Advetise with Us

February 3, 2012
GYMNASTICS

Gymnastics Continues Improvement with 195.05 at LSU

Kentucky gymnastics team earns highest SEC dual-meet score since 2010

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky gymnastics team continued to show its improvement on every event by recording a season-high score on floor exercise and tying its season-high team score in a 196.125-195.05 loss to No. 14 LSU on Friday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.

The team score of 195.05 ties the season-high mark set by Kentucky (3-4, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) last weekend against non-conference foe Illinois-Chicago. UK has now eclipsed the 195 mark for the second consecutive meet for the first time since the beginning of the 2010 season. The score of 195.05 is the highest in a SEC dual meet since UK earned a 195.55 against Georgia in 2010.

“Since day one we have told this team to continue to improve every time it steps into the gym and I think we did that today,” UK head coach Tim Garrison said. “We did not like how we performed in our first SEC road meet of the year and our girls wanted to show tonight that we were better than that. There is still a lot of room for improvement, but getting this score on the road is something we can be happy with tonight.”

Kentucky won the balance beam over LSU (2-6, 2-2 SEC) with a team score of 48.875, while the top-15 ranked Tigers defeated the Wildcats on the other three events. Sophomore Audrey Harrison and freshman Alexis Gross shinned in the all-around competition again as both earned career-high marks. Harrison finished third in the all-around with a 39.125, while Gross was fourth with a 38.975.

The Wildcats again used 18 or more routines from freshmen or sophomores and have now used at least 18 routines from underclassmen in every meet this season. UK also set or tied nine season and career highs in the meet. 

UK started the night on uneven bars, earning a team score of 48.525. Harrison led the Wildcats with a career-high score of 9.775, while freshman Alexis Gross finished second on the team with a 9.75. Senior Whitney Rose continued her consistent year on bars with a score of 9.7, while freshman Sara Shipley tied a season high with a 9.675. Senior Storey Morris, who leads the team on the event in average, went 9.625, while junior Caitlyn Ciokajlo went 9.15.

Kentucky performed well on vault as two Wildcats set career highs en route to a team score of 48.9. Sophomore Holly Cunningham paced UK with a career-high score of 9.85, which tied the highest vault score of the season for UK. Gross also earned a career high on the event, finishing tied for second on the team with a 9.775. Fellow freshman Kenzie Hedges and Harrison also posted 9.775s, while freshman Shelby Hilton concluded the event with a 9.55.

The Wildcats set a season-high floor score for the second consecutive week with a mark of 48.75. Two gymnasts earned career highs, including the highest floor score of the season by Harrison, who posted 9.85. Hedges also earned a career high with a 9.775, followed by sophomore Kayla Sienkowski’s 9.725. Hilton and Gross each earned 9.7s, while sophomore Kayla Hartley went 9.525.

UK finished the night with another clutch performance on balance beam led by freshman Shannon Mitchell’s career-high 9.825. Cunningham finished second on the event with a 9.8, while Morris went 9.775. Gross continued to do well on the event with a 9.75, while Harrison posted a 9.725 and Sienkowski a 9.7.

LSU’s Rheagan Courville won the all-around title with a 39.45, while Lloimincia Hall finished second with a 39.250.

Kentucky will return to action Friday when it hosts the 2011 Southeastern Conference and National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide. The meet will begin at 7 p.m. ET at Memorial Coliseum.

Team Scores:

1) LSU 196.125, 2) UK 195.050

UK Scores: Vault 48.9, Bars 48.525, Beam 48.875, Floor 48.75

VAULT: Morris 9.725, Hilton 9.55, Harrison 9.775, Cunningham 9.85, Hedges 9.775, Gross 9.775
BARS: Harrison 9.775, Gross 9.75, Rose 9.7, Shipley 9.675, Morris 9.625, Ciokajlo 9.15
BEAM: Sienkowski 9.7, Mitchell 9.825, Harrison 9.725, Gross 9.75, Morris 9.775, Cunningham 9.8
FLOOR: Hilton 9.7, Sienkowski 9.725, Gross 9.7, Hedges 9.775, Harrison 9.85, Hartley 9.525
All-Around: Harrison 39.125, Gross 38.975

 

February 3, 2012
TRACK & FIELD

Luttrell Wins 5K at Notre Dame Meyo Invitational

Senior breaks PR by over 15 seconds, records fifth fastest 5,000-meter run in UK history

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior distance runner Walter Luttrell shattered his career-best time in the 5,000-meter run, and the Kentucky men’s and women’s track and field teams recorded multiple times/marks that rank in the top 10 in program history Friday, the first day of the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind.

Luttrell got off to a strong start at Meyo Track, leading the first lap of the event that spans over three miles in length. After losing the lead, the Dayton, Ohio native surged back to the front and won the race with a career-best time of 14:14.35, breaking his previous best time of 14:29.50 by over 15 seconds. The fastest 5,000m time in the Southeastern Conference entering tonight’s competition was 15:08.09 set by Cullen Doody of LSU. Luttrell’s time is the fifth fastest 5,000m run recorded in UK history.

One week after earning, SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week honors for her record-breaking performance in the 60m dash, Keilah Tyson competed in the women’s long jump for the first time in her collegiate career. Much like last week, Tyson impressed, finishing fourth in the event with a jump of 6.08m/19-11.50. Tyson’s jump is the seventh best long jump in school history.

Sophomore Kayla Parker and junior Darryl Bradshaw each earned top-12 times to qualify for the finals of the 60m hurdles. Parker advanced to the women’s 60m hurdles finals with a time of 8.61, while Bradshaw qualified for the men’s 60m hurdles finals by winning his heat with a time of 8.05. Bradshaw’s time of 8.05 is the same time he ran last week at the Rod McCravy Memorial, missing out on his career best time by 0.01, which is also the sixth fastest time in the UK record books. The finals for the women’s 60m hurdles will begin Saturday at 2:40 p.m. ET. The finals for the men’s 60m hurdles start at 2:50 p.m. Saturday.

Freshman Tamyah Pipkin qualified for the finals in the women’s 60m dash with a time of 7.63, finishing in eighth place overall at the preliminaries. The women’s 60m dash finals begin Saturday at 3:20 p.m.

The men’s and women’s distance medley relay teams finished in third and fifth, respectively. The young men’s team, comprised of freshmen Keffri Neal and Sean Keane, and sophomores Robert Scharold and Adam Kahleifeh, finished the relay stretching 4,000m in 9:57.23. The women’s quartet of junior Cally Macumber, freshman Angelica Whaley, and sophomores Allison Peare and Chelsea Oswald crossed the finish line in 11:31.07.

Senior Jennifer Svoboda had a career-best throw in the women’s weight throw, recording a mark of 16.47m/54-00.50. Svoboda’s mark was tied for 14th at the meet. Sophomore Andrew Evans, a transfer from Michigan, Kalamazoo Community College, recorded his season-best mark in the men’s weight throw Friday. Evans finished 12th with a mark of 16.87m/55-04.25.

The Wildcats begin competition Saturday with a number of both track events and field events at 10 a.m. The final event of the day for Kentucky will be the men’s 3,000m run, raced by junior Luis Orta, who recorded the eighth fastest time in program history in the event last week at the Rod McCravy Memorial, finishing in 8:10.58.

A link to live results of Saturday’s competition is available at UND.com. Results from day one of the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational are listed below. Below those results is a list of all the events UK athletes are scheduled to compete in Saturday, as well as the scheduled start time for the event.

Friday’s Results

Women’s Long Jump
4. Keilah Tyson – 6.08m/19-11.50
20. Kayla Parker – 5.57m/18-03.25
37. Candice Taylor – 5.12m/16-09.75

Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles
4. Kayla Parker – 8.61q

Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles
5.  Darryl Bradshaw – 8.05q
20. Brandon Bagley – 8.25
37. Daniel Buckles – 9.34

Women’s 60-Meter Dash
8. Tamyah Pipkin – 7.63q
-- Keilah Tyson - DNS

Women’s Weight Throw
T14. Jennifer Svoboda – 16.47m/54-00.50

Men’s 60-Meter Dash
31. Darryl Bradshaw – 7.16
33. Brandon Bagley – 7.17

Women’s High Jump
4. Terri-Ann Grant – 1.70m/5-07.00
13. Joanne Imbert – 1.65m/5-05.00

Men’s 5,000-Meter Run
1. Walter Luttrell – 14:14.35

Women’s Distance Medley Relay
5. Kentucky – 11:31.07
   Macumber, Whaley, Peare, Oswald

Men’s Distance Medley Relay
3. Kentucky – 9:57.23
   Neal, Keane, Scharold, Kahleifeh

Men’s Weight Throw
12. Andrew Evans – 16.87m/55-04.25

Women’s 1,000-Meter Run
10. Megan Broderick – 2:53.94
34. Katy Achtien – 3:09.24

Men’s 1,000-Meter Run
13. Trent Halasek – 2:27.60

 

Feruary 3, 2012
RIFLE

AIR RIFLE PUSHES RIFLE TO CRUCIAL GARC WIN OVER WVU

Wildcats Edge Mountaineers in the Match of the Two Remaining Undefeated GARC Teams

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Behind a dynamic air rifle performance, the Kentucky rifle team posted a 4680-4650 win over West Virginia in a matchup of the only two undefeated teams in the conference play, on Friday at WVU Rifle Range.

Kentucky (10-1, 5-0 Great American Rifle Conference) now is guaranteed a share of the 2011-12 GARC regular-season championship and now owns the tiebreaker over West Virginia. UK concludes its regular season on Saturday in Morgantown, facing N.C. State. A win over N.C. State on Saturday would secure the seventh conference title in UK rifle history and the Wildcats second consecutive unbeaten conference season.”

“It is exciting,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said about clinching a share of the regular-season conference title. “To win this conference match is great, especially facing such a great program in West Virginia. But I don’t think anyone on this team is focused on (clinching the regular-season championship) or looking into that detail now. Everyone is focused on coming out tomorrow and putting on another team effort to finish the season 6-0 in conference play.”

West Virginia joined UK as one of the only two undefeated teams remaining in conference play entering the match. In a showdown of the top teams in the league, the Wildcats posted a 30-point win over the Mountaineers.

“Overall it was a good performance,” Mullins said. “To come away with a win on the road against a great team is great. Our first team hadn’t competed in two weeks and they had to come out with the pressure on at a tough opponent’s range. We made some mistakes but I was happy with how the team worked. They really brought the effort and intensity to get the win. These matches with WVU have always been good, sometimes it will be a high scoring match and sometimes the teams have down scoring outputs. There is a huge sense of competition in this matchup every year.”

UK, the defending NCAA Champions, won on the strength of its air rifle performance, as Ethan Settlemires posted a team-leading 593, with Henri Junghänel and Emily Holsopple following with a 591. Heather Greathouse charted a 590 and Stacy Wheatley finished with a 589.

The Wildcats finished the smallbore portion with a 2315 team score, led by a 580 by Junghänel, who had a 580. Emily Holsopple and Greathouse each had a 579, with Settlemires (577) and Wheatley (574) rounding out the starting lineup.

“Our smallbore scores were down a bit and we wanted them to be higher but we are excited to get back out tomorrow,” Mullins said. “For the team to respond after some down scores to start the match in smallbore shows their resilience. They stayed through their shot plans. They worked their tails off throughout the match and finished strong in air rifle.”

Kentucky traveled its full roster to Morgantown, with Elijah Ellis leading the second squad with a 579 in smallbore. James Jasis (575), Katie Fretts (574), Jonathan Pinker (574), Ed Ryznar (570), Ethan Marne (567), Cody Manning (553) and John Sutton (553) rounding out the smallbore competitors.

“Our second relay was great, (Katie Fretts) Frettsy and (Elijah) Ellis really shot well, along with (Jonathan) Pinkel and James (Jasis),” Mullins said. “Overall it was a good team effort and that is the thing I like the most. It isn’t one or two people having huge scores or carrying the team, it is a huge team effort every day.”

In air rifle, Fretts led the second squad with a 582, as Ellis (580), Marne (575), Manning (574), Sutton (573), Sutton (573) all competing in air gun.

UK will face N.C. State on Saturday to conclude the regular season on Saturday. UK will host the NCAA Qualifier on Feb. 18 at UK’s Barker Hall.

 

February 3, 2012
SWIMMING & DIVING

Divers Shine as UK Falls to Louisville

Divers take first in three of four events

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Capped by a terrific day on the diving boards by sophomore Greg Ferrucci and freshman Christa Cabot, the University of Kentucky swimming and diving teams took another step forward towards the Southeastern Conference Championships in a dual meet with Louisville on Friday afternoon at Ralph Wright Natatorium.

Louisville won the meet on the men’s side with a final tally of 188-107, and also took home the win on the women’s side 183-107.

“We were up against a very good Louisville team,” UK head coach Gary Conelly said. “Their men could be top 10 at the end of the year, and their woman are top 15. Our swims were uneven and erratic, which aren’t uncommon for this time of the year.” Conelly said.

Kentucky was led by their divers, as three of the four diving competitions were Wildcat victories. Greg Ferrucci took home first in both events, claiming a 366.30 on the three meter, and earning a 353.17 on the one meter.

On the women’s side, Christa Cabot earned a 315.30 on the three meter, with Sarah Chewning finishing in fifth, posting a 270.75. Lindsay Keahey tabbed a mark of 245.18 to take seventh.

“Our divers were really on point today,” Conelly said. “Greg (Ferrucci), John (Fox), Sarah (Chewning), and Christa (Cabot) are looking like NCAA qualifiers.” Conelly said.

In the one-meter competition, Sarah Chewning took home second place, turning in a score of 288.68. Lindsay Keahey and Christa Cabot turned in scores of 260.70 and 258.38 to take home third and fourth place respectfully.

“The divers had a real good meet this weekend,” UK head diving coach Ted Hautau said. “ Christa Cabot has been injured the last two weeks, and hasn’t been able to train, so that was a heck of a performance to win the three-meter competition. Sarah Chewning was really good on the one meter”

In the three-meter competition on the men’s side, UK took home first through fifth place, with John Fox, Zack Peterson, Corey Cowger and Kyle Lang finishing directly behind Ferrucci.

“I have been pushing the men hard, but they put together two good events.” Hautau said.

Megan Eppler finished first in the 50-freestyle tapping in at 23.36, while also taking first in the 100-freestyle turning a time of 50.84.

“Megan Eppler just keeps getting better and is really perfecting her races.” Conelly said.

Tyler Reed had yet another impressive meet in his senior campaign, as Reed placed second in the 100-free tapping in at 44.79, and also recorded a fourth-place finish in the 50-free with a time of 20.85.

“Tyler Reed had some of his best ever in-season swims.” Conelly said.

The meet in Louisville served as the Wildcats final dual meet of the season, as UK’s focus now shifts towards the Southeastern Conference Championships Feb. 15-18 in Knoxville, Tenn.

“Things are looking good,” Conelly said. “We are about at the mid point in our resting phase. I’m going to be very excited to see how fast we go when we are completely rested.”

 

February 3, 2012
MEN'S BASKETBALL

Pre-South Carolina Quotes

UK Head Coach John Calipari

On whether or not the freshmen have hit the wall at all …
“I think all four of them are doing great. They’re getting better, learning, attentive, focused. I think they’re all the first ones in there because they’re excited about playing. So no, I don’t believe so. They may in February somewhere with the schedule of games we have coming up. We could get hit in the mouth.”

On what he has seen defensively most recently from his players …
“One of the things that’s happening when we’ve got a pretty good lead so we’re grinding it out at the end and that gives that other team, probably, six less possessions which is what we’re trying to do. That’s helping us. I always say, teams that lead the nation in defensive least amount of point, when you watch them offensively they hold the ball. So that other team has way less opportunity. What’s happened to us is seven minutes to go, six minutes to go, we’re pulling it back and grinding out the ball.”

On making sure the team doesn’t overlook any opponents coming up …
“We approach every game the same and I’m going to go in there today like we played North Carolina or anybody else. We’re going on the road. It’s going to be a hard game. I watched their game last night with Florida. They shouldn’t have been in the game and then all of the sudden you turn around and they’ve got the ball and it’s a five-point game. I watched their game with Alabama. They beat Alabama. I watched their game with Mississippi. They had Mississippi beat. If you watch the end of the game, you thought they won. If you didn’t see the score, you said, ‘South Carolina won.’ And they lost and it was the same thing. They’re good enough to beat us and if we don’t come and play one of our better games, we get beat.”

On how South Carolina is better now versus when Kentucky played them last …
“They’ve got two or three guys that are really playing well. Whether it’s [Anthony] Gill who can really get it going offensively, or obviously their point guard, (Bruce Ellington), he can get it going. They have the other wing player who is really scoring baskets, their leading scorer, or their leading rebounder. And then the one kid blocks shots. They have a little bit of everything. I’m a little bit surprised at their record but I’m telling you, when you see they beat Alabama, had Mississippi beat, played Florida on the road and had their chances to win the game, and now have us, I think you see them moving in the right direction and I think you’re going to see them start knocking people off. I just hope it’s not us and that we’re not the first.”

On whether (Bruce) Ellington looks different from last time …
“Yes, when he missed a few it led him to miss another one, another one, another one. He’s not doing that now. He’ll miss two shots and come back and make a shot or two. He’s playing physical, he’s better with the ball, his decision making is better than it was then. He’ll be an issue for us.”

On his thoughts on his team bonding on the road …
“The best thing about when school ends and we have that time together and we’re going three times a day, including a breakfast meal and an evening meal. Then you go on the road and you’re 24/7 for two days and you’re together at meals, at shoot around, at film sessions. They start coming together and that’s why this time of the year, I like it and I really don’t mind going on the road, especially when you’re just trying to bring your team together.”

On what Darrin Horn has been doing at South Carolina …
“He’s been doing fine. It’s a hard job. He’s set the stage for where he wants this to go, he went from man to zone. He’s not afraid to try things. I think he’s doing a fine job. It’s just, South Carolina is hard. It’s a hard deal to get going and that’s why you have to stick with a guy and give him seven or eight years and give him something to get going. I think the last guy to really do some stuff down there may have been, what, Frank McGuire? It’s a good program. It’s a great school, great facilities. It just takes time to get it going right.”

Players

#14 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, G, Fr.
 
On how difficult the rest of the schedule is …
“I’m looking forward to it, and we’re just going on the road. So I can’t wait.”

On how, with all these big games looming, they avoid overlooking South Carolina being that they handled them pretty well in the first meeting …
“That doesn’t mean anything. It’s another game, it doesn’t mean anything.”

 On how Marquis Teague has been playing lately …
“He’s been playing real good. He’s making a lot of shots now, more and more and a whole lot more assists, so he’s been real good.”

#20 Doron Lamb, G, So.
 
On what’s different about this year’s team on the road this year from last year’s team …
“We have a deep team this year. We know how to close games out. The crowds don’t affect us really because we have a lot of talented players on the court and if somebody’s not having a good night, somebody else will take their spot for them and finish it.”

On how aware they are that “the meat” of their schedule is still ahead with five out of their last seven games against ranked league opponents …
“It doesn’t really matter though. We take every game like they’re No. 1 in the country like us, so we have to win every game so far and we’re not trying to lose anymore. So we just have to keep playing hard in practice and keep playing hard in the game.”

On how February is usually a taxing time for freshmen and what he remembers about this time last year …
“I really forgot about last year, like seriously. I really forgot the whole thing about last year. I’m not really worried about last year; I’m worried about this year. We have a great team this year and we have a great group of freshmen, and I think they’re ready for this month and the rest of the season.”

On (South Carolina guard) Bruce Ellington…
“He’s a good player – very strong, comes off a lot of ball screens and plays a lot of defense. So he’s a great player. We have to worry about him a little bit and then worry about their big man.”
#30 Eloy Vargas, F, Sr.
 
On how he is getting better overall …
“I just want to put (forth) my opportunity. I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing. If anyone gets in foul trouble, I need to be ready to play.”

On how practices are going …
“I am doing a lot better. I am in better condition. I am more in the weight room now. The coaches always tell me to be in the weight room and doing conditioning. I think it is going to be a big help for me in the future and to build the team.”

 

February 2, 2012
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Postgame Quotes- Kentucky vs. Ole Miss

Ole Miss Head Coach Renee Ladner

On turnovers, defensive pressure and expectations coming into the game…
“Definitely wasn’t a surprise. Kentucky is a very good basketball team. Their team is on a mission. Their style of play affects, obviously, everyone in this league. Tonight we got bit by the same bug; turnovers and pressure. Some we did to ourselves, but most were forced.”

On whether Kentucky is the best team in the SEC…
“I believe they are. I would say so, yes. They are definitely the hardest team to play against because of their relentless pressure and their ability to sub so deep. You know, they wear you down. We probably gave them a game for what, about 15 minutes? Then it’s 18-18 all and then next thing you know they’re up and then you’re digging out of a hole and then the pressure comes back. It’s not like it’s going away.”

On the difficulty of going into the game without Nikki (Byrd) in the lineup…
“You know I think it’s always difficult when you lose a starter, somebody who has played for you all years, and someone who earlier in the season averaged a double-double. We knew that going in. We just had to do the best we could. We played a lot of freshmen in that spot so they had an opportunity to play in this environment; something they can build on.”

On catching up with Kentucky’s lead in the first half…
“We had some looks with the pressure. We passed over the press and got some easy layups in transition. You look up and it’s 18-all, and the next time I turn around they’ve made a run of about 10 points. Again, you are always trying to warn your team to not allow a team like Kentucky to get on a run. Try to handle each possession the best you can. They got that right and we just couldn’t recover.”

On how often you see defense like Kentucky’s in the SEC…
“The last two or three years, for the most part. They have their own style of play; run and jump, pressured defense, a lot of players play. You are going against guards for the most part. A lot of time he plays four guards and one post and that’s difficult if you have a true team of two forwards and two guards and a point guard. How often? Just recently, today and I’m sure we will see it in the future.”

On the future of this team…
“The future is bright. We are very young. With nine underclassmen, we certainly had a lesson today. Hopefully we can grow from that.”
Ole Miss Player Quotes

#3, Valencia McFarland, G

On playing against Kentucky’s defense and pressure…
“It’s crazy. There is pressure for the entire 40 minutes. They substitute in and out, so there is constant pressure which makes it very difficult.”

On playing today’s game without Nikki Byrd…
“I just try to deal with the players that we have on the court. They helped me out a lot today and they played hard.”

On what they can take away from a game like today’s…
“We just have to come in and play poised and play our basketball. Just play Ole Miss basketball and deal with the pressure.”

#13 Bria Goss, Fr., G

On the feeling of getting a bounce-back win while turning over Ole Miss so many times …
“It’s a good feeling. During the run, we just want to keep running, keep increasing the lead, and keep increasing the score. We want to try to force a lot of turnovers, get a lot of defensive boards, and keep them from scoring.”

On how they create turnovers …
“I don’t even know. It’s about us. We want to make sure our defense is to our standards. That is our goal.”

On her reaction to South Carolina beating Tennessee…
“I heard the crowd go crazy. Even though they lost, we are still going to be doing the same things we have been doing. We are not going to let up. This is the time we need to push harder. We don’t want to let this opportunity slip away. We need to continue to focus on Kentucky.”

#32 Kastine Evans, So., G

On forcing turnovers …
“Coach always talks about how there is a Kentucky standard, and how it developed, and how he wants us to keep it up. That is part of the Kentucky standard of honesty, hard work, and discipline. He always talks about discipline being our turnover margin. He talks about that everyday in practice. That is just part of our defense.”

#23 Samarie Walker, So., F

On rebounding the ball ….
“That’s another thing that we focus on, is defensive rebounds. Everyone can rebound from the guard position to post position. A’dia (Mathies) had an off night, and everybody stepped up.”

On their style of play…
“I would say it is not easy. Obviously, it was not easy for me to get used to it when I first came in here.”

Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell Quotes

Opening Statement …
“Well, you’re always happy to win but I was particularly impressed with how the players went about winning this one. They really played with great energy and bounced back from a sub-par effort on Sunday. We wanted to give a Kentucky-level effort tonight and I am proud of them.”

On bouncing back from poor shooting early in the game …
“We had a hard time getting the ball in the basket and when we missed one, it seemed like we felt the weight of all the ones we have been missing. It’s been a little bit of a shooting slump but today we were falling away and hoping it would go in, but we had great effort on the offensive boards with incredible energy, but we were rushing around the basket. It improved a little bit in the second half, but we have some players who carry a miss to the next shot, but we will stop doing that I believe. I was so proud of our effort tonight.”

On causing 36 turnovers …
“We had tremendous energy and commitment from the players. They stayed at it all night and kept hustling, even when we were struggling scoring I was not upset, I just kept telling them to keep hustling. We hustled from the opening buzzer until the final one and it was a product of our attitude and our commitment to this particular game. I was proud of them.”

On the 20-18 run by Ole Miss …
“I just kept telling them at each timeout that if we kept hustling, we would break it open and the shots would start falling. We talked about it at half, If we did a couple of things offensively might help but really if we kept hustling and tried to turn turnovers into transition points it would all work out for us and it did. We kept hanging in there and giving good effort and we got back on track.”

On the team’s emotions of being in the driver’s seat of the SEC after Tennessee lost to South Carolina …
“I just think having an effort like tonight and playing Kentucky basketball is the most encouraging thing to me because we have been saying that if we can do that, we can be SEC champions. Now as the standings go, you hope you can get as much separation as you can. You’d love to see a huge lead in the standings, but the case is just a two-game lead and we have a bunch of games left.  It is a positive development for us but it is nothing we can spend time thinking about because a loss Sunday and a win by Tennessee would make the lead go right back to one game. It nothing for us to get too excited about.”

On Kastine Evans’ line, which included seven steals …
“She gave tremendous effort, activity and hustle. It was a great, great energetic performance. It is not surprising she is a great, energetic kid. She gives us everything she has every night out. She plays multiple positions, even point guard tonight. She is really tough that is fantastic. It is contagious and she is terrific.”

On A’dia Mathies’ 2-of-14 performance …
“You can’t imagine with how pleased I am with A’dia’s performance tonight. She was 2-of-14 (shooting), if she did not have a good attitude it would’ve been 2-of-8 or 2-of-7, and when she shoots good things happen for us. They committed so many people to her it was tough and when she went to the basket it opened up the offensive boards. I thought she had a tremendous performance, she just kept hanging in there and we got her to double figures. She kept plugging I was really proud of that. Shooting just 35 percent and putting up 80 points, a night where we can make some lay-ups could be really good for us.”

On the players’ effort tonight …
“We have been able to attract high-character kids. They understand they have a chance to become something special and we have told them that. They seem to really care about each other and when it is more about the group than personal stats, you get this kind of effort”

February 2, 2012
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Postgame Notes

Final Score: No. 6/5 Kentucky – 82, Ole Miss – 41

Team Records and Series Notes

Kentucky improves to 21-2, 10-0 SEC, while Ole Miss falls to 12-11, 2-8 SEC.
·It is the first time in program history that UK has started conference play 10-0.
·Kentucky’s 21-2 start ties its best start in program history through the first 23 games. Kentucky also started 21-2 in 1982-83.
·Kentucky has now won a school-record 13 straight SEC games dating back to last season.
·UK has now won eight straight SEC home games dating back to last season, tying the school record set in 2009-10.
·UK’s 10 SEC wins are one shy of tying the school record for most SEC wins in a season.

-Kentucky is 13-20 against Ole Miss all-time, and 7-8 when the game is played in Lexington.
-UK head coach Matthew Mitchell is 4-1 against the Rebels.
Thursday’s win is Kentucky’s third in a row over Ole Miss, and its third straight win over Ole Miss in Lexington.
-Coach Matthew Mitchell is 137-80 overall and 107-51 at UK.
-Kentucky is 649-466 in 38 years of varsity play.
-The Wildcats are 142-213 all-time in SEC play, and 45-25 under the direction of Mitchell.
-UK is 46-2 in Lexington over the past three seasons.
-UK is 355-140 (.717) at Memorial Coliseum, including 65-12 (.844) under Mitchell.
Kentucky’s current 18-game home winning streak is the fourth longest in program history, and is one shy of tying the third longest in UK history.
-Kentucky has won 10-straight games, and is one win shy of tying the program record winning streak of 11 games (1982-83 and 2009-10).
-It is the second time this season UK has won 10 straight games.
-Kentucky plays again Sunday at 3 p.m. ET vs. LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The game is being televised by CST.

First Half Notes

-Kentucky used the starting lineup of Amber Smith, A’dia Mathies, Bria Goss, Kastine Evans and Brittany Henderson for the eighth straight game. UK is 11-0 with this lineup.
-UK has started a freshman in 126-of-158 games in the Matthew Mitchell era, including 93 straight.
-Tied 16-16 at the 11:39 mark, Kentucky went on a 15-2 run, including 11 straight points, to take a 31-18 lead with 4:55 left in the half.
-Kentucky held Ole Miss scoreless for the final 3:10 of the half.
-Kentucky forced Ole Miss into 20 turnovers, an SEC-high in the first half, and the most forced turnovers for UK since forcing Arkansas-Pine Bluff into 23 first-half turnovers.
-Kentucky has forced each of its past three opponents into 16 or more turnovers in the first half.
-The Wildcats turned those 20 Ole Miss turnovers into 20 points, allowing just seven points off their own eight turnovers.
-Kentucky led Ole Miss 37-23 heading into the locker room.
-The Wildcats are 17-0 this season when leading or tied at the half.
 
Second Half Notes

-After the Rebels scored six of the first nine points of the half, Kentucky went on a 15-3 run, including an 11-0 run, that pushed the Wildcats to a 55-32 lead.
-Kentucky led by at least 21 points for the remainder of the game.
-UK outscored Ole Miss 45-18 in the second half.
-The 18 points allowed are the fewest points allowed in a half vs. an SEC opponent this season.
-Kentucky held Ole Miss scoreless for the final 3:10 of the game.
 
Team/Game Notes

-Kentucky forced 36 turnovers in the game.
-Kentucky’s 36 forced turnovers are the most forced turnovers by any team in the SEC during conference play this season.
The 36 forced turnovers are the most forced turnovers by UK in SEC play in the Matthew Mitchell era, breaking the previous record of 30 set vs. Auburn on Jan. 26.
-UK has forced double-digit miscues in 105 consecutive games. The Cats are 78-27 during that span.
-Kentucky has forced an SEC-high 674 turnovers this season (29.30 per game).
-Kentucky has forced at least 10 turnovers in 39 of 46 halves this season.
-Ole Miss’ season high turnovers entering Thursday’s game was 26, and the Rebels averaged 17.5 giveaways per game.
-Kentucky won the turnover battle (10-36).
-UK has forced at least 20 turnovers in 21 of 23 games this season.
-The +26 turnover margin is UK’s largest in SEC play this season, and it’s largest since holding a +39 advantage vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 11.
-Kentucky outscored Ole Miss 39-9 in points off turnovers.
-Pushing UK to the +30 advantage in points off turnovers was a 25-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
-Kentucky outrebounded Ole Miss 45-38.
-UK has won or tied the rebounding battle in 16 of 23 games, including eight by more than 10.
-Kentucky is 37-2 under Matthew Mitchell when scoring 80 or more points.
-UK got great production from its bench, outscoring Ole Miss’ bench 30-15.
-The Wildcats are 19-1 when its bench outscores the opponent’s bench.
·With six made 3-pointers, UK extended its streak of consecutive games with a triple to 280.

·The Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams are a combined 93-2 (.979) in home games over the last three seasons, the best mark in the country.

Attendance was 7,429.
 
Individual Notes

-Sophomore guard Kastine Evans scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high seven steals to go with four rebounds and three assists.
-Evans has hit at least one 3-pointer in each of the last six games.
-Evans’ seven steals are the most by a UK player since A’dia Mathies recorded a career-high nine steals vs. Nebraska Omaha on Nov. 23, 2011.
-Evans’ 12 points are her most since scoring 13 vs. Southern Miss on Nov. 19.
-Freshman guard Bria Goss scored a team-high 19 points and had three steals.
-Goss has reached double figures in scoring in 17 of 23 games.
-Goss’ 11.7 points per game average is on pace to be the sixth highest scoring average in UK freshman history.
-Goss’ 17 double-figure scoring games are tied for the sixth most in UK freshman history.
Goss has hit 27 3-pointers this season, three shy of tying Stacey Reed at No. 6 in the UK freshman record books.
-Junior guard A’dia Mathies scored 11 points and grabbed six boards.
-Mathies’ 11 points give her 1,261 points in her career. She is 15th on the all-time scoring list and is 76 points shy of tying Belitta Croley at No. 14 all-time.
-Mathies had two steals, giving her 226 in her career. Mathies moves to No. 8 on the all-time steals list and is three steals shy of tying Christina Jansen at No. 7. Mathies has recorded at least -one steal in 23 straight games, dating back to last season.
-Has scored 10 or more points in 17 of the 22 games she’s played this season.
-Sophomore forward Samarie Walker scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high tying six rebounds.
-Walker’s 11-point game is her second highest scoring output in her UK career.
-Walker has six or more rebounds in 10 of her 13 games played this season.
-Freshman forward Bra’Shey Ali made her SEC debut, grabbing five rebounds, blocking one shot and getting a steal in eight minutes played.
·Junior forward Brittany Henderson scored six points and grabbed five rebounds.

February 2, 2012
WOMEN'S SOCCER

Women’s Soccer Welcomes 15 for 2012 Class

Class ranks in top five nationally

LEXINGTON, Ky. – On the heels of one of the most successful years in program history in which the University of Kentucky women’s soccer team hosted an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 1999, head coach Jon Lipsitz and his staff announced the 2012 incoming recruiting class Thursday.

One of the most decorated groups in program history, the 2012 class is ranked in the top five nationally by Allwhitekit.com.

“It’s been a long time coming waiting for this class to come on campus,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said of his highly ranked class. “It’s a class that obviously on paper looks like they will have a huge impact on the future of this program. We also know that is only on paper, and what really matters is what happens when they all get here. I am very confident in the impact they will have on and off the field.”

“They are not only tremendous soccer players with a huge amount of success as youth players, but also they are tremendous students and people,” Lipsitz said. “We are extremely selective in recruiting and being a great soccer player is only the beginning. With the great benefit we have of CATS, which I truly believe is the best academic center for athletes in the entire country, and Mike Haley as our advisor, we know we have all the resources here for our student-athletes to be successful.

“These are players that have all decided with us that this is a great fit and we are excited for them to get here. I am very proud of the work that they have done, and I look for it to continue.”

Kennedy Collier, a native of Danville, Ky., played her club soccer for Central Kentucky Soccer Club under the direction of her father, Danny Collier. Collier is a senior at Boyle County High School where she helped lead her team to an Elite Eight appearance in three of her four years. While playing for CKSC, her club team was crowned Kentucky State Champions in 2008 and 2010, while finishing runners-up in 2011. The speedy forward was Academic all-state all four years of high school, as well as part of the 2010 Youth Salute and Environmental Club. During her time at Boyle County, Collier racked up many accolades, including all-region, all-district, and all-state in 2011, which served as her senior season. The daughter of Danny and Scottie Collier, Kennedy is undecided on her major.

Sterling, Va., native Jackie Dallaire is one of the most versatile members of the class, having experience in the midfield, forward, and backline throughout her lifelong soccer career. Dallaire played her club soccer for the McLean MPS Strikers under the direction of Clyde Watson. While playing with the Strikers, Dallaire won the National Championship in the 2010 Super-Y, as well as a member of the Super-Y ODP National Select Team in 2009 and 2010. A senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Dallaire is an AP scholar with honors, as well as a member of the National Society of High School Scholars. While at Thomas Jefferson, Dallaire was named second-team all-district, and served as the captain of the freshman basketball team. She is the daughter of Mike and Kyle Dallaire, and plans to major in social work with a concentration in pre-medicine.

Forward and outside defender Danielle Fitzgerald is a native of Fairfax, Va. Fitzgerald played her high school soccer at Oakton High School, while playing for the Herndon Firecats in the club season under the direction of Nadir Moumen. Fitzgerald’s club was part of the Virginia State Cup Champions in 2010 and 2011, as well as Virginia Runners-up in 2006 and 2008. Fitzgerald led Oakton to the Virginia state semifinals in her freshman and sophomore years, while advancing to the district championships in 2010. Fitzgerald was named all-district in 2009 and 2010, while also being tabbed as a Washington Post All-Met honorable mention in 2010, and a member of the Region I Team in 2010. Off the field, Fitzgerald was an all-state track athlete in 2009 and all-district in 2010. Fitzgerald is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and is the daughter of Daryl and Cheryl Fitzgerald. She plans to major in kinesiology. 

Allie Gorgol from Fishers, Ind., will be a nice addition to the Wildcats’ attack for the 2012 season. Gorgol is attending Fishers High School, while playing her club soccer for Ralph Richards at CUSC ’94 Elite. Gorgol earned the Flight B ENCL National Championship while with CUSC. While playing at Fishers High School, Gorgol was named all-state, all-district, all-conference and twice won the Offensive MVP Award. In addition, Gorgol was given the Tiger Pride Award, which serves as an award for excellent leadership. Gorgol is a member of the Key Club, and was tabbed as U.S. History Student of the Year for her high school. The daughter of Tom and Mary Ann Gorgol, she plans to major in physical therapy.

Henderson, Tenn., native Cailin Harris played her club soccer for Sandy Pollack and Brandy Gagliano at Brentwood Soccer Club. While there, Harris led Brentwood to six state championships, a regional final, quarterfinal and semi-final. Harris was a Region III pool member, as well as a Premier League member. Harris played her high school soccer at Pope John Paul II High School, earning trips to the state semifinals in her freshman, sophomore and junior years, while achieving the quarterfinals in the fall of 2011. Harris was named All-State four years, County MVP three years in a row, and Mid-State all four years as well. Harris has recorded over 160 hours of community service, including work with Relay for Life. She is a member of the National Honor Society, National Leadership Society, as well as spending her time tutoring students with disabilities, writing for her school newspaper and a National French Scholar. The daughter of Dyra and Amy Harris, Cailin plans to major in biology with an emphasis on pre-pharmacy.

Kelli Hubly from Elk Grove, Ill., signed with Kentucky as one of the most highly recruited players in the country. Hubly has experience on the highest of playing levels, as she was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team for the U-15, U-17 and U-18 levels, and has been invited to the January 2012 U-18 National Team camp. Hubly played her club soccer for Oleg Vatchev at Sockers F.C. in Chicago with fellow newcomers Courtney Raetzman and Kylie Morgan. While with the Sockers F.C., Hubly led her team to the 2010 and 2011 Illinois Cup Championship, as well as the U.S. Youth Soccer Regional Championship in 2011. Hubly also was a Region II team member.  In her time spent at Elk Grove High School, Hubly was named all-conference in 2010 and 2011, as well as making the honor roll. Kelli is the daughter of William and Jodi Hubly and plans to major in pre-medicine, with a career aspiration to be an orthopedic surgeon.

Cincinnati, Ohio native Olivia Jester played her club soccer for Tim Lesiak at the Ohio Elite Soccer Academy. Jester is a versatile player on the pitch, having played forward, center mid, and on the back line. In her time at Ohio Elite, Jester was named to the Ohio South State Team for six-consecutive years from 2006-11. Also, Jester was a part of the OSYSA State Cup in 2010, before lifting the trophy in 2011. Jester was named to the ODP Region II Team from 2008-11. At McAuley High School in the Queen City, Jester was named all-conference 1st-team in 2009, 2010, and 2011 while also SWOSSCA division one first team from 2009-11. Jester also lettered in basketball her freshman year. Off the field, Jester is extremely involved in the community, serving as an honor-roll student, as well as a Ronald McDonald House volunteer. Olivia is the daughter of Dan and Danielle, and is undecided on her major.

Like future teammate Olivia Jester, Courtney Kobashigawa played her club soccer for Tim Lesiak at the Ohio Elite Soccer Academy. Kobashigawa was born in the Aloha State of Hawaii, but calls Dublin, Ohio home. Kobashigawa was a member of the U.S. Soccer National Team for the U-14 and U-15 teams, playing consistently at the highest level. While with the Ohio Elite, Kobashigawa led them to the 2011 State Cup Championship, was named ODP State Team member from 2008-12, and the ODP Regional Team from 2008-12 as well. Kobashigawa played high school soccer at Dublin Jerome High School where the team was Ohio Division I state finalists. The highly touted midfielder and defender was named to the honor roll 13 straight times, as well as helping at the Dublin Methodist Hospital, Coral Springs Nursing Home, and Guarderia el Manandial Costa Rica. Kobashigawa is the daughter of Kelley and Cody Kobashigawa and is currently undecided on a major.

Cara Ledman played her club soccer for Brentwood Soccer Club under the leadership of Ajit Korgauor in Brentwood, Tenn., where she calls home. Ledman led Brentwood Premier to three state championships, second place in the Disney Showcase in 2010, and successful runs in the Las Vegas Showcase Tournament two times. Ledman attended Battle Ground Academy, where she led her team to the state quarterfinals in her freshman and sophomore years, while advancing to the semifinals her final two years. She was named captain by her team for her junior and senior year of high school, as well as all-state in those years as well. In addition, in her senior year, she tallied 21 goals, leading her team in scoring in addition to being selected to play in the Tennessee All-Star game. Ledman is a member of the Digamma, which is an academic specialty group for those with an 87 or above in every class. Ledman is a National Honor Society student, which has led to her contributing over 150 hours of community service hours. Cara is the daughter of Timothy and Barbra Ledman and is deciding between education and nutrition as a major.

Maddie Lockridge of Nicholasville, Ky., is one of the two native Kentuckians in the 2012 recruiting class. Lockridge played club soccer for Lexington Futbol Club ’94 Premier. While at LFC, Lockridge earned the title for all-time leading scorer, and all-time leader in assists. LFC was a state semifinalist in 2011, and a participant in the Region II Championships. Lockridge played high school soccer for West Jessamine High School, where she led her team to the state Final Four. She was named to the 2010 and 2011 all-state team. She led her team in scoring for 2011 and was first-team all-academic from 2009-11. Off the field, Lockridge racked up many academic accolades including AP Scholar, a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club, DAR Scholarship winner, and served as a teaching assistant to students with cognitive disabilities. The daughter of Tom and Jennie Lockridge, she is undecided on her major.

Courtney Raetzman played her club soccer with Kylie Morgan, and Kelli Hubly for Sockers F.C. in Chicago. Raetzman is a native of Elk Grove Village, Ill., and comes to Kentucky specializing in attacking midfield. Raetzman was a member of the U-15 and U-18 U.S. Women’s National Team, and was invited to the U-18 camp, which was held in January of 2012. Raetzman was named to the NSCAA Youth All-America team in 2011, while leading the Sockers to the Illinois State Cup in 2011 and 2010. Individually, she was named USYS National Champion Best 11. At James B. Conant High School, Raetzman was a state finalist in 2011 as well as 2009, and will play her senior season in the spring. Raetzman is a member of the National Honor Society. She is the daughter of Jim and Paula Raetzman, and plans to major in physical therapy in the fall semester.

Defender and attacking-center midfielder Cailey Warfel of Kingwood, Texas played her club soccer for Challenge ’94 under the coaching of Pat O’Toole. While with Challenge, Warfel participated in the ENCL National Championship, Las Vegas Shootout, and Texas Shootout. Challenge was a southern regional semifinalist in 2009, and quarterfinalist in 2011. Warfel also led the team to the South Texas State Classic League championship in 2009, and 2010. While at Kingwood High School, Warfel played varsity soccer for three years, and was ranked No. 1 nationally her freshman year by ESPN Rise. Off the field, Warfel was a member of the National Honor Society, and received the National Honor Society Leadership Award. Warfel is the daughter of Steve and Lacinda Warfel and plans to major in physical therapy.

In addition to the 12 newcomers, UK also welcomed three new members in the spring who enrolled early in the spring to help get a jump start with the Wildcats. Haleigh Hoff, Kylie Morgan and Elaina Musleh have enrolled at UK, and will participate this spring with the team,

“Obviously, we are excited to get back out on the field and to get going again, and to have three members arrive after early graduation from high school is a great start for them,” Lipsitz said. “It is good for them to get involved as early as possible.

A forward/midfielder from Winfield, W.Va., Hoff graduated from Winfield High School. She is a four-time West Virginia High School Soccer Coaches Association (WVHSSCA) All-State selection and was named this year’s WVHSSCA Player of the Year. She was named the 2010 WVHSSCA Forward of the Year. Hoff played club soccer for the WV Chaos and coach Kernel Borneo. Most recently, Hoff was named the 2011 National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America (NSCAA) All-America Scholar Athlete of the Year. She is the daughter of Marshall and Stacy Hoff and plans to major in Agricultural Biotechnology.

A spring semester enrollee, goalkeeper Kylie Morgan of Aurora, Ill., played her club soccer for the Sockers F.C. in Chicago with fellow incoming freshmen Kelli Hubly and Courtney Raetzman. Morgan was part of the team that won the 2010 and 2011 Illinois Cup Championship, as well as the U.S. Youth Soccer Regional Championship in 2011. Morgan received the 2009 Golden Glove Award, given to the best goalie in Region II of Illinois. She was also named ODP ’94 Region II team member in 2008-10. Morgan has volunteered at the Special Olympics, as well as the retirement home. Morgan’s older sister Jessie is on the soccer team at Eastern Illinois. Morgan is the daughter of Russ and Michelle Morgan, and plans to major in nursing in the fall.

A forward from Carmel, Ind., Musleh attended and graduated from Carmel High School. A member of the United States U-14 National Team, Musleh played her club ball for the NSA Fury ‘94 under Rade Martinovic where they claimed four state titles. She also played with the Ohio Elite, whom she helped win nationals last season. Musleh was named all-state and all-region in 2012. Musleh plans to major in either pre-medicine, or business and is the daughter of Edward and Stacia Musleh.

 

2012 Signing Class:       Pos.               Club Team                                      Hometown

Kennedy Collier                F                 Central Kentucky Soccer Club         Danville, Ky.               
Jackie Dallaire                 M                McLean MPS Strikers                      Sterling, Va.
Danielle Fitzgerald           F                 Herndon Firecats                            Fairfax, Va.
Allie Gorgol                     M                CUSC ’94 Elite                                 Fishers, Ind.
Cailin Harris                    M                Brentwood Soccer Club                   Hendersonville, Tenn.
Haleigh Hoff                    D                 WV Chaos                                       Winfield, W. Va.
Kelli Hubly                        F                 Sockers F.C. Chicago                    Elk Grove, Ill.
Olivia Jester                     D                 Ohio Elite                                       Cincinnati, Ohio
Courtney Kobashigawa    D                 Ohio Elite                                       Dublin, Ohio
Cara Ledman                    F                 Brentwood Soccer Club                 Franklin, Tenn.
Maddie Lockridge            F                 Lexington FC                                   Nicholasville, Ky.
Kylie Morgan                  GK                Sockers F.C. Chicago                     Aurora, Ill.      
Elaina Musleh                 M                NSA Fury ’94                                    Carmel, Ind.
Courtney Raetzman        M                Sockers F.C. Chicago                      Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Cailey Warfel                   D                 Challenge ’94                                  Kingwood, Texas

 

February 2, 2012
MEN'S BASKETBALL

Men’s Basketball Signees Named to Jordan Brand All-Star Rosters

Archie Goodwin and Alex Poythress will play for the Wildcats next season

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Future Kentucky basketball players Archie Goodwin and Alex Poythress have been invited to play in the 2012 Jordan Brand Classic game.

Both players were selected to play for the West team in the game, which is scheduled for April 14 (7 p.m. ET on ESPN) at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C.

Goodwin, a 6-5 guard from Little Rock, Ark., is a senior at Sylvan Hills High School. He is currently ranked as the second best shooting guard in the country and 12th overall by Rivals.com. Scout.com ranks him the third best shooting guard and 13th overall, while ESPNU Recruiting has Goodwin as the fifth best shooting guard and also 16th overall.

Poythress is currently a senior at Clarksville Northeast High School in Clarksville, Tenn. Scout.com ranks Poythress 14th overall in the class of 2012 and the No. 3 small forward. ESPNU Recruiting has him 16th overall and No. 3 at his position, while Rivals.com ranks him 19th overall and No. 8 at his position.

February 1, 2012
FOOTBALL

An interview with: COACH JOKER PHILLIPS

COACH PHILLIPS:  This past season has been a really good season and I say "season" past year, because this thing started a year ago.  We didn't just all of the sudden begin to recruit.  Recruiting is year‑round these days, and this staff did an unbelievable job of recruiting.  The (recruiting) staff is made up of the coaching staff, their families, their wives did an unbelievable job, our support staff, the people in this building, and across the campus.

That includes Mitch Barnhart, Dr. (Eli) Capilouto, and Coach "Cal" (John Calipari), who did an outstanding job of ‑‑ very few big‑time Division I coaches in men's basketball are willing to open up their locker room at the 30‑minute mark and let some high school football recruits come in and address them, and I appreciate Coach Cal for doing that.

And Dr. Capilouto and Mitch Barnhart, when we got those guys in front of our prospects, they did an outstanding job of selling our vision and where we are as a football program, and it was a good chance for us to ‑‑ for the recruits to hear from our administration, the support that we have here at Kentucky.  This is a strong recruiting class, and the class got stronger in the last 48 hours when a couple of kids decided to join us.

This is our second year in a row that we have had an opportunity to sign a full class.  I say "full class" I mean a full class of 25.  Because of the numbers and because of the quality that we have had in these last two classes, I think the core, the core and the strength of this program is in our younger players, these 59 players that have three years or more (of eligibility) in this program right now.

Last year we brought in 25, 11 of those got on the field, could have easily been 4 or 5 others that could have got on the field, the other guys probably needed a year of development but there were a couple of other guys that could have gotten on the field and we feel that this is that type of class and might even be better than the class we put together last year.

I also talked to you last year about we have come up with a profile of what the student athlete in football looks like here at Kentucky.  Has to be high character, a guy that really wants to get a degree and a guy that wants to be successful and loves the game of football, not only loves the game of football but loves playing the game of football here at Kentucky, and this staff did a good job of evaluating early and I say "a year ago" because we started a year ago.

We started two or three weeks ago starting on the 2013 class.  So it's about the same time that we started on the '12 class, so we did a good job of evaluating early guys that fit this profile and guys that fit our needs, also playing at a high level in this league that you have to have.

Because of that we were able to get kids to commit to us early and they might not have gotten all the attention from other scouts, other schools because of that.  We were able to get 'em early enough because we identified them and because of the profile that we talk about, that our kids that we're looking for, okay, the commitment meant something to them and late in this process there was a lot of kids that were getting hammered by other teams, and Jordan Watson was one of the those guys getting killed by other teams, trying to get him to turn his back on the University of Kentucky, and Jordan stood strong.  A couple of other kids, Dyshawn Mobley, another kid that stayed strong because of the profile that we were looking for, a guy that has high character, wants to get a degree and loves to play football and brings that love here to the University of Kentucky; we were able to hold on to what we called a great class that got even better in the last 48 hours.

A lot of that had to do with the relationships that we have established and that's the thing that this staff has talked about.  We talk about family atmosphere and it truly is.  If you look at the staff from to the to bottom, those are guys that I have had relationships with in the past, not only as they have coached me or I've coached with or seen coach or some of them were friends that we have met in this business, and that has nothing to do with ‑‑ and I heard a statement that "Coach Brooks' guys are out of here," it's not about Coach Brooks' guys, it's about Joker's guys, and everybody understands the type of relationship that Coach Brooks and I had here at Kentucky.

I would die on the sword for Coach Brooks, our relationship was strong, very strong.  I want the guys that are willing to die on the sword for me in the back of the room, and we have 'em.

We were able to sign some top players here from Kentucky, the top player (Patrick Towles), and along with that three other players from Kentucky.  The state of Ohio, who we have been talking about has to be important to us, we got two kids from the state of Ohio, and I appreciate the effort of Coach (Rick) Minter and Coach (Mike) Cassity, who has joined our staff, we were able to get two quality players in the state of Ohio and has to be a huge emphasis of ours to be able to go into the state of Ohio, which is – (there are) a lot of people between here and Dayton that love the game of football that fit the profile that we're looking for, and we have got to be in there, and not just be in there but be in there strong.

Eight kids from Georgia, we continue to go into that state and attract kids.  I think because of the relationships that many of the guys on this staff, Coach (Greg) Nord has relationships with the coaches in Georgia, Coach (Tee) Martin, myself, Coach (David) Turner, offensively our staff has relationships with the high school coaches, with the addition of Coach (Steve) Pardue, he got us into south Georgia, which we hadn't been as strong in the in the last few years but bringing Coach Pardue on board strengthened those relationships.

Four from the state of Florida, and Coach (Mike) Summers has done an unbelievable job in the north Florida area.  Usually you don't see an offensive line coach responsible for a huge area, he has one for us in Florida, and a lot of that is in the northern part of Florida and done an outstanding job for us.

Coach (Chuck) Smith did a great job in the state of Indiana in which we were able to sign three more kids along with the other kids that we have on our team from Indiana.

State of Tennessee, which Coach (Randy) Sanders continues to go into Tennessee and get players that we know and that fit our profile that we know can compete here in the SEC, and one kid from Alabama that Coach Martin just hangs around, hangs around until one shows up that we feel like can help us.  The needs offensively, what we were looking for, the key to the class was to find a top‑ranked quarterback (Patrick Towles), and he came on early.  He was coming back from his spring break, came over to the office, committed to us.

He became the face of this class, so we were able to get that top quarterback; playmakers at the wide receiver position (A.J. Legree and DeMarcus Sweat), as you all know, is something that we had to go for.  We feel good about that position, couple of SEC backs (DyShawn Mobley and Justin Taylor).  We were kind of hanging around late, and when he (Taylor) became available we reached out and touched people that we had relationships with and we were able to attract him and those relationships were strong and there were a lot of people who hadn't seen this place, and the kid hadn't really seen this place, and that speaks volumes to me on the relationships that we have, because the kid hadn't seen the place and late in the game decided to join us and gain a top‑ranked back.

A Wildcat‑type quarterback, that was important for us to find (Jalen Whitlow), especially the way we played in the last game.  Sometimes things happen you have to get into different packages and I think when we can get an opportunity to add a package to our offense that's great.

He is a Randall Cobb‑type athlete.  It's hard to compare to be with Randall Cobb, but that's what Randall was when we got him, we think he's the type of player. 

Big offensive linemen, I'm not talking about big this way, but big this way (tall)!  And Coach Summers, his profile, he wants guys over 6‑4 and the one thing he says is he and Coach Nord say, "If you want NFL offensive linemen, they have to look like them."  There are some exceptions, especially at the center position, they could be more athletic, smaller, but we want to get the guys ‑‑ but we were able to get those guys over the 6‑4 mark and especially on the edge and on the offensive line.

Defensively we are all learning how to recruit to this new system.  This new system requires us to have more athletes on the field, what you are seeing offensively, with the spread, people are running the spread and running a power game with it, power packages, you better have athletic guys that cannot only play out in space but they better be physical enough to play over tight ends and playing the power game.  So, the back seven, it was really important that we go out and try to fulfill those needs because of the production that we lost in the back seven, the back seven being the linebackers and the secondary.

We signed 11 guys in those positions, in the linebackers and the secondary; seven in the defensive backfield and four linebacker‑type bodies.  We were able to add to what we think should be our strength on defense, the defensive line, still able to go out and find three quality defensive linemen.  Any questions?

Q.  Re: opportunity for defensive backs to come in and play

COACH PHILLIPS:  Obviously we recruit guys that ‑‑ one of the selling points was you were going to have an opportunity to come in here and play.

Again, we will continue to do what we have done in the past, our present players will be battling for the 1 and 2 spots because we want to give our new kids this new class an opportunity to get enough reps to see if they can come in and help us.  They will come in at the 3 spot.  Some, because of depth, may come in at the 2 spot because of depth, so they will all get an opportunity early to see if they can help us.

We feel like the more that can help us ‑‑ again, we played 11 out of our class last year, and this class should be able to come in and help us, even more this year.

Q.  re: Jonathan Reed and Cody Quinn

COACH PHILLIPS:  Reed and Quinn, first of all you want guys in the secondary that are wanting to compete.  These guys are good competitors, they better have a short memory, because things happen back there, better be physical, better be tough and guys that want to get up in people's faces and challenge them; that's the way we play.

When they walk into the room, they light it up, they are guys that people want to be around.  We always talk about "This is a guy that I would hang out with in college," and both of those guys are it.

Q.  Possibility of Quinn being a kick returner

COACH PHILLIPS:  We talked about the return game with Quinn, same with Reed; they need to be dynamic returners, also.

Q.  When did you get word that the late commitments were going to sign?

COACH PHILLIPS:  Well, I mean, we had heard, had a couple of ideas that these kids were probably going to sign with us, but you never know.  And one guy (Taylor) was two miles from the school, from home to school, a lot can happen in two miles, a lot!  Especially in Atlanta, two miles is probably forty minutes, right?  (Chuckles.)  And we heard that he was headed to the school to fax it, you don't want to get too excited but there is some excitement in your belly.  It erupts when the fax comes through.

I think Dick (Gabriel) had a chance to experience it, the excitement that our staff had when he came in, when the fax came in on both of those guys.  Again, we thought that both might sign, but you don't get excited until those faxes really come through the machine.

Q.  Re: the excitement in the recruiting room when the new commitments came through.

COACH PHILLIPS:  Lit up, it lit up.  It made us better coaches, no question about that.  We tell the players we got better today when every one of the kids on the side of this room came in.  The first one that came in was this guy up here (Towles).  That's what you better have.  You better have a guy that's going to pull the trigger, going to be the leader and the face of your program, that's going to be the first guy that shows up and his was the first that showed up.

 Q.  Re: Patrick Towles and what he brings

COACH PHILLIPS:  Well, again, Kentucky guys, parents are born and raised here, his grandfather (Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning), we know what type of athlete he was, and actually he will wear his number, he will be No. 14, I think that was important to him.  Again, high character, he is a guy that will get a degree and a guy that wants to be successful here at Kentucky and I think that's important.

It's very important for this staff, important for him.  Again he was a guy identified early, established a relationship, got him to commit, and didn't worry, okay, did not worry about people coming in and trying to sway him.  Because he was a high‑character‑type kid.

Q.  What did you like about him?

COACH PHILLIPS:  Big, big athlete that can throw the football.  He's a guy that came in here, I think he's at 230; he was 242.  Hopefully he doesn't get as big as his quarterback coach he has right now ‑‑ (Chuckles.)  But big athlete, takes charge, he's a film room junkie, winner, went in as a sophomore when the starting quarterback goes down, he was the guy that went in and all he did was lead 'em to a state championship as a sophomore and then went on to win two more after that.  He's the guy that's the type of leader that we need to be the face of this program.

Q.  Re: concern over Towles’ commitment

COACH PHILLIPS:  With a guy like Patrick Towles, no, very little concern, let's put it that way because I got a call at 10:30 from him, woke up out of a sleep and all he wanted to know was, "Coach, does the SEC letter need to have a time on it?"  And, again, he's the type of kid that we were looking for.  He committed early, and the profile, the kind of kid that we believe in, he stayed strong to what he believed in.

Q.  Re: deciding which defensive backs play cornerback and which play safety

COACH PHILLIPS:  We will have some that we have identified to be corners, some that we have identified to be safeties, some that we have identified to be the hybrid safety.  What this allows us to do is maybe some of the kids that are in our program that are the hybrid‑type of guy that's probably in development, couple years ahead of these guys in development might allow us to move them inside closer to the ball.

When you move 'em closer to the football it makes us a faster football team defensively.

Q.  Re: Patrick Graffree being the type of player you want at Kentucky

COACH PHILLIPS:  Coach Turner, did you hear that one?  Patrick Graffree, is he the type of kid that you want at Kentucky?  All you have to do is follow him, he's going to give you information every day.  He's a guy that's proud to be a Wildcat and not ashamed to show it.  Patrick Graffree is not ashamed to show it, he's proud to be a Wildcat.

Q.  Re: the challenge of finding linemen

COACH PHILLIPS:  It's real important to grow your big guys close to home, I think that's real important.  We have had success in doing that here, (Corey) Peters, (Myron) Pryor, (Garry) Williams, we have had guys that have had success here and not only success here but at the next level.  It's real important for us, if we can, to grow our big guys close to home.

Q.  On opportunity for Towles to compete for playing time

COACH PHILLIPS:  It definitely is, they all have an opportunity to play and to compete for a job here.

Q.  Re: recruitment of Justin Taylor

COACH PHILLIPS:  Well, he was on campus and he did not see many of our coaches.  He was on campus two weeks ago, and we got word of him being here with an academic team here on campus, we got wind, we invited him over, Coach Sanders was the only coach that he got a chance to see along with Tyler Sargent, showed him around the facility, our trainers checked out his knee and felt that he would be ready for June, and we feel that he will be ready to come back and display his ability in the fall camp as an SEC back.

He's not as big tall-wise as he is compact, and I think that's what an SEC back better be, to withstand the blows that he's going to take, Dyshawn (Mobley) is the same type of back; he has the ability to make people miss.  Coach Sanders always talk about one guy in the back end that you can't block, and we want backs that if we turn the safeties loose, about the third period, they don't want to tackle them.  Sometimes when we go in and have plays, our receivers will go in and dig out safeties.  Now it's the corners, they don't want to tackle these guys after period one, and we have a couple of those guys, and we think that's important.

Q.  Re: Khalid Henderson

COACH PHILLIPS:  Khalid Henderson was a guy that we were sitting there waiting, when he became available, Coach Minter had a chance to go down and visit with him, and he liked the look in his eyes, liked him physically ‑‑ and I say "physically" because you better like 'em physically first, you know, because ‑‑ it's just like when I met my wife, I saw her from a distance, I better like what I saw first, before I approach her (laughter).

And Coach came back and described him to us, he liked him physically, you kinda question until you see him for your own eyes, and when I did that, it was exactly what Coach Minter saw, again, fit the profile of what we want to be the face of our defense, and that's what the linebacker is, the face of our defense, and he runs around and makes play after play after play.  Coach and him sat down and watched film, and it was only on Danny Trevathan. Coach doesn't mind long meetings when he has a recruit on campus, and Khalid didn't mind those long meetings.  We are looking for football junkies, and that's what Khalid is.  He saw the potential to be put into the position that Danny Trevathan was in making plays for us.

Q.  Re: offensive line signees are already the size of college linemen

COACH PHILLIPS:  It definitely helps when you can bring in offensive linemen that look like SEC offensive linemen.  Now, their strength levels might not be up there yet but we brought one in last year in Darrian Miller whose strength levels weren't there, but he was athletic enough and mentally he could handle it, therefore he was ‑‑ and, again, talent will overcome experience and his talent overcame some of the experienced guys that was in front of him.

We think these guys are talented enough, we got to get 'em physically ready to compete at a high level, but physically their bodies, they have long arms, at the tackle position.  We have a couple of guys that have enough strength to play inside, we just got to get 'em prepared mentally.

Q.  Re: possibility of Towles being further along because of having worked with Jared Lorenzen

COACH PHILLIPS:  Well, just because of the system that he's been in, also, not just Jared They (Highlands HS) do a good job of developing quarterbacks, he (Coach Dale Mueller) was there before Jared, Coach Minter had one of his guys, a kid from Cincinnati (Gino Guidugli), so they have done a good job of developing quarterbacks, it's the system there.  We feel like it gives him a chance to compete and compete early.

Q.  Re: being able to see a player in summer camp

COACH PHILLIPS:  That's huge!  That's huge!  We don't worry about what stars any of you guys might put on 'em, it's huge.  I value, I really value the valuation back there in that room more than I do some guy that's putting stars on guys.  Just watched a couple reels of film and put a star value on those guys.

I value Coach Summers and his evaluation.  And being able to work with guys in two sessions of camp means more than to me than anything, and some of them might not be ranked as high as some of our folks might want, but I don't remember Dermontti Dawson having a huge star on him, he might have been a zero star when he came in because he hadn't played a lot of football, and he couldn't bench, but he left here a five‑star guy.  And that's the reason I value the evaluations of those guys in the back room, along with this guy here in the front.  

One thing we want to do is see all of our kids practice, also, we want somebody to see 'em do something physically, and that's what I value.  I don't value the star system.

Q.  Re: recruiting of Langston Newton

COACH PHILLIPS:  Langston Newton, he has been (here), but it isn't as easy as you would think.  You would think that we have a good relationship with his family and his family has been outstanding through the time that Morgan has been here but the recruitment of Langston was not as easy as you think.  He wanted to do his own thing, he wanted to go about this process in his own way, he took Morgan out of it and his family out of it and he's, again, high character kid, very intelligent kid that did his homework.  He didn't allow Morgan to do his homework.  He did his own, and we were able to land him because of that, because he felt strong enough about this program himself.

Q.  Re: seeing DyShawn Mobley in the summer

COACH PHILLIPS:  Well, we made the decision at camp that Dyshawn was good enough to play in this league.  We made that decision that night at camp.  After going through the testing, after watching him go through the drills, watching how he worked, how he interacted with other people.  The problem was we didn't know him, okay, we did not know him and a lot of the other kids we didn't know, some others that we offered in camp.  One thing we wanted to be fair is to this program.  Let's establish a relationship with him, let him establish a relationship with us.

We asked him to come back up here, he did, we asked him to come back up for a game, Coach Pardue went down to watch him play a game, we got around the school, so we are now starting to establish a relationship because if we would have offered him then and there and he would have committed because we hadn't established a relationship, it's hard to think that the commitment would have been strong enough to keep him.

But because of the relationship that we built with him first, then the trust that he had in us and us telling him, "Love to offer you now, but we would like to get to know you."  That's it, that's what we told him, and it's hard to do in this business, and because we were honest and up front with him, that's the reason we were able to hold off the teams that tried to come in and sway him.

Q.  How many of the signees were seen in he summer?

COACH PHILLIPS:  Oh, I don't know.  Somebody count that up, how many guys were in our camp?  I don't know.  Lots!  Lots!  I know the Blaylock triplets were in our camp, I can tell you that!  I've been asked that numerous times, Chapman was in our camp, Patrick Graffree was in our camp, Foster was in our camp twice, Nord?  Harris was not, more than that now, T.J. Jones ‑‑ 15.  I value those guys back there evaluations.  We had two sessions when they were in our camp, that's two sessions to work with 'em and that's what I value.

Q.  Re: what attracted the coaches to Landon Foster

COACH PHILLIPS:  Foster?  Made it rain, Coach Nord?  Didn't he, Coach Nord?  Make it rain, that's his term, and the ball has to sound different.  You know an SEC punter when you hear him, you know an SEC kicker when you ‑‑ you don't have to see it, you can close your eyes and walk past and it's going to sound different than a pee‑wee punter.  This guy is an SEC punter, high character kid, intelligent, right look in his eyes, room lights up when he comes in.

Q.  Re: challenge of recruiting with the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M

COACH PHILLIPS:  Again, this is the toughest league no, doubt about that and we have proven that we have been right in the mix here, and this gives us plenty of hope that we feel like we can compete with the top‑ranked teams.  I think we've beaten every team in the east in the last four or five years except for Florida, beaten many of the teams in the west and went toe‑to‑toe with 'em, so we feel comfortable with us being one of those top‑ranked programs, also, we just got to find consistency in the program.

Q.  Re: after defeating Tennessee and signing his class, does the program have momentum?

COACH PHILLIPS:  Well, we have a lot of momentum right now.  With that win over Tennessee and with this class, but it means nothing, means nothing.  We have to continue the development of the players that we have on our campus and that's the way to get better, is development of the players and also additions.  We have added a quality class, the thing that we have to do is have some momentum going into not only fall camp but also have momentum going into the football season.

Q.  Re: being able to sell the opportunity to play

COACH PHILLIPS:  Yeah, we are.  We are selling the opportunities to play.  If you look at our top classes we don't have a lot of numbers in our top classes so that becomes an opportunity for a young guy to come in here and play.

Again, 59 players, three years or more (eligibility remaining), it's going to be harder for us to sell that.  Especially with the quality, not only the numbers, not only the 59 kids that have three years or more but the quality in that 59 that we have.

Q.  Re: importance of getting wide receivers

COACH PHILLIPS:  It was key for us to get some quality wide receivers and one of 'em was in camp, right?  (DeMarcus) Sweat was in camp and, again, trust his evaluation, trust Coach Sanders and I used to be a decent wide receivers coach, and we feel good about him, and along comes A.J. Legree.  Before he went to the All‑Star game, we offer him, everybody else hears about the All‑Star game and they start to come in, again, Coach Sanders established a relationship with the coach and with A.J. Legree, the kid commits and that's trust in my opinion, building a relationship with a kid when the kid commits before showing up on campus and, again, because of the profile of the kid that we're looking for, understood what commitment meant, they weren't able to sway him.

Q.  Re: why rival schools were unable to sway Jordan Watson

COACH PHILLIPS:  Again, the profile of the kid that we have.  There is a reason why they weren't able to sway Jordan Watson -- high character, understands what a commitment means, he wants to get a quality degree and that's what we have here, kids that want to get quality degrees, therefore they aren't able to sway those type of kids.

Q.  Re: getting an early look at the 2013 class

COACH PHILLIPS:  And we did.  Some we saw four or five weeks in a row with a different coach coming in to see them, just to get our face, our logo in front of them, again, that's how you establish relationships, and it's hard to come between when you've established that type of relationship with the kids.

It's a really good class, we will have a couple of junior days to build the relationships that we have established.  We were able to get into Cincinnati, we blitzed it one Friday and that's what we tried to do is use our Fridays and use them wisely by getting into areas close to home, but Fridays are usually a short day, a day that you don't get a chance to see some recruits because they are usually on visits so we use it to stay closer to home and see some of our (2013) ‘13 kids which gave us a chance to establish relationships, have 'em on campus, just continue to build on that relationship.

Then we get a commitment from them we feel strong about that commitment.

Q.  On Phillips’ strong stance on positive recruiting

COACH PHILLIPS:  It has definitely set us apart.  Sundays I meet ‑‑ we have the kids to my house on Sunday for Sunday brunch and I meet with those kids and their parents in my office and the thing that I hear the most is, "Coach we get a lot of information here at Kentucky."  We don't spend time talking about other people's problems; we don't do that.  We spend our time wisely, and our time wisely here at Kentucky is talking about what we have here at Kentucky.

If I'm talking about Matt May, I'm wasting Joker Phillips, and I'm wasting time.  The thing we want to do is sell our program, and the thing that I hear from our parents ‑‑ and we had, I bet you 95, 96% of these kids had their parents on campus with them when they came on the visit, and all of those parents talked about getting more information at Kentucky than we do any other school and a lot of that has to do with us selling Kentucky.  We're not spending time talking about somebody else's problems.

Information with our CATS center, about our coaching staff, our conference, we have 108 majors, we sell Kentucky.  We show them our stadium, our video boards, we have this beautiful city that we have here in Lexington, so we are selling Kentucky and pumping them with information to help them make a wise decision about what is going to be on their wall for the next forty years, that degree.

THE MODERATOR:  Thank you very much. 

February 1, 2012
MEN'S SOCCER

CEDERGREN ANNOUNCES ERIK IMLER AS NEW ASSISTANT COACH

UK Men’s Soccer Head Coach Johan Cedergren Tabs Erik Imler New Assistant Coach

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- New Kentucky men’s soccer head coach Johan Cedergren has introduced former University of Virginia three-time NCAA Champion and United States Olympic Team veteran Erik Imler as UK’s newest assistant coach, it was announced by Cedergren on Wednesday afternoon.

One of the more decorated players in Virginia school history, Imler won three national championships at Virginia (1989, 1991, 1992) as a star midfielder and defender. Soccer America honored Imler’s playing career as a member of the Team of the Century and on the 1990’s Team of the Decade. A two-time All-American at Virginia, Imler was a ParadeMagazine High School All-American during his prep career.

“I am honored and excited to be joining the University of Kentucky men’s soccer coaching staff and becoming a part of the UK family,” Imler said. “This opportunity will provide a new challenge for my coaching career and from what I can see the potential for success is sky high. I am grateful to coach Cedergran, UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart and the entire UK athletics department for a wonderful opportunity.”

Imler is also a veteran of the United States Olympic (1991-92; Barcelona, Spain) and National Teams (1991-93), in addition to two years on the U.S. Youth National Team (1985-87). Imler notched a full international cap with the U.S.A. National Team in 1993. In the 1992 Olympic Games, Imler started all six games and scored a goal and added an assist vs. Poland, who won the Silver Medal.

“We are so excited to welcome Erik to the UK family,” Cedergren said. “Erik is a proven winner, a great coach and he will bring an extensive recruiting network to UK. When we were looking for our two new assistant coaches, Erik was at the top of the list. To be able to hire the top assistant coach for the U18 national team shows how highly the program, and its potential, is viewed by the coaching community.”

Following his career at UVA, Imler embarked on a successful professional soccer career, playing a year with the United Soccer League (Delaware Wizards and Raleigh Flyers). He also played for the D.C. United and the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer from 1996-97, before playing in the A-League for the Charleston Battery and the Lehigh Valley Steam. Imler helped lead D.C. United to the MLS Championship in 1996. Imler was drafted in the third round (30th overall) in the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft, playing in 19 games while helping lead D.C. United to the title.

After his standout playing career on the collegiate and professional level, Imler began an assistant coaching career with a season at his alma mater, coaching at Virginia in 1993. He then moved to The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. (1998-99), before taking the head coaching job with the Belmont Abbey women’s soccer program in 2009-10.

During his season as the head coach of Belmont Abbey College, Imler led the team to a 17-3-3 record, before becoming an assistant coach with the U.S.A. men’s national under-17 team.

Imler comes to Kentucky after a two-year stint as an assistant coach from the United States U17 Men’s National Team. He was charged with training the reserve players when the first team was traveling domestically and internationally. He played a major role with younger group of residency players and assisted the head coach in younger group residency players in an international tournament in Montaigu, France. He was highly active in coordinating, planning and executing the training of the team, in addition to scheduling all local games and scrimmages for the first and second teams. He helped track the progress of all current cycle age group players for consideration in the next residency program cycle. He was highly active in scouting USYSA National Events, US Soccer National League events and US Soccer Developmental Academy events.

In addition to his role as an assistant coach with the U.S. U18 Men’s National Team, Imler has served as technical advisor for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (Great Lakes Territory). In that role, he scouted all youth players in the Great Lakes territory (Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania, Northern Kentucky and Colorado).

In 2005, Imler founded the Boot Room Soccer School in Waxhaw, N.C., a soccer training resource that was focused on developing innovative training programs for all ages and skill levels. He worked directly in developing mentoring and coaching programs for all college bound student-athletes and was charged with managing all financial aspects of the business. In 2008, he was a presenter at the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore, Md.

A native of Bowie, Md., Imler earned his bachelor of science in education from the University of Virginia in 1993. Imler has his USSF “A” Coaching License in 2010 and is an accredited trainer in certified speed, agility and quickness by the National Endurance Sports Trainers Association.

Imler is married to the former Claudine Maaf and the couple have a 12-year old daughter named Jordan and a seven-year old son, Evan.

February 1, 2012
BASEBALL

MCCARTHY TABBED PRESEASON FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC

UK Senior Third Baseman Hit .411 in SEC Play as a Junior

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky senior third baseman Thomas McCarthy – who led UK with a .371 average as a junior – has been selected as a first-team preseason All-Southeastern Conference pick by CollegeBaseballDaily.com, it was announced.

A native of Corvallis, Ore., McCarthy became UK’s first, first-team All-SEC third baseman since 1972 during his historic 2011 season. A 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-handed hitter, McCarthy led UK with a .371 average on the year, including a staggering .411 mark in conference action. Overall, McCarthy finished with seven homers and 39 RBI, with his .411 average in league play finishing just shy of the conference batting title.

McCarthy was honored in the CollegeBaseballDaily.com SEC preview, which breaks down a first and second team for the league, in addition to a list of newcomers to watch and a predicted order of finish. In addition to McCarthy earning first-team All-SEC accolades, UK left-hander Jerad Grundy was honored as one of the top newcomers in the SEC. Earlier this preseason, Grundy was rated as the 57th-best college prospect available in the 2012 MLB Draft by Baseball America.

 In 2011, McCarthy played in all 55 UK games and started 54 at third base and second base, leading UK with a .371 average (78-for-210), with 19 doubles, two triples, seven homers and 39 RBI, stealing eight bases. In SEC play, McCarthy was dominating, batting .411 (46-for-112) with eight doubles, two triples, five homers and 24 RBI. He finished the season on a team-best 10-game hitting streak, reaching base safely in 53 of his 54 starting assignments. His .371 overall average was the second highest for a UK player since 1998.

Kentucky opens its 2012 season on Feb. 17 at Spartanburg, S.C., facing Wofford at 4 p.m. ET in the season lidlifter.

 

February 1, 2012
FOOTBALL

Kentucky Football Signing Day List and Bios

Name                         Pos.         Ht.     Wt.     Cl.-Exp.                     Hometown (High School/Prep School/Junior Coll.)
Daron Blaylock           DB         6-1        215     Fr-HS                                                 Marietta, Ga. (Walton)
Shawn Blaylock          DB         5-10     166      Fr-HS                                            Lithonia, Ga. (Stephenson)
Zack Blaylock             DB         6-0        188     Fr-HS                                                 Marietta, Ga. (Walton)
*Kory Brown               DB         6-0        208     So-JC                             Moncks Corner, S.C. (Berkeley/East Central CC)
Thomas Chapman      DL         6-4        285     Fr-HS                                      Louisville, Ky. (duPont Manual)
Landon Foster            K/P        6-1        198     Fr-HS                                 Thompson Station, Tenn. (Independence)
Patrick Graffree          DL         6-4        270     Fr-HS                                      Elizabethtown, Ky. (Central Hardin)
Josh Harris                 DB         6-0       191      Fr-HS                                            Maysville, Ky. (Mason County)
Khalid Henderson       LB         6-0        213     Fr-HS                                            Mableton, Ga. (Pebblebrook)
T.J. Jones                   OL         6-6        290     Fr-HS                                         Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Myrtle Beach)
A.J. Legree                 WR        6-1        178     Fr-HS                                             Fort White, Fla. (Fort White)
Dyshawn Mobley        RB        5-11       205     Fr-HS                                                 Powell, Tenn. (Powell)
Zach Myers                OL          6-3        285     Fr-HS                                         Miamisburg, Ohio (Miamisburg)
Langston Newton       DL          6-4        254     Fr-HS                                                     Carmel, Ind. (Carmel)
Cody Quinn                DB         5-10       163     Fr-HS                                          Middletown, Ohio (Middletown)
Jonathan Reed           DB         5-9         185     Fr-HS                                          Indianapolis, Ind. (Pike)
DeMarcus Sweat       WR         6-1         192     Fr-HS                                         Lithonia, Ga. (Stephenson)
Jordan Swindle          OL          6-7         310    Fr-HS                                         St. Johns, Fla. (Creekside)
Justin Taylor              RB          5-10       200     Fr-HS                                         Atlanta, Ga. (North Atlanta)
Kadeem “Pancho” Thomas LB 6-0          225     Fr-HS                                             Tallahassee, Fla. (Godby)
Fred Tiller                 DB           6-0          180     Fr-HS                                         Homerville, Ga. (Clinch County)
Jon Toth                    OL           6-5         290     Fr-HS                                         Indianapolis, Ind. (Brebeuf Jesuit)
Patrick Towles          QB            6-5         242     Fr-HS                                           Ft. Thomas, Ky. (Highlands)
Jordan Watson          OL           6-4         315     Fr-HS                                         Fayetteville, Ga. (Whitewater)
Jalen Whitlow       QB/ATH       6-2          210     Fr-HS                                             Prattville, Ala. (Prattville)
Sterling Wright         DB           5-11         201     Fr-HS                                 Miami, Fla. (Coral Reef/North Carolina Tech)

* indicates player who enrolled in January and will participate in spring practice

Note: Class is eligibility for the 2012 season

Pronunciation Guide
Daron Blaylock: same as “Darren”
Khalid Henderson: kah-LEED
Dyshawn Mobley: DAY-shawn MOBE-lee
Kadeem Thomas: kah-DEEM
Jon Toth: TOETH (long “o” sound)
Patrick Towles: TOLES (long “o” sound)

2012 KENTUCKY FOOTBALL SIGNEE BIOS

Daron Blaylock, DB, 6-1, 215, Fr-HS, Marietta, Ga. (Walton)  – Played both safety and linebacker in high school … Second-team all-state in Class AAAAA by the Georgia Sports Writers Association … Played at Walton HS in Marietta, Ga. … Helped Walton to a 14-1 record and state runnerup finish in Class AAAAA … Ranked as the No. 31 inside linebacker in the nation by 24/7 Sports … One of the nation’s top-100 linebackers by Scout.com … Posted 75 tackles and an interception during his junior season … Has been timed in the 4.5-second range in the 40-yard dash, an excellent time for a linebacker … Coached by Rocky Hidalgo … Son of Mookie Blaylock, who played 13 years in the NBA with New Jersey, Atlanta and Golden State … Twin brother of fellow UK signee Zack Blaylock … Name pronounced same as “Darren.”

Shawn Blaylock, DB, 5-10, 166, Fr-HS, Lithonia, Ga. (Stephenson) – Two-way player in high school, seeing action as a wide receiver and cornerback at Stephenson HS in Stone Mountain, Ga. … Projects as a defensive back as a collegian … Broke the school record with three interceptions in a game … Team posted a 9-2 record and advanced to the state playoffs both his seasons at Stephenson … Also played corner his sophomore season at Shiloh HS in Snellville, Ga. … The nation’s No. 77 corner by Scout.com … Has been timed under 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash … Coached at Stephenson by Ron Gartrell … Teammate of current UK signee DeMarcus Sweat … Will join former Stephenson products Jabari Johnson, Raymond Sanders and Ronnie Shields at UK.

Zack Blaylock, DB, 6-0, 188, Fr-HS, Marietta, Ga. (Walton) – Big-play performer from his safety position … Intercepted 11 passes as a senior, returning five for touchdowns … First-team all-state in Class AAAAA by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia Sports Writers Association … Played at Walton HS in Marietta, Ga. … Helped Walton to a 14-1 record and state runnerup finish in Class AAAAA … Cobb County Defensive Player of the Year … Rated the No. 34 safety in the nation by Rivals.com … Rated No. 52 nationally by Scout.com … One of the top-40 prospects in Georgia by SuperPrep … Coached by Rocky Hidalgo … Son of Mookie Blaylock, who played 13 years in the NBA with New Jersey, Atlanta and Golden State … Twin brother of fellow UK signee Daron Blaylock.

Kory Brown, DB, 6-0, 208, So-JC, Moncks Corner, S.C. (Berkeley/East Central Community College) – Enrolled at UK in January … Has three years of eligibility at UK after redshirting 2011 while recovering from a knee injury … Spent the last two years at East Central Community College in Decatur, Miss. … Played four games at safety as a freshman until sustaining the injury … During those four games he made 26 tackles, caused two fumbles and intercepted a pass … The nation’s No. 69 junior-college player as ranked by 247 Sports, also the No. 11 juco player in Mississippi and the nation’s No. 3 juco safety … Coached by Brian Anderson … “Kory’s physical nature stands out,” Anderson said.  “He gets off blocks well and is a big hitter.  He’s also a quality young man of the finest character.” … Played high school football at Berkeley HS in Moncks Corner, S.C. … Three-year starter who played cornerback and safety … An all-region pick as a senior … Helped Berkeley to three strong runs in the state playoffs, including a state semifinal appearance his junior year and quarterfinal berths as a sophomore and senior … Played for the winning South team in the South Carolina North-South All-Star Game following his senior season … Coached at Berkeley by Jerry Brown … Berkeley’s defensive coordinator, Ed Moore, said, “Kory was the most instinctive player I’ve ever coached, always at the right place at the right time.  He’s a very physical player, very good in run support as well as pass coverage.  He’s also a great young man.” … In addition to football, participated in basketball, baseball, wrestling and track and field in high school … Advanced to the state meet in the high jump his senior year and had a best leap of six feet, four inches … Comes from an athletic family … An older brother, Omar, played football at Marshall and was a senior in 2011 … Another brother, Evan McKelvey, currently plays at Marshall … A cousin J.J. McKelvey, played at Clemson and is now playing arena football … Kory enjoys community service and has helped coach children in youth league sports.

Thomas Chapman, DL, 6-4, 285, Fr-HS, Louisville, Ky. (duPont Manual) – Highly regarded defensive tackle prospect … The nation’s No. 30 DT and the No. 2 prospect in Kentucky by Rivals.com … The No. 31 tackle and No. 4 Kentucky prospect by 24/7 Sports … The No. 32 tackle nationally by Scout.com … No. 4 in Kentucky by ESPN and SuperPrep … Selected for the Offense-Defense All-America Game at Cowboys Stadium … Played at duPont Manual HS in Louisville … Bounced back to play his senior year after missing most of his junior season because of injury … Team went 9-3 his senior season and was in the second round of the Class AAAAAA playoffs … Coached by Dr. Oliver Lucas.

Landon Foster, K/P, 6-1, 198, Fr-HS, Thompson Station, Tenn. (Independence) – Has the ability and versatility to be a punter and kicker on the collegiate level … Named first-team all-state in Class AAAAAA as a kicker by the Tennessee Sports Writers’ Association … Picked as the punter for the all-state “Dream Team,” covering all classifications, by the Nashville Tennesseean … Made 11 of 16 field goals as a senior with a long of 49 … Averaged 41.3 yards per punt … 50 of his 56 kickoffs went for touchbacks and four of the others were on-side kicks … Named his team’s Most Valuable Player, a rare honor for a kicking specialist … Independence HS went 8-3 his senior year and reached the state playoffs in Class AAAAAA … Rated the No. 8 kicker in the nation by Scout.com and the No. 12 kicker by 24/7 Sports … The No. 10 prospect in the state of Tennessee by SuperPrep, which wrote, “Technically strong with good hang times and directional ability.  Also performs well under pressure.” … Played for the winning West team in the Tennessee East-West All-Star Game … Coached by Kevin Dyson … Has worked with former Tennessee Titans punter Craig Hentrich … Also played soccer in high school.

Patrick Graffree, DL, 6-4, 270, Fr-HS, Elizabethtown, Ky. (Central Hardin) – Second-team all-state as a senior by The Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal … Played at Central Hardin HS in Cecilia, Ky. … Team’s best finish was 9-3 as a junior, advancing to the second round of the state playoffs … Totaled 91 tackles as a junior, featuring 10 tackles for loss, six quarterback sacks and a pass interception … Participated in a pair of postseason all-star games after his senior year … Played for the winning Greater Louisville team in the Best of the Bluegrass All-Star Game, defeating a team from the remainder of the state … Also played in the Kentucky vs. Tennessee Border Bowl … One of the top-10 prospects in Kentucky by Rivals.com, 24/7 Sports and SuperPrep … The nation’s No. 72 defensive tackle by 24/7 … Head coaches at Central Hardin were former UK quarterback Mark Perry and Mike Lawson.

Josh Harris, DB, 6-0, 191, Fr-HS, Maysville, Ky. (Mason County) – Versatile athlete … His multiple skills were displayed at Mason County (Ky.) High School, where he played running back, receiver, linebacker and defensive back … Rushed for 2,848 yards and 42 touchdowns in his career, despite missing most of his senior season because of injury … Totaled 582 receiving yards and eight TDs … Also threw a couple of touchdown passes … Totaled 287 tackles and six fumble recoveries on defense … Team went 9-2 his junior season and 10-1 as a sophomore … One of the nation’s top-60 running backs as chosen by Scout.com … The No. 2 prospect in Kentucky by SuperPrep … Coached by David Buchanan … Also played basketball in high school.

Khalid Henderson, LB, 6-0, 213, Fr-HS, Mableton, Ga. (Pebblebrook) – Linebacker combines good size with outstanding athleticism … Has been timed as fast as 4.57 seconds in the 40-yard dash ... Made 74 tackles with two interceptions as a senior at Pebblebrook HS in Mableton, Ga. … The No. 19 outside linebacker in the nation by ESPN and the No. 17 prospect in Georgia … Rated as the No. 51 outside linebacker in the nation by Scout.com … One of the top-60 prospects in Georgia by 24/7 Sports … Coached by Randall Smith … Named is pronounced “kah-LEED.”

T.J. Jones, OL, 6-6, 290, Fr-HS, Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Myrtle Beach) – Offensive line prospect who projects as a tackle on the collegiate level … Played tackle at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) HS … Helped his team win at least 11 games every season … Myrtle Beach won the Class AAA state championship his junior year with a 14-1 record … State quarterfinalist as a senior with an 11-2 mark … 13-2 record and state runner-up his soph season … Rated the No. 23 prospect in South Carolina by 24/7 Sports and No. 28 in the state by Rivals.com … No. 34 in South Carolina by SuperPrep … One of the nation’s top-100 offensive tackles by 24/7 and Scout.com … Coached by Mickey Wilson.

A.J. Legree, WR, 6-1, 178, Fr-HS, Fort White, Fla. (Fort White) – Gifted wide receiver combines pass-catching skills with the athletic ability of a state-champion high jumper … Played wide receiver and cornerback at Fort White (Fla.) HS … As a senior, caught 47 passes for 698 yards and 10 touchdowns … Made six interceptions on defense, returning two for touchdowns … First-team all-state in Class AAA by The Associated Press … Named the Area Player of the Year by the Gainesville Sun … Helped Fort White to an 8-4 record and second round of the state playoffs … Turned in a breakout performance in the Florida Athletic Coaches Association North-South All-Star Game … Was named the No. 2 prospect in the game by Rivals.com and the “Sleeper of the Night” by Scout.com … Coached by Demetric Jackson … Won the state high-jump championship as a junior with a leap of six feet, 10 inches.

Dyshawn Mobley, RB, 5-11, 205, Fr-HS, Powell, Tenn. (Powell) – Set Tennessee single-season rushing records with 3,068 yards and 44 touchdowns as a senior … Averaged 12.2 yards per carry … Led Powell (Tenn.) to a 14-1 record, reaching the state championship game in Class AAAAA … Named to the all-state “Dream Team,” covering all classifications, selected by the Nashville Tennesseean … First-team all-state by The Associated Press … Career totals feature 5,849 rushing yards, averaging more than 10 yards per carry, and 76 touchdowns … Three-year all-district choice … Helped Powell to an 11-1 mark and second round of the state playoffs as a junior … Also excelled as a linebacker on defense … Rushed for a record 118 yards in the Tennessee East-West All-Star Game and was named the East Offensive Most Valuable Player … Coached by Matt Lowe … Name is pronounced “DAY-shawn MOBE-lee.”

Zach Myers, OL, 6-3, 285, Fr-HS, Miamisburg, Ohio (Miamisburg) – Combines good athletic ability with offensive line skills … Played offensive guard at Miamisburg (Ohio) HS … Could become a center as a collegian … Rated as the No. 52 offensive guard in the nation by Rivals.com … Also the No. 79 guard by 24/7 Sports and the No. 85 guard by Scout.com … One of the top 60 prospects in the talent-rich state of Ohio by Rivals … Named second-team All-Southwest Ohio … Coached by Tim Lewis … Son of Brad Myers, an offensive lineman at UK from 1984-87 … Brad played one year with Joker Phillips (1984) and blocked for three of the top rushers in Kentucky history – George Adams, Mark Higgs and Marc Logan.

Langston Newton, DL, 6-4, 254, Fr-HS, Carmel, Ind. (Carmel) –First-team all-state as a senior at Carmel (Ind.) HS … Helped lead Carmel to a 14-1 record and state championship in Class AAAAA … A disruptive presence in the defensive line, combining good size, strength and athletic ability … Projected as an end in the collegiate ranks … The No. 6 prospect in Indiana and the No. 28 strongside defensive end in the nation by 24/7 Sports … No. 8 in Indiana and the No. 40 strongside end nationally by Rivals.com … Rated as the No. 69 overall prospect in the six-state Midwest area by SuperPrep … Helped Carmel to the state finals his soph season … Coached by Kevin Wright … Also outstanding in track and field, as he had full scholarship offers in that sport from nationally prominent schools … Competes in the shot put and discus throw, events that put a premium on quickness and explosion as well as strength … Brother of current Kentucky quarterback Morgan Newton.

Cody Quinn, DB, 5-10, 163, Fr-HS, Middletown, Ohio (Middletown) – Brings outstanding speed to the cornerback position, having run the 40-yard dash under 4.5 seconds … Helped Middletown (Ohio) HS to three-consecutive 10-win seasons and berths in the state playoffs … Third-team All-Ohio by The Associated Press as a senior … Intercepted two passes, returning one for a touchdown, and had 10 pass breakups … His speed also indicated by the fact that he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns as a junior … The No. 63 prospect in Ohio by ESPN and also the nation’s No. 68 cornerback … The No. 102 prospect in the six-state Midwest area by SuperPrep … Coached by Troy Everhart.

Jonathan Reed, DB, 5-9, 185, Fr-HS, Indianapolis, Ind. (Pike) – Swift cornerback has been timed as low as 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash … Played at Pike HS in Indianapolis, Ind. … Helped Pike to a state playoff berth each season … Runner-up in the state sectional as a junior with a 9-3 record … One of the top-10 prospects in Indiana by ESPN … Also the nation’s No. 44 cornerback prospect by ESPN … Named to the juniors-only all-state team in 2010 by the Indiana Football Coaches Association … Coached by Derek Moyers.

DeMarcus Sweat, WR, 6-1, 192, Fr-HS, Lithonia, Ga. (Stephenson) – Combines good size with explosive ability … Has good height for a receiver … Big-play potential shown by his three punt return touchdowns and three kickoff return touchdowns during his senior season at Stephenson HS in Stone Mountain, Ga. … Has been timed as fast as 4.43 seconds in the 40-yard dash … One of the nation’s top-100 wide receivers by ESPN … One of top-80 prospects in Georgia by ESPN and 24/7 Sports … Team posted a 9-2 record each of his last two seasons at Stephenson … Coached at Stephenson by Ron Gartrell … Teammate of current UK signee Shawn Blaylock … Will join former Stephenson products Jabari Johnson, Raymond Sanders and Ronnie Shields at UK.

Jordan Swindle, OL, 6-7, 310, Fr-HS, St. Johns, Fla. (Creekside)  – Second-team all-state as a senior in Florida Class AAAAA by The Associated Press … Big offensive line prospect … His height and long reach are ideal for pass protection … Played at Creekside HS in St. Johns, Fla. … Helped lead Creekside to an 8-4 record as a senior and the first state playoff win in school history … Named All-First Coast (all-area) by the Florida Times-Union …  Also named to the Florida Times-Union “Super 24” list of top area prospects … One of the nation’s top-100 offensive tackles as evaluated by ESPN … Coached by Greg Stanton.

Justin Taylor, RB, 5-10, 200, Fr-HS, Atlanta, Ga. (North Atlanta) – Projected as one of the South’s top running backs heading into his senior season … Committed to Alabama prior to his senior year at North Atlanta HS but incurred a knee injury in September … Decided to re-open his recruitment after Alabama asked him to grayshirt … Knee rehabilitation is going well and is expected to be ready to compete when practice begins in August … Rushed for approximately 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior at Washington HS in Atlanta … Named All-Atlanta as a junior … One of the nation’s top-40 running backs by ESPN and 24/7 Sports … Coached by Stanley Pritchett.

Kadeem “Pancho” Thomas, LB, 6-0, 225, Fr-HS, Tallahassee, Fla. (Godby) – A tackling machine at Godby HS in Tallahassee, Fla.  … Racked up 142 tackles as a senior … Helped team to a 9-3 record and a spot in the second round of the state playoffs … Totaled 143 stops as a junior, ranking sixth in the state in tackles, and was named the Area Defensive Player of the Year by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club … One of the nation’s top 40 inside linebackers by Rivals.com, 24/7 Sports and ESPN … Played for the winning North team in the Florida North-South All-Star Game sponsored by the Florida Athletic Coaches Association … Coached by Ronnie Cottrell … Name is pronounced “kah-DEEM.”

Fred Tiller, DB, 6-0, 180, Fr-HS, Homerville, Ga. (Clinch County) – Outstanding athlete could play either side of the ball in college … Standout wide receiver and cornerback at Clinch County (Ga.) HS … First-team all-state by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Georgia Sports Writers Association as a senior … Helped Clinch to a perfect 15-0 record and Class A state championship as a junior … Caught 31 passes for 736 yards and nine touchdowns during that junior year, along with 65 tackles and five interceptions on defense … Rated the No. 45 athlete in the nation by Rivals.com … Coached by Jim Dickerson.

Jon Toth, OL, 6-5, 290, Fr-HS, Indianapolis, Ind. (Brebeuf Jesuit) – Big offensive lineman who also is noted for his athleticism ... Could be slotted as a guard or tackle on the collegiate level … Played at Brebeuf Jesuit in Indianapolis, Ind. … Helped Brebeuf advance to the state playoffs each year he was on the varsity … Ranked as the No. 11 player in Indiana and the No. 33 offensive guard in the nation by 24/7 Sports … Rated the nation’s No. 60 offensive tackle by Scout.com … Coached by Ryan Gallogly … Name is pronounced “TOETH” with a long “o” sound.

Patrick Towles, QB, 6-5, 242, Fr-HS, Ft. Thomas, Ky. (Highlands)  – Named to the Parade magazine All-America team … “Mr. Football” for the Commonwealth of Kentucky … Gatorade Player of the Year in Kentucky … Won the Paul Hornung Award as the Kentucky Player of the Year … Big, strong-armed quarterback who also has notable running ability … Led Highlands HS to three consecutive state championships as the starting quarterback, Class AAAA as a senior and Class AAAAA as a sophomore and junior … Team compiled a three-year record of 44-1, including 38-1 with Towles as the starter … As a senior completed 171 of 279 passes (61.3 percent) for 3,820 yards with 42 touchdowns and only one interception … Also rushed for 589 yards and 15 TDs … Career totals feature 7,429 passing yards and 73 touchdown passes while rushing for 1,718 yards and 38 TDs … The No. 1 prospect in Kentucky and one of the top-10 pro-style quarterbacks in the country by Rivals.com and 24/7 Sports … Athleticism is such that ESPN rates his college position as “athlete” instead of quarterback … Coached by Dale Mueller … Highlands’ quarterbacks coach was former UK QB Jared Lorenzen … Strong arms are in Towles’ heritage as he is the grandson of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning … Last name is pronounced “TOLES.”

Jordan Watson, OL, 6-4, 315, Fr-HS, Fayetteville, Ga. (Whitewater) – Well-regarded offensive lineman … The No. 39 offensive guard in the nation by Scout.com … No. 37 nationally by 24/7 Sports … Rated as the No. 31 prospect in Georgia by SuperPrep … Earned first-team all-state honors by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution … Played at Whitewater HS in Fayetteville, Ga., and blocked for current Wildcat Josh Clemons … Earned a spot in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association North-South All-Star Classic … Coached by Amos McCreary.

Jalen Whitlow, QB/ATH, 6-2, 210, Fr-HS, Prattville, Ala. (Prattville) – Exciting athlete with multiple skills … Helped Prattville (Ala.) HS to the Class AAAAAA state championship and a top-25 national ranking … Split time at quarterback and wide receiver … Earned honorable-mention all-state honors even though he wasn’t the team’s full-time quarterback … Listed as the nation’s No. 12 dual-threat QB and the No. 20 prospect in Alabama by 24/7 Sports … The No. 32 prospect in Alabama by Rivals.com … Coached by Jamey Dubose.

Sterling Wright, DB, 5-11, 201, Fr-HS, Miami, Fla. (Coral Reef/North Carolina Tech) – Played prep school football at North Carolina Tech in Charlotte, the same school that produced current Wildcat Farrington Huguenin … Known as a hard hitter with good range … Coached at N.C. Tech by Tim Newman … Played his high school football at Coral Reef HS in Miami, Fla. … Helped team to a 6-4 record senior year … Totaled 55 tackles and caused eight fumbles … Coached at Coral Reef by Chevas Clements.

 

February 1, 2012
SOFTBALL

Riley Named to Watch List for National Player of the Year

First such honor for senior pitcher/designated player

OKLAHOMA CITY – Senior captain Rachel Riley was selected as one of the 50 players for the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year “Watch List” it was announced Wednesday. This marks the first such honor of the Bowling Green, Ky., native’s career, and a first for the UK program since Molly Johnson was a member of the prestigious list in 2010.

“It’s really cool to see individuals outside the program start to notice what a major contributor Riley has been to softball over the past three seasons,” UK head coach Rachel Lawson said. “And, I consider it quite an honor for her and the program that she is being mentioned among such an outstanding list of athletes.”

Now in its 11th year, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, given by the National Governing Body for softball in the United States, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country.

The pre-season “Watch List” includes 23 seniors, 20 juniors and seven sophomores, with freshman ineligible for consideration. (Freshman can be considered for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award once they have competed at the collegiate level.) Athletes named to the “Watch List” represent 31 NCAA Division I universities and 13 athletic conferences.

Riley is a top-flight pitcher and one of the most threatening returning offensive weapons to the 2012 Wildcat squad. The senior owns more than 30 pitching victories in three seasons and as a junior batted .354 with 13 extra base hits and 28 RBI.

The Top 25 Finalists for the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced April 11. While an athlete does not have to be on the “Watch List” to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 Finalists. The Top 10 Finalists will be announced May 9 and the Top 3 Finalists will be announced May 23. On May 29 prior to the start of the 2012 NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City, the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed.

Earlier this week Riley was named to the preseason All-Southeastern Conference squad as selected by the league’s coaches. She was a 2011 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Southeast Region first team selection as a utility player after engineering her most explosive season in the Blue and White in helping lead UK to a school-best 40 victories and a Super Regional appearance.

 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List

Name (School) – Year – Position – Hometown

Emily Allard (Northwestern) – Junior – Shortstop – Antioch, Calif.
Valerie Arioto (Cal) – Senior – Utility – Pleasanton, Calif.
Nikki Armagost (Pacific) – Junior – Pitcher/Utility – Andover, Kan.
Lexy Bennett (Texas) – Senior – Infield – Kingwood, Texas
Emily Bledsoe (Texas Tech) – Senior – Infield – Fulshear, Texas
Katelyn Boyd (Arizona State) – Senior – Shortstop – Phoenix, Ariz.
Kayla Braud (Alabama) – Junior – Outfield – Eugene, Ore.
Devon Bridges (Boise State) – Sophomore – Outfield/First base – Danville, Calif.
Jenna Caira (Syracuse) – Senior – Pitcher – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Whitney Canion (Baylor) – Junior – Pitcher – Aledo, Texas
Raven Chavanne (Tennessee) – Junior – Third base/Outfield – Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Amanda Chidester (Michigan) – Senior – Third base – Allen Park, Mich.
Aimee Creger (Tulsa) – Sophomore – Pitcher – Yukon, Okla.
Brigette Del Ponte (Arizona) – Junior – Infield – Peoria, Ariz.
Taylor Edwards (Nebraska) – Sophomore – Catcher – Murrieta, Calif.
Dallas Escobedo (Arizona State) – Sophomore – Pitcher – Glendale, Ariz.
Bree Evans (Michigan) – Senior – Centerfield – Bloomington, Calif.
Ashley Fleming (Missouri) – Senior – Outfield – Silex, Mo.
Kenzie Fowler (Arizona) – Junior – Pitcher – Tucson, Ariz.
Kellie Fox (UCLA) – Sophomore – Shortstop – San Diego, Calif.
Olivia Galati (Hofstra) – Junior – Pitcher/Designated player – West Babylon, N.Y.
Lauren Gibson (Tennessee) – Junior – Infield– Pasadena, Md.
Ashley Hansen (Stanford) – Senior – Infield – Chandler, Ariz.
Andrea Harrison (UCLA) – Senior – Left field/First base – Garden Grove, Calif.
Jolene Henderson (Cal) – Junior – Pitcher/First base – Elk Grove, Calif.
Taylor Hoagland (Texas) – Junior – Outfield/Third base – Flower Mound, Texas
Jessica Iwata (Hawaii) – Junior – Shortstop – Lihu’e, Hawaii
Ashley Lane (Michigan) – Junior – Second base – Escondido, Calif.
Blaire Luna (Texas) – Junior – Pitcher – Austin, Texas
Meagan May (Texas A&M) – Junior – Catcher/First base – Spring, Texas
Ashley McClain (FIU) – Senior – Outfield/Pitcher – Brandon, Fla.
Dani Miller (Notre Dame) – Senior – Infield – Huntington Beach, Calif.
Jen Mineau (Fordham) – Senior – Pitcher – Schaghticoke, N.Y.
Adrienne Monka (Northwestern) – Senior – First base – Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Michelle Moultrie (Florida) – Senior – Center field – Jacksonville, Fla.
Christi Orgeron (ULL) – Senior – Outfield – New Orleans, La.
Sara Plourde (UMass) – Senior – Pitcher – Bristol, Conn.
Kimi Pohlman (Washington) – Senior – Outfield – Sammamish, Wash.
Jamia Reid (Cal) – Senior – Outfield – Buena Park, Calif.
Ellen Renfroe (Tennessee) – Sophomore – Pitcher – Jackson, Tenn.
Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma) – Junior – Pitcher – San Jose, Calif.
Rachel Riley (Kentucky) – Senior – Pitcher/Designated player – Bowling Green, Ky.
Hannah Rogers (Florida) – Senior – Pitcher – Lake Wales, Fla.
Brittany Schutte (Florida) – Junior – Catcher – Fountain Valley, Calif.
Kathy Shelton (Baylor) – Junior – Outfield – McKinney, Texas
Jessica Shults (Oklahoma) – Junior – Catcher – Valencia, Calif.
Chelsea Thomas (Missouri) – Redshirt Junior – Pitcher – Pleasantville, Iowa
Jackie Traina (Alabama) – Sophomore – Pitcher/Designated player – Naples, Fla.
Kelsi Weseman (Georgia Tech) – Senior – Shortstop - Hutto, Texas
Niki Williams (Washington) – Senior – Utility – Mission Viejo, Calif.

 

February 1, 2012
MEN'S TENNIS

Eric Quigley Named Co-SEC Player of the Week

UK men’s tennis senior Eric Quigley honored by SEC for breaking career singles wins record

LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky men’s tennis senior Eric Quigley has been named the Co-Southeastern Conference Player of the Week after an impressive week of tennis where he broke the school record for career singles wins, the league office announced Wednesday.

“Eric Quigley is the type of student-athlete that our program is all about,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “We are really proud of what he has accomplished and excited about what our team can accomplish now that we are in dual-match season. We are condiment that our team can be very special this year and I know, as one of our team leaders and co-captains, that Eric is focused on helping our team achieve those goals.”

The senior entered the week needing two singles wins to become the all-time winningest singles player in school history. Quigley tied the record with win 144 against Indiana before breaking the record with a straight-sets win at No. 1 singles in the Eastern Kentucky match.

The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., currently holds a 147-44 career record, passing former UK All-American Paul Varga for first all-time in career singles wins at Kentucky. Varga, who played from 1982-85, ended his career with a 144-80 record and has held the title as the winningest singles player in school history for over 27 years.

Quigley, who is ranked fifth in the nation in singles, went 4-0 in singles play throughout the week, helping Kentucky defeat three top-60 ranked teams in No. 22 Tulsa, No. 29 Indiana and No. 57 North Carolina State. Quigley’s fourth win came against in-state foe Eastern Kentucky. In doubles action, Quigley went 2-1 with sophomore Panav Jha, helping Kentucky win the doubles point over Indiana and NC State.

So far this season, Quigley is 31-5 in singles action, including deep runs into some of the best tennis tournaments in the nation. During the fall, Quigley earned a berth into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships where he won the singles consolation title. The win would punch the senior's ticket to the United State Tennis Association/ITA National Indoor Championships, where he would defeat three ranked players before falling to a top-three ranked player in the semifinals. Quigley also advanced to the finals of the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Indoor Championships and the Southern Intercollegiate. Most recently, Quigley advanced to the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Coaches' Indoor Championships. The UK star is 6-0 this year in dual matches.

As a team, the Wildcats are 6-0 this season in dual matches, including four wins over teams ranked in the top 60 in the nation. Kentucky’s 4-1 win over Tulsa on Saturday punched UK’s ticket to the National Indoor Team Championships for the third-consecutive season. The national team event will be held from Feb. 17-20 at the Boar’s Head Tennis Club in Charlottesville, Va.

UK will continue its dual-match slate Sunday with a doubleheader against Pepperdine at Noon and Abilene Christian at 6 p.m. ET. The Wildcats’ contest against Pepperdine will be at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, while the dual match with Abilene Christian will be played at the Lexington Tennis Club.

 

January 31, 2012
MEN'S BASKETBALL

Tennessee at Kentucky Post-Game Notes

FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 69, Tennessee 44

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is 22-1 overall, 8-0 in the Southeastern Conference
o The Wildcats have won 14 in a row.
o UK is off to its best start in SEC play since the 2005 team won its first 10 league games.
• Tennessee is 10-12 overall, 2-5 in league play. 
• Kentucky leads the series 148-66 and has won five in a row against the Volunteers. 
• Kentucky goes on the road Saturday at South Carolina.  Game time is 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.

First-Half Facts

• Kentucky started with the lineup of Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist,  Terrence Jones and Anthony Davis for the fourth-straight game.  UK is 13-1 when starting this lineup.
• Kentucky scored on its first three possessions and led 6-0 before Tennessee got on the board at the 17:09 mark.
• Kentucky entered the bonus (Tennessee seventh foul) at 13:21 on the clock.
• Kentucky made its first eight field goals and first four foul shots in building a 20-5 lead before Teague’s missed free throw at 12:58.
• Kentucky extended its field goal streak to 11 in a row and did not miss a field goal attempt until 8:53 remained.
• Kentucky went into halftime with a 38-25 lead. 

Second-Half Story

• Kentucky scored the first five points of the second half and led by at least 15 points the rest of the way.
 
Team Notes

• UK has held the last three opponents to 50 or fewer points (Georgia 44, LSU 50, Tennessee 44), the first time that has happened in three-consecutive games since the 1950-51 season.
• UK limited Tennessee to 28.1 percent from the field (16 of 57), Tennessee’s lowest percentage of the season. 
o Third time this season UK has held an opponent under 30 percent.
• UK limited Tennessee to 44 points, the Volunteers’ fewest of the season.
• UK is 67-1 under Coach John Calipari when holding the opponent to 67 points or fewer.
• UK is 20-0 under Calipari when holding the opponent to 55 points or fewer.
• UK has an all-time record of 159-25 while being ranked No. 1 (AP) in the country, including 5-1 this season.
o UK is 65-2 at home while being ranked No. 1.
o John Calipari is 47-7 while coaching the top-ranked team in the country, including 5-2 at Kentucky.
• The Wildcats extended their home winning streak to 48 games, the longest active streak in the nation. The run includes the 2009 NIT game at Memorial Coliseum and the last 47 games at Rupp Arena.
• UK is a perfect 47-0 under Calipari at Rupp Arena, the longest win streak in venue history.
• UK owns a 473-60 all-time record in Rupp Arena.
• Since the 2000 season, Calipari-coached teams have posted a 202-19 record at home.
• In its 109th season of basketball, Kentucky is the NCAA’s all-time wins leader with 2,074 wins.

Individual Notes

• Anthony Davis led all players with 18 points, eight rebounds and seven blocked shots
o Davis has blocked at least two shots in every game this season.  He entered the game leading the nation with 4.6 blocks per game.

• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist tallied 16 points and tied Davis for rebounding honors with eight.

 

January 31, 2012
MEN'S BASKETBALL

Postgame Quotes

Kentucky Players

#23, Anthony Davis, F

On whether he feels the success he’s having …
“A little bit. My teammates always tell me, ‘I’m going to hold him down. You just come over and block the shot,’ so they really depend on me to block shots or at least alter shots. I kind of feel like but I don’t want to jinx myself.”

On whether he’s trying to be more tough when there is physical play …
“Most definitely. I know I’m going to have to be tough in order for us to win games. It’s all about staying in front of your man and fronting them in the post. You have to three-quarter them, both feet, stay on the high side. It makes it harder for the post passer to throw it into the post. You just do that and I’ll be fine.”

On how the team has been clicking recently…
“Lately we’ve just been hanging out together. We’ve been doing everything together. We just feel it. Everybody is trying to get everybody into the game. No one is doing their own stuff. We’re just kind of clicking and it’s really showing on the court.”

#3, Terrence Jones, F

On if this game was pretty much what they expected in terms of physical play…
“Yeah and I think we did a great job of executing on offense and just really locking down on defense and controlling the rebounds.”

On how the first game in Knoxville helped them in this game…
“I think it helped a lot. We just played a lot tougher. I think we learned from the first game that we played them and we’ve just been learning from game-to-game since and just playing stronger and through bumps and it’s just been working for us and helping us get better as a team.

On Anthony Davis and what makes him so special…
“Just how hard he goes on offense and defense when it comes to just rebounding, blocking shots and you can also go to him in the post. He’s just so active and he plays with a whole lot of energy without the ball. So it’s just hard to stop guys like that that are just being so active on defense and offense when it comes to  getting offensive rebounds on missed shots and just putting them back with dunks or just blocking shots or helping out any guy’s man that drives.”

On if other teams’ physical play helps bring them closer together…
“Yeah, we protect one another. Anything that happens we feel like it’s happening to all of us, so any situation where something happens, we always run to each other to pick a teammate up or to defend another teammate.”

#14, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, G

On the fast start to the game…
“We are just getting better and better. Our defensive intensity is crazy right now, so that helped us get off to a fast start.”

On the difference in the last week…
“It’s just about that time. It’s almost March time and I am getting excited.”

On the technical fouls in the first half…
“I don’t even know what happened. Just a whole lot of chit-chat. We just had a few words but that’s just basketball. I think it helped us a lot though.”

On embracing the physical mentality this past week…
“We are getting used to it now. There is a lot of chemistry on this team now and we are just playing our game.”

#25, Marquis Teague, G

On Coach Calipari’s comment that they are improving through Teague running the team…
“I’m just trying to stay within the offense, get everybody good shots and do what Coach (Calipari) asks me to do.”

On whether the team is approaching their potential…
“Yeah. We just want to continue to get better everyday. Just want to get better and ready for April.”

On the scramble in the first half…
“Somebody pushed Terrance (Jones) and we all just came to help him and to clear it out. Then it got a little heated. No big deal.”

Tennessee Head Coach Cuonzo Martin

Opening statement …
“I felt like they did a great job of setting the tone early. They did a good job of executing their offense. Anthony (Davis) did a tremendous job protecting the lane and making plays defensively. I’ve said it before; he’s the difference, probably one of the best, if not the best in the country at changing the game with his presence on the defensive side of the ball.”

On Kentucky’s defense…
“I think they do a good job, (Michael Kidd-) Gilchrist battled. They do a good job with their press; they are a good, sound defensive team. I think what happens is when you have a presence like that, I thought there were several times we had an opportunity to score the ball and (Anthony Davis) makes a great play. When you have a guy like that, they come along once in a lifetime, he just changes the game for you. You can do more things on the perimeter, you can pressure more, you can push guys in to him and make plays. He is a presence down there.”

On Anthony Davis making jump-shots early…
“(I thought) it’s going to be a long night. But you know he is a guy, I saw him in AAU basketball and he can make shots from the perimeter. He is a very intelligent basketball player and he does a tremendous job of playing to his strengths. That’s a credit to he and their coaching staff and he accepts that. Like I said, on the AAU circuit, he can make perimeter shots, but in order for their team to be successful he does what is necessary and that is what’s special about him.”

On Renaldo Woolridge.…
“I thought he did a good job of knocking those shots down but he has also put the time in to improving his shot and shooting consistently. He did a good job, especially in the first half, of keeping us at bay.”

On Kentucky making its first 11 shots…
“You have to give them credit, they are playing at home in a great atmosphere but I didn’t think our stars did a good job of setting the tone early. We had a couple turnovers, allowed those guys to get post position, allowed them to turn the corner in transition. I didn’t think our stars did a good job of setting the tone for us.”

On how to respond to Kentucky’s momentum …
“Just being a ballplayer, that’s all. You can draw up a play any day of the week and I’ve said it from day one, at the end of the year, this time of the year you want a better basketball player, you can draw up all the plays in the world but somebody has to execute the play and that’s what it comes down to. You can talk your guys through, get them ready to go but you have to be able to make plays and get stops.”

Tennessee Players

#1, Josh Richardson, G

On the Rupp Arena environment …
“I didn’t pay attention to it. I just wanted to go out there and play basketball. It shouldn’t have affected anything.”

On the start that Kentucky had …
“It hurts you a little bit, and your confidence. They play great defense and they come out and hit stuff you have never really seen before. You just have to keep playing hard and keep playing solid defense.”

On Anthony Davis blocking and effecting shots …
“He is a shot changer. The dude is like 6-foot 10 with 7-6 arms. If you get in the lane, you’ve got to go at him, but it is always going to be in the back of your mind. That this dude is huge and he is probably going to block it.”

#3, Renaldo Woolridge, F

On people comparing his shooting performance in the first half to former UT great Chris Lofton … 
“I take that as a compliment. (Chris Lofton) is one of the greatest shooter of all-time, recently. It feels good, but we have to get wins. (Kentucky) was a tough team, they are number one in the country”

On playing at Rupp …
“It is kind of like when we play at home, we can feed off the atmosphere. It is always tough being on the road, especially at Kentucky. But that atmosphere mixed with being the number one team in the country makes it really difficult and they are a great team. It was tough for us.”

On the mental impact of Kentucky starting the game shooting 11-11 …
“It’s a long game and basketball is a game of runs. You just got to stick to it and keep playing. We try to keep battling, but a few runs over and over gets tough. We tried to stick in there.”

 

January 31, 2012
MEN'S BASKETBALL

An Interview With: COACH JOHN CALIPARI

January 31, 2012
SWIMMING & DIVING

Ferrucci Appointed SEC Diver of Week for Fourth Time

Sophomore smashed his own school record on Saturday

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After setting yet another school record in the one-meter dive on Saturday vs. Cincinnati with a score of 418.65, Greg Ferrucci was named Southeastern Conference Male Diver of the Week, announced by the conference office Tuesday. The honor was Ferrucci’s fourth of the season awarded by the SEC office.

Ferrucci posted a 418.65 in the one-meter competition, smashing his own school record by over 20 points. Ferrucci finished first in the one meter and three-meter competitions, pacing the field with a 423.75 in the three-meter. The 423.75 was just six points shy of the UK program record, which Ferrucci owns.

Ferruci and the Kentucky Wildcats will be in action on Saturday Feb. 3 as they take on in-state rival Louisville. The meet will take place in Louisville, Ky., and the first race will start at 2:00 p.m. ET.

January 31, 2012
FOOTBALL

Trevathan, Tydlacka to Play in Players All-Star Classic

Former Kentucky stars Danny Trevathan and Ryan Tydlacka to play in all-star game

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Former University of Kentucky stars Danny Trevathan and Ryan Tydlacka have been chosen to play in the Players All-Star Classic on Saturday, Feb. 4, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark.

The game, which is in its first year, will pit the North against the South. The North will be coached by former National Football League coach Martin Bayless, while the South will be coached by Kurt Schottenheimer. Both Trevathan and Tydlacka will play on the South team.

Players are going through a week of practice and other activities in front of NFL scouts. Complete schedule of events and rosters can be found at playersallstarclassic.com.

A native of Leesburg, Fla., Trevathan made 143 tackles during the 2011 season for the Wildcats, leading the Southeastern Conference in tackles for the second-consecutive season. Trevathan ranked fifth in the nation in tackles with an 11.92 average per game and led the nation's linebackers in fumbles forced (five), while ranking second among the nation's linebackers in interceptions with four. Trevathan finished the season with 11.5 tackles for loss, three quarterback sacks, five pass breakups and two quarterback hurries.

Trevathan ended his UK career ranked 10th all-time on Kentucky's career tackle list with a total of 374 stops. The All-American had a total of 20 games with double-figure tackles in his career, including a career-high 17 tackles in 2010 against Auburn, the eventual national champion, and also against Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Georgia.

Tydlacka, a native of Louisville, Ky., ranked fourth in the SEC by averaging 43.6 yards per punt in 2011. His outstanding hangtime and punt placement helped UK rank second in the league last season in net punting with 39.6 net yards per punt. 

Tydlacka had 20 punts of at least 50 yards, leading the SEC in that category, and he also placed 19 punts within the 20-yard line.

Tydlacka was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week in his final game as a Wildcat, the 10-7 win over Tennessee.  With field position at a premium for that game, Tydlacka kept Tennessee backed up all day long, as the Volunteers did not begin a drive outside their 30-yard line the entire game. He punted nine times that day for a 43.6-yard average and his placement and hangtime did not allow UT to return a punt.

January 31, 2012
TRACK & FIELD

Keilah Tyson Named SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week

Tyson earns honor after breaking UK freshman record in 60-meter dash

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After breaking the University of Kentucky freshman record in the 60-meter dash Sunday at the Rod McCravy Memorial, freshman sprinter Keilah Tyson was named the Southeastern Conference Women’s Freshman of the Week, as announced by the league office Tuesday.

Racing in the first 60m dash of her collegiate career, Tyson got off the blocks late but still sprinted into the record books with a time of 7.36. Tyson’s time broke former U.S. Olympian and UK great Passion Richardson’s freshman record of 7.39, which had stood since 1994. A four-time All-American at Kentucky, Richardson won a bronze medal in the 2000 summer Olympic games in Sydney as a member of the United States’ 4x100 relay team.

Tyson got off to a strong start in the two-round sprint event by finishing second in the preliminary round with a time of 7.44, which would have ranked fourth in the all-time record books. Tyson showed her true grit in the finals though, tying the third fastest time in program history, and setting a new Kentucky freshman record.

Tyson is tied for the second fastest 60m dash in the SEC, and has the top time among freshmen. Tyson’s 7.36 is also tied for the 10th fastest time in the country.

A standout from Western Branch High School in Norfolk, Va., Tyson was a state champion in the 55-meter dash as a sophomore and senior.

The Kentucky men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete again Friday and Saturday at the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational. It will be the Wildcats’ first meet away from the Nutter Field House this season.

January 31, 2012
SOFTBALL

Riley Tabbed to All-SEC Preseason Team

Team voted on by league coaches

 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Senior pitcher and designated player Rachel Riley earned selection to the 2012 All-Southeastern Conference preseason team it was announced by the league office on Tuesday. This marks the first such honor of the Bowling Green, Ky., native’s career.

A team captain for the second consecutive season, Riley set career highs in pitching victories (13) and batting average (.354) in helping lead the Wildcats to a 40-win season and the school’s first-ever appearance in the Super Regionals in 2011.

“It is nice to see Riley receive recognition up to this point in her career for all of her work both on the mound and in the box,” UK coach Rachel Lawson said. “We are hoping for big things from her and the rest of her teammates as we embark on our 2012 season.”

The league’s coaches vote on a preseason squad that consists of a minimum of 12 players. Each SEC head softball coach voted for four infielders, two pitchers, one catcher and one utility/designated player with no ties being broken.

Riley has already formulated a tremendous career in the Blue and White. She has earned victories over eight top-10 ranked opponents throughout her career and owns more post-season pitching victories than any other hurler in school allure. In helping guide the Wildcats to the Super Regionals a season ago, Riley captured a save against No. 2 Michigan and then threw a one-run victory to propel the Wildcats to the next round of the NCAA Tournament.

At the dish, Riley improved her batting average more than .150 points from her sophomore season to her junior campaign where she ranked third on the team in batting average. She also drilled eight home runs which ranked a career-best in helping UK set a new single-season standard with 65 combined long balls as a team.

This marks the fifth consecutive season the SEC coaches have selected a preseason team. Riley is the third Wildcat to earn the honor as Megan Yocke was tabbed to the preseason squad in 2011 and Molly Johnson in 2010 and 2009.

Preseason All-SEC Team

Player, School, Position
Cassie Reilly-Boccia, Alabama, IF 
Cheyenne Coyle, Florida, IF
Raven Chavanne, Tennessee, IF
Lauren Gibson, Tennessee, IF
Kayla Braud, Alabama, OF
Morgan Estell, Auburn, OF
Michelle Moultrie, Florida, OF
Kat Dotson, Tennessee, OF
Jaclyn Traina, Alabama, P
Ellen Renfroe, Tennessee, P
Brittany Schutte, Florida, C
Amanda Locke, Alabama, UTL
Rachel Riley, Kentucky, UTL

*Ties were not broken

January 30, 2012
MEN'S BASKETBALL

Pre-Tennessee Quotes

UK Head Coach John Calipari

On (LSU head coach) Trent Johnson apologizing for the fouls …
“We talked. I know Trent well enough. My whole point is that if you don’t call rough play, that’s what it goes to. Have to call rough play. On a post-up, if you move a guy three feet, that’s a foul offensively. If you move him two steps, that’s a foul. If that’s all let go, it leads to grabbing. Well I’m allowed to smash this guy in the face because that’s how the game’s going. That’s all I say is call the game the way it should be officiated. Then there are no issues. You don’t get to that. Just call the fouls.”

On how much Tennessee has improved since UK faced them earlier in the season…
“They’re better. All of them, they’re all better. (Jarnell) Stokes is getting more comfortable, but they’re all better. (Jeronne) Maymon is physical. He’s good. He scores. (Their) guard play is good. (Skylar) McBee is really playing as well as he’s played since I’ve seen him. Their other guards are playing good. They’re a good team. The only team that really got them was Vanderbilt. Every other game they could have won. Vanderbilt made shots. If they make shots against us they’ll beat us the same way they beat them. So Vanderbilt is really good.”

On the challenges of the rematches as they face a team for the second time in a season …
“I’m glad it’s at home, I can tell you. I don’t know if it’ll matter but you know, we’re playing them again. We’ve got a bunch of other games.  We’ll have to play a team twice and in all likelihood, you go into a tournament and you have a chance of playing someone three times.”

On how even keeled (Michael) Kidd-Gilchrist is …
“I think it’s all he knows. He’s just doing what he does naturally. He’s just playing. I was a little worried when he ran down to protect Anthony because I didn’t want to see anything. Again, I’m preaching that we’re not fouling. We’re playing not to foul. We want six fouls at half. We don’t want it to be a rough house, win in the weight room kind of game.  That’s not how we play. If I’m preaching that, then you have to stay in control. When that other stuff happens and they make the call, there’s no reason for anything else to happen. They made the call. Back up and go. The reality is that’s just what he knows. He doesn’t know anything different.”

On whether his early statements that his team needed to be physical have prepared him for what he sees now …
“It’s prepared you all to watch it a little different too see what’s going on and now you can visually see it. The second thing I’ll tell you is that Terrence (Jones) played different down at Louisiana and that’s why we had some toughness. Michael is not going to change how he plays. He does what he does. Terrence has to give us that physical presence. If he gives us the physical presence, the other guys can do what they do. You can’t ask Kyle (Wiltjer) to do it and you can’t ask Eloy (Vargas) to do it. Unless you’re asking Anthony (Davis) to do everything, get rebounds, block shots, dunk, score and be tough, which you can’t ask him to do it. So, if Terrence battles, I’m going to tell you, this (Tennessee game) will be, to (play tough) will wear you out. This is going to be like the hand-to-hand kind of deal where running around, like I jog on the treadmill, that’s one thing. You go outside and play basketball and get bumped and grinded and all of the sudden you hurt in muscles you didn’t even know you had. This is going to be a body-to-body kind of play that’s going to wear people out.”

On Trent’s comment that if Terrence (Jones) continues to play well then UK should win the national championship …
“I don’t know if it’s that much but let me just say this. We were all happy in that locker room. The team was ecstatic. It wasn’t scoring. He was tough. He came up with balls. He posted physically strong even though the guy battled him. He battled back. The four jumps for a ball, we haven’t seen that all year. Well that’s now what we’re all looking for. Everybody will be saying that if he’s capable of doing that then let’s do it every game. Now, it’s hard because they’re not machines. They’re not computers. But, it’s what you strive for. It’s what you prepare for.”

On Doron Lamb’s play …
“He’s OK. I still think he’s better than he’s playing and again the rough house game. (Skylar) McBee is going to get up in him, now are you going to fade from that or are you going to create the contact, go to the line and make two free-throws? Are you going to get to the rim and draw fouls or are you going to run and avoid the contact and throw it and hope it goes in? The way we are being played it is very important. What has happened, Darius Miller is playing really aggressive offensively. He’s getting in the middle, he’s making that little floater, he’s making his shots, he’s going strong to the rim, and he’s dunking balls when he can. He, offensively, is playing like he did at the end of the year, last year.”

On Anthony Davis remaining calm after hard fouls …
“Well when you get knocked to the floor like that and he got hit in the face really hard one time about four plays later. He kind of went back and down and was like, ‘are you kidding me? I thought we were playing basketball?’ And then he runs back, or he smiles. He’s on his back, he gets up and he smiles and shakes his head. Again, in the rule book, if I leave my feet and you slide under me it is a block 100 percent of the time. If I have my position and you move me two feet out of my position that is a foul, offensively or defensively. I have a right to that spot, if you move me out of that spot it is a foul. When Naismith invented the game it was a foul and it’s a foul today. With him, as he gets pushed around that is just what you are saying, they can’t do that. He has a right to the spot. I know they want to be physical, they just can’t move him. They can lean on him, but the minute they start moving him two feet those are fouls. He has been great, he hasn’t said one word and let me just tell you, the best thing for our team is all this happening. It’s going to be just as physical Tuesday and it’s good for us because it’s the one way, I told you two years ago, everybody said you have to hope they miss shots and we did, we went 0-20 (in NCAA tournament against West Virginia). This team they are saying you better get into their bodies and be physical, one coach said, ‘hit them and be real physical,’ that was according to one of their players, anyway. If you can negate that like I’ve been saying for three weeks then you have a chance of doing something.”

On Marquis Teague finally hitting his stride …
“He is running the team better. Right now, he is doing a better job running the team. That is all I am asking him to do. Defend, stay on that court, and if you’re tired come off and run our team. It is hard for our guys. These guys want to score, including Eloy (Vargas). If Eloy grabs the ball at half court, he may try to shoot a hook (shot) out there. They are used to scoring 25 a game. It kills them. Seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals, what a game he had. No, I could have scored 15 more points. What? You don’t have to. Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist) had one point (against LSU); played great. It doesn’t matter. That is not how you are being judged on this team. This team is about how you are doing your job, how you are playing, and like I said, we are hopefully getting better. These will be some tough challenges. (Tennessee head coach Cuonzo) Martin has created a team every year that has a chance to win a championship because they defend in the half court, they play tough, hard-nosed, aggressive basketball, they will post the ball, to make you do stuff to create 3s, they are running good stuff. I am just telling you he is doing a fabulous job with this team.”

On if this team is playing its best basketball of the year …
“We are just trying to get better day-to-day. We missed all of those free throws. We missed about six layups in that game. But, we played good. We played as well as we have all year. But, now let’s see how we do in practice, let’s see how we do tomorrow. Let’s see how we build on that tomorrow.”

On what Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has to do to become a better player …
“He has to start defending. We can’t just start the game and let them do what they want. I can put him on anybody I want to put him on. I can put him on a one, a two, a three or a four if that guy is hurting us, and that’s why he is so vital. I said this after the (LSU) game. Terrence (Jones) really played well. Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist) still might have been the best player and he got one point. There is not many. You can’t say ‘I am going to have my best player come off the bench.’ The guy that is doing the things that he is doing, he has to be on that court. Now, what makes me mad about him is that he fouls, like 30 feet from the basket, and he gets a body foul. Then he gets two fouls, and I am trying to tell him he doesn’t need to block any shots, just body guys up and let them block it. He is doing fine, and the other guys are doing fine. We’ve got six starters, and even when Kyle (Wiltjer) is playing the way he is, and I think he is playing really well also, we have seven starters. That’s why we are where we are right now. The other thing is that when people watch us, they say ‘Man, they are unselfish. All of these All-Americans pass it to one another, and they make the extra pass, they have seven guys.’ That’s why we are where we are, or we wouldn’t be here. I mean, trying to get that challenge across to them is the most important thing. Everybody has to sacrifice and ‘do less’ so you are ‘doing more’ for us.”

Players

#1 Darius Miller, G, Sr.
 
On the new uniforms …
“I think we’re all excited to wear them. I mean they’re pretty nice uniforms and to be able to get something special like this, I mean it feels good to be a part of something like that.”

