Kentucky salvaged the week with a 63-57 road win over Arkansas last night.  The…

Sophomore Ryan Merani, who was named Co-SEC Swimmer of the Week earlier this month, continued to shine with victories in the 200 butterfly and 200 IM. He also set new program top-ten times in the 100 and 200 fly events. Merani’s time of 1:42.50 in the 200 butterfly moved him up to second all-time in the program’s history, just behind Mason Wilby. In addition to his individual successes, Merani scored the most points for the Wildcats, matching the total of Louisville’s Jackson Millard and Christiana Regenauer.

Reeves had a slow start to the game, only making one of his first five shots. However, he quickly rebounded and went on to convert nine of his 20 attempts from the floor, including four successful three-pointers. This performance marked the tenth time this season that Reeves has scored at least 20 points.

In addition to these records, the Wildcats had a successful weekend with seven top-10 finishes and four personal bests. Overall, the team finished the meet with three new records, 12 top-10 finishes, and 11 personal bests.

Director of track & field and cross country Joe Franklin expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance, saying, “We saw a lot of positive things this weekend across the board. Trey Allen, Jayden Ulrich, and Cade DeWitt were all very impressive today, and we also were able to see multiple athletes write their names into our record books with their performances here.”

The Cardinals had an impressive showing in multiple events, sweeping their opponents in several disciplines. Ilia Sibirtsev led the way in the distance events, while Denis Petrashov dominated the breaststroke. Lindsay Gizzi excelled in diving, Gabi Albiero showcased her skills in the butterfly, and Christiana Regenauer sprinted her way to victory. The Cardinals also won all four relays, with impressive performances from Ella Welch, Gabi Albiero, Dalton Lowe, Denis Petrashov, and Matias Santiso.

In the doubles competition, LSU’s duo of Stefan Latinovic and Chen Dong defeated Etienne Donnet and Natan Rodrigues at the top spot. The Tigers went on to clinch the doubles point after beating Will Mayew and Piet Steveker. However, Miguel Avendaño and Andre’ Steinbach managed to win the lone doubles match for the Cards, defeating Julien Penzlin and Alessio Vasquez.

The Gators are not only the defending national champions but are also the two-time defending champions of the Sea Best Invitational. They will be the team to beat at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course.

The game started with Virginia taking control right from the beginning, going on a dominant 11-0 run to establish an early lead. Louisville head coach Kenny Payne expressed his disappointment in his team’s performance, highlighting the difficulty of facing Virginia’s pack line defense. He stated, “There are things about the way they play defensively that will stymie you. I am disappointed that we went over this two, three, four days in a row and we came out and didn’t play the way we needed to play to start this game.”

While most of the team will be in attendance, senior Laney Frye will be wrapping up her time at the LPGA Drive On Championship in Bradenton, Florida. However, the rest of the Wildcats are ready to go head-to-head against the Hoosiers in match play.