 1:39.71.
Justin Peresse was the only double-event winner for the Kentucky men. First, he won the 50 freestyle, beating McBeth by .09 seconds, 20.44 to 20.53. He was fourth at the halfway mark in the 100 fly but split 26.17 on the back half to grab the event win in 49.58, while West Virginia went 2-3 with Jamin Harlan and Braden Osborn.
Naoroz (200 fly, 1:51.02) and Caue Gluck (500 free, 4:30.60) won the Wildcats’ other individual swimming events, while Kowalczyk, Peresse, Radoslav Polcic, and Drew Johnson won the 200 freestyle relay (1:21.65) to end the meet.
Up Next
West Virginia hosts Cincinnati for a two-day meet Nov. 1-2, while Kentucky next races at the Tennessee Invite.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Kentucky Sweeps West Virginia In Home Opener, Danny Berlitz Wins Three Events