On how he’s playing the last couple games …
“I’m just trying to be more aggressive – that’s all. My teammates did a great job of getting me open looks and I’m trying to take advantage of all the opportunities that I have.”

On this year’s Tennessee team compared to other Tennessee teams in the past …
“They’re pretty good. They play extremely hard and extremely physical – maybe more physical than some of the past Tennessee teams. They have a lot of guys who are strong and they use their body really well, so we’re going to have to come out and do a good job and be prepared for that. We’ve been doing better playing against physical teams, so hopefully we negate that tomorrow like coach has been talking about and have a good game.”

On if they’re playing their best basketball of the season …
“We feel like we’re playing pretty good basketball, but we know we have a long way to go to be a championship team. We have a lot of stuff we need to work on, we still have defensive breakdowns; we still need to work on executing sometimes on offense. I mean we’re not where we need to be, but we’re at a good point for where it is in the season.”

On if he’s comfortable being the sixth-man now …
“I never had a problem with it honestly. I mean I’m still having the same opportunities as everybody else. I still feel like I’m a part of the team – a big part of the team. So I mean whether he starts me or brings me off the bench, I could care less.”

#3 Terrence Jones, F, So.
 
On his importance and impact on the team …
“I think every player that plays a large amount of minutes is important and can step up in different games. I think last year that was a big key to how far we went is a different player making a big impact in each game of the tournament.”

On the helpfulness Anthony Davis drawing some defense and giving him more space …
“Yeah, I mean when we go to the lane right now, I mean they’ve been trying to make charges on me still a lot, his man. But it’s just been easy playing with everybody that can play around you.”

On not having any double-doubles this season …
“I mean it’s hard to rebound with all these dudes on my team. There are three dudes trying to get ten each game. I don’t even keep track during the game so I just play it by what they say at the end of the game. I didn’t even know I had nine (rebounds vs. LSU); I would’ve asked Coach [Calipari] for another 30 seconds or something. But it’s just fun playing.”

On if they are playing the best basketball and what to improve on …
“I think right now we’re playing real well and just getting a lot of chemistry with so many games. And Marquis [Teague] just running the team and running the floor like he’s been, letting it be our pace of the game, executing when we need to, it’s just been coming down to him and I think that’s why we’ve been so successful on offense.”

On Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s importance to the team…
“That’s what you need on your team to win is guys that can have still impacts even when they don’t have scoring games. And for this game we could be like that for guys all the time with other guys being hot. So as long as they’re still making progress for us to win it’s still good to have him in.”

 

January 30, 2012
SOFTBALL

No. 13/18 Softball Picked to Finish Third in SEC East

UK has finished fourth in the East in three consecutive seasons

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After the most historic postseason run in school history, which saw the No. 13/18 University of Kentucky softball team host an NCAA Super Regional, the Wildcats were chosen by league coaches to finish third in the Southeastern Conference’s Eastern Division the conference office announced Monday.

The Wildcats received 32 points in the voting system, which were awarded on a 1-2-3-4-5 basis, with coaches not allowed to vote for their own team.

UK was picked to finish behind No. 2/4 Florida and No. 9/14 Tennessee in the East. The Gators were picked to win the league receiving six first-place votes, with the Lady Vols racking up five.

Picked to finish behind Kentucky in the East was No. 10/12 Georgia and South Carolina.

The third-place finish would be the highest-ever finish for Kentucky under fifth-year head coach Rachel Lawson. The Wildcats have finished fourth in the East the past three years, as well as sixth overall in the conference.

No. 2/3 Alabama was picked to win the Western Division, followed by No. 20/22 LSU, Auburn, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Ole Miss.

Kentucky kicks off its season on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles, traveling to compete in the Stacy Winsbury Memorial Tournament vs. UCLA at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Conference Champion: Florida (6), Tennessee (5)

Eastern Division:
1. Florida (14 points)
2. Tennessee (15 points)
3. Kentucky (32 points)
4. Georgia (35 points)
5. South Carolina (48 points)

Western Division:
1. Alabama (10 points)
2. LSU (19 points)
3. Auburn (28 points)
4. Mississippi State (40 points)
5. Arkansas (46 points)
6. Ole Miss (54 points)

 

January 30, 2012

ALL SPORTS REPORT

 

January 29, 2012
RIFLE

NEWCOMERS LEAD RIFLE TO WIN OVER MOREHEAD STATE

Pinkel Records Team-High 587 in Air Rifle, Ellis Leads Team with 577 in Smallbore

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Led by strong performances from freshmen Elijah Ellis and Jonathan Pinkel, the Kentucky rifle team picked up a 4635-4566 win over Morehead State on Sunday at UK’s Barker Hall.

“I thought they did real well today, I was proud of the way everyone handled themselves,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “To have two freshmen step in and lead the team was neat to see. It was a good day and we are proud of how the team executed and got a win. They showed some pride today in helping get UK a win today in a challenging environment. We hope this is the start of some really good things with this group.”

Kentucky (9-0, 4-0 Great American Rifle Conference) completed its two-match weekend on Sunday with the win over non-league foe Morehead State. UK shot in the Withrow Invitational on Friday at Murray State. In both matches, UK’s roster consisted some newcomers in the starting lineup.

“The great part about this match was seeing everyone make adjustments throughout,” Mullins said. “There was a large crowd here today and that presented a challenging environment with some added pressure and nerves. Overall, I am really proud of what the team has done the last few days.”

Ellis led UK in smallbore with a 577, with Pinkel and James Jasis each recording a 574. Ed Ryznar totaled a 573 in smallbore, with Cody Manning (560) and Ethan Marne (568) rounding out UK’s competitors.

In air rifle, Pinkel led UK with a career-high 587, with Ellis recording a 585, Ryznar a 584 and Manning a 581. Jasis charted a 576 and freshman John Sutton rounded out UK’s air rifle scoring with a 556.

“He did real well,” Mullins said about Pinkel’s career-high performance. “His smallbore was solid, he had a 200 in prone, which is always nice to start. He struggled a bit in standing and his kneeling was solid. In air rifle he started out strong, he kept a good pace. It was a good score for him. For 90-percent of the teams in the country, he is shooting on the first team. He did very well for himself today. He is a good shooter he just has to find some confidence and solidify his place and get some confidence that he can execute.”

The Wildcats return to its grueling spring semester road schedule, traveling to Morgantown, W.Va., for a pair of conference matches to conclude the regular season. UK will face West Virginia on Saturday, Feb. 4, before facing off with North Carolina State on Sunday, Feb. 5.

 

January 29, 2012
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Matthew Mitchell

Opening Statement …
“We are happy to win and go to 9-0. That is a great development for our team. We were able to score enough points to hold off a tough Alabama team today. I thought that they played really hard and really put a big run on us there in the second half. They never gave up. My compliments to Alabama.”

On Alabama’s run in the second half …
“I don’t know about the score, but I know that we had an uncharacteristic second half of defense. I didn’t think that we gave a Kentucky type effort in the second half and that is disappointing.”

On the team’s free throw shooting …
“I think that it was a day where we weren’t at our sharpest and weren’t really locked in and focused. Thank goodness their free throw shooting wasn’t good either because it would have been a very different game. I had high hopes for the day. I thought that it could be a really good day for us. I was excited to welcome our alumni back, but didn’t feel like we defended up to a Kentucky level today.”

On what happened defensively in the second half …
“We just never got the ball stopped and I thought that Alabama was extremely aggressive and they worked hard and saw that we weren’t going to stay in front of the ball or rotate over. It was hard to rotate because the drives were coming mainly in transition in the middle of the floor and you can’t make a lot happen when you just let people dribble by you in the middle of the floor and lay the ball up. I thought the main issue was controlling the dribble and that is something we talked about before the game but didn’t execute it very well. Thank goodness we scored enough points to win.”

On what it says about this team that they didn’t play well in the second half but got the win …
“Well, I think if they continue to do that they will get beat. That is really clear that if they don’t stick really close to the fundamentals of defense that they definitely poses and worked hard to earn. They have good defensive fundamentals and we are a good defensive team. For whatever reason, we didn’t choose to use that today. I don’t know how we will respond from this. A lot of things we can learn from.”

On how the first half went …
“I thought that the first half was sort of like the whole game. We had some good moments and got out to a big lead, but let them go 9-2 (run) to end the half and didn’t look really interested. It was almost as if we thought if we got a certain amount of points ahead that Alabama was going to go away. That certainly never happened today. We had some tremendous moments there in the first half when we tried to call a timeout and talk about our energy, but that is when this team is struggling when I have to call a timeout to talk about their effort. I don’t generally have to do that. Look, it is a long, long season and 16 games in this league is long. You aren’t going to paint a masterpiece every Sunday afternoon and every Thursday night. To be able to earn a victory is significant and we are glad to have it.”

Alabama Head Coach Wendell Hudson

Opening  statement…
“I thought that Kentucky played an awful good basketball game and I thought we played awful hard. We just didn’t play as well as we needed to play. They are the No. 6 team in the country and I think most of you all thought this was going to be a different game than it actually ended up being. I thought we competed and played well and had the opportunity to prove some things, not only to everybody else, but ourselves about the way we are capable of playing. We are finally getting the group back healthy enough, (rather) some of the important people healthy enough to come back and play. I really felt like you look at the free-throw situation, they missed some, we missed some and the game was competitive. I think it was a good basketball game from what someone told me out there.”

On coming back from a 34-2 run…
“I think that was just a case where we felt like we had done some things to ourselves. I don’t think Kentucky had a lot to do with it, especially early pressure. We had 16 turnovers in the first half and cut that down to nine. We got 44 points in the paint and got some points off of turnovers. I don’t remember what it was at halftime, but we got some points off of turnovers. So, the game became a full court going up and down the floor (kind of) game and we had some chances to go up to the basket. We had some people play awful well, especially in the paint for us.”

On comparing Kentucky and Tennessee…
“Tennessee is a big team. They are a big, strong basketball team and size is a huge difference. Kentucky is just a quick, athletic team. Two different brands of basketball. But as far as the competitive nature of both teams, it’s tough to get ready and go play both of them. From our standpoint, I thought we probably played our best two SEC games and had a group competing against the two best teams in the league. Hopefully, that’s going to prove something to us, especially if we can keep everyone away from the injuries that we’ve had, that we are going to be okay, get back and win some basketball games.”

On whether Kentucky’s defense slacked off in the second half…
“No, I just thought we took the ball to the basket stronger. I don’t think Kentucky ever backed away (with their) defensive pressure. We finally took the ball to the basket stronger. I thought we took the ball to the basket in the first half (but with) a little physical contact we (came up with) turnovers. In the second half we took the ball to the basket but if a bump happened, it happened, we didn’t worry about it. I thought that was the biggest difference in the second half, taking the ball to the basket.”

On the physicality of the game and whether they thought they could out-muscle Kentucky…
“It was just a physical game. The officials let us play, and we played as physical as Kentucky played. We talked about that. We knew Kentucky was a physical basketball team and liked to pressure and we needed to match that intensity level and I think we matched that intensity level.”

Alabama Player

#21, Kyra Crosby, F

On what changed between the first and second half…
“In the first half, Kentucky shot the ball very well. In the second half, we took that away from them and made them penetrate more and go to the basket. We fed off of that and played great defense and tried to convert from that.”

On playing against the pressure of Kentucky’s defense…
“It’s extremely hard to go through a game with a lot of pressure, then have to turn around and start over and get ready for that pressure or even more pressure. I think we did really well compared to other teams that we have played.”

On lessons she learned from this game…
“We learned today and also from the Tennessee game that if we play together and have a common goal, we can beat anybody. If we play hard for 40 minutes and not just 20 minutes, then we will have a good chance to win.”

Kentucky Players

#13, Bria Goss, Fr., G

On if there is a negative feeling after a game like this…
“It’s just a learning experience. As much as we don’t want to have these types of games, we are going to have them. Hopefully this will be the last one and hopefully we will learn from it, play harder, and get better.”

#4, Keyla Snowden, Sr., G

On the intensity during the second half…
“I just thought that we had a lack of intensity. We are going to come back and work harder and be ready for the next game against Ole Miss. We are going to try and put this game behind us and learn from it so we don’t have this type of game again.”

On the difficulty of playing a team that is winless in conference play after playing numerous ranked teams…
“I think that we come out with the mentality to play hard and sometimes things don’t go our way, but we all come out ready to play. We just have to learn from it so we don’t have a game like this again.”

On only scoring two points in the second half after scoring 12 in the first half…
“I think other people stepped up scoring in the second half.  A’dia (Mathies) and Bria (Goss) both finished with double digits. That just says a lot about our team. It doesn’t take one person to do all of the scoring, it’s spread throughout the whole team.”

#1, A’dia Mathies, Jr., G

On the biggest difference between the first half and the second …
“We just did a poor job on defense.  We let them go where they wanted to go, and weren’t denying like we are capable of or picking the ball up in transition. It’s really on us, we have got do a better job of that.”

On what it says about the team to play the second half like that and still get a double-digit win …
“I think it says a lot.  Even though we gave up a lot of baskets, we were able to score a lot of baskets.  I think we can turn it around in the next game against Ole Miss.  I’m just glad we got the win.”

On what it means to get 20 wins for a third straight season
“It’s special to get 20 wins.  Especially like the two years before I came here, and just looking at the program, it’s a big turnaround, and I’m just glad we can keep the momentum going. We have a lot of talent and people that care.  Twenty wins is a great thing.” …

 

January 29, 2012
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Postgame Notes

Final Score: No. 6/6 Kentucky – 82, Alabama – 68

Team Records and Series Notes

Kentucky improves to 20-2, 9-0 SEC, while Alabama falls to 10-12, 0-8 SEC.
·It is the first time in program history that UK has started conference play 9-0.
·Kentucky’s 20-2 start ties its best start in program history through the first 22 games. Kentucky’s best start to a season was in 1982-83 (21-2).
·Kentucky has now won a school-record 12 straight SEC games dating back to last season.
·UK has now won seven straight SEC home games dating back to last season, one shy of tying the school record set in the 2009-10 season.
·UK’s nine SEC wins are two shy of tying the school record for most SEC wins in a season.
·The win gives Kentucky its 13th 20-win season in program history, and third consecutive 20-win season.

-Kentucky is 22-15 against Alabama all-time, and 12-5 when the game is played in Lexington.
-UK head coach Matthew Mitchell is 5-0 against the Crimson Tide.
-Sunday’s win is Kentucky’s seventh in a row over Alabama, and its sixth straight win over Alabama in Lexington.
-Coach Matthew Mitchell is 136-80 overall and 106-51 at UK.
-Kentucky is 648-466 in 38 years of varsity play.
-The Wildcats are 141-213 all-time in SEC play, and 44-25 under the direction of Mitchell.
-UK is 45-2 in Lexington over the past three seasons.
-UK is 354-140 (.717) at Memorial Coliseum, including 64-12 (.842) under Mitchell.
Kentucky’s current 17-game home winning streak is the fourth longest in program history.
-Kentucky has won nine-straight games, and is two wins shy of tying the program record winning streak of 11 games (1982-83 and 2009-10).
-Kentucky plays again Thursday at 2 p.m. ET vs. Ole Miss at Memorial Coliseum.
 
First Half Notes
-Kentucky used the starting lineup of Amber Smith, A’dia Mathies, Bria Goss, Kastine Evans and Brittany Henderson for the seventh straight game. UK is 10-0 with this lineup.
-UK has started a freshman in 125-of-157 games in the Matthew Mitchell era, including 92 straight.
-Leading 10-9 at the 15:19 mark, Kentucky held Alabama without a field goal for 8:40, outscoring Alabama 20-6 during that time.
-In a 32-second span from 3:49 to 3:17, UK went on an 8-0 run fueled by four points from Samarie Walker, three points from Keyla Snowden and two points from Bernisha Pinkett.
Kentucky forced 16 first-half turnovers, tied for the most forced turnovers in the first half this season in conference play (Mississippi State, 1/8, and Auburn, 1/26).
The Wildcats outscored Alabama 23-7 in points off turnovers.
The UK bench outscored Alabama’s reserves 26-3.
-Kentucky led Alabama 46-29 heading into the locker room.
-The Wildcats are 16-0 this season when leading or tied at the half.
 
Second Half Notes
-The Cats raced out of the gates in the second half, going on a 7-0 run in the half's opening 2:24 to force an Alabama timeout. The run stretched UK’s lead to 53-29.
-Alabama cut the Kentucky lead to 11 points on three separate occasions, but would get no closer.
 
Team/Game Notes
-Kentucky forced 25 turnovers in the game.
-UK has forced double-digit miscues in 104 consecutive games. The Cats are 77-27 during that span.
-Kentucky has forced an SEC-high 638 turnovers this season (29.00 per game).
-Kentucky has forced at least 10 turnovers in 37 of 44 halves this season.
-Kentucky is 36-2 under Matthew Mitchell when scoring 80 or more points.
-Kentucky won the turnover battle (17-25).
-UK has forced at least 20 turnovers in 20 of 22 games this season.
-UK got great production from its bench, outscoring Alabama’s bench 42-16.
-The Wildcats are 18-1 when its bench outscores the opponent’s bench.
·With eight made 3-pointers, UK extended its streak of consecutive games with a triple to 279.
-Kentucky outscored Alabama 29-15 in points off turnovers.
-Kentucky led by at least 11 points for the final 29:52 of the game.
-Attendance was 7,871.
-It was the ninth largest crowd in Memorial Coliseum history.
 
Individual Notes
-Sophomore guard Kastine Evans scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds.
-Evans has hit at least one 3-pointer in each of the last five games.
-Senior guard Keyla Snowden scored a team-high 14 points, including three 3-pointers on four attempts.
-Snowden’s three 3-pointers give her 152 in her career, and move her to within 10 of Jenny Pfeiffer at No. 3 on the all-time 3-point field goals made list.
-Snowden was 3-4 from beyond the arc, and remains No. 3 on the UK career 3-point field goal percentage list at .374 (152-406).
-Junior guard A’dia Mathies scored 13 points, including three 3-pointers.
-Mathies’ 13 points give her 1,250 points in her career. She is 15th on the all-time scoring list and is 87 points shy of tying Belitta Croley at No. 14 all-time.
-Mathies had one steal, giving her 224 in her career. Mathis is now tied with Sandy Harding at No. 8 on the all-time steals list. Mathies has recorded at least one steal in 22 straight games, dating back to last season.
-Has scored 10 or more points in 16 of the 21 games she’s played this season.
Sophomore forward Samarie Walker scored nine points and grabbed a team-high tying seven rebounds.
-Walker has grabbed seven or more rebounds in eight of the 12 games she’s played in this season, including each of the last four.
J-unior forward Brittany Henderson scored seven points and grabbed a team-high tying seven rebounds, while also blocking a team-high two shots.
-Freshman guard Bria Goss scored 11 points and had three steals.
oGoss has reached double figures in scoring in 16 of 22 games.

 

January 28, 2012
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS

Gymnastics Posts Season-Best Score in Win Over UIC

Kentucky gymnastics team earns 12th-highest beam score in school history

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s gymnastics team used season-high team performances on uneven bars and balance beam en route to posting a season-best team score of 195.05, earning its first dual-meet victory of the season 195.05-194.35 over Illinois-Chicