Louisville Dominates Kentucky in Annual Rivalry Meet
The Louisville Cardinals hosted in-state rival Kentucky in dual meet action Thursday and emerged victorious by large margins. The Louisville women won every event en route to a final score of 218-82 while the men won by a similarly huge margin, 209-91.
The Cardinals’ team of Camille Murray, Ella Welch, Caroline Larsen and Dennis finished a second ahead of the field in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:35.22. The Cardinals finished 1-2-3 in the event to kick off the all-around dominant performance. Dennis was brilliant on the anchor leg with a 20.77 split.
Two of the relay members would later pick up individual wins: Murray was the winner of the 100 backstroke (52.88) while Larsen came in at 51.68 to top the 100 fly by two seconds.
Louisville’s Leticia Fassina Romao finished 13 seconds ahead of the field in the 1000 freestyle at 9:36.24 while Summer Cardwell came home strong in the 200 free to take the win in 1:44.26. Mia Cheatwood grabbed the top spot in the 100 breaststroke in a strong time of 58.97. Billie Sherratt came in first in the 200 butterfly (1:57.74), and Julie Mishler came in at 22.01 for the win in the 50 free.
Daria Golovaty blasted the final length to beat Welch in the 100 free, 48.46 to 48.54. Xeniya Ignatova held off Kentucky’s Xeniya Ignatova by the slimmest of margins to win the 200 back, 1:54.39 to 1:54.40, and Cheatwood doubled up in the 200 breast with a time of 2:07.85. Fassina Romao’s second win came in the 500 free at 4:42.21.
In diving, Samantha Helmboldt won 1-meter (293.33) and 3-meter (313.80). Cardwell wrapped up the individual swimming program with a win in the 200 IM (1:58.73), and the team of Larsen, Dennis, Mishler and Welch crushed the 200 free relay in 1:26.28, with Dennis going 20.95 on this occasion.
The Louisville men’s team of Jackson Millard, Finnley Conklin, Aiden Musso and Nikita Sheremet finished first in the 200 medley relay in 1:23.42. Guy Brooks came home in 23.76 to take down teammate Oscar Isberg in the 200 free, 1:34.30 to 1:34.39, and Filip Kosinski got first in the 100 back (46.33). Aidan Paro edged out teammate Gregg Enoch to win the 200 fly, 1:43.97 to 1:43.99.
Millard overtook Kosinski to take first in the 200 back, 1:41.33 to 1:41.47, and he picked up a second individual win with a dominant effort in the 200 IM (1:44.25). Jake Eccleston dominated the 200 breast in 1:55.79. Isberg dominated the 500 free (4:18.33) while Musson was the only swimmer under 46 in the 100 fly (45.95).
Mackenzie Molloy won 1-meter diving (329.03) as well as the 3-meter event (364.88). The team of Sheremet, Charlie Crush, Musso and Rian Graham swam a time of 1:16.78 to dominate the 200 free relay.
The Wildcats’ duo of nationally-prominent distance swimmers came through with a 1-2 finish in the 1000 free. Levi Sandidge had the lead most of the race, only for Carson Hick to come home on top by a tenth, 8:54.41 to 8:54.51. Kentucky’s Adomas Gatulis was the winner of the 100 breast (52.89). Faleman Tuufui went 19.25 for first in the 50 free, and he returned to hold off Brooks in the 100 free by one hundredth, 42.96 to 42.97.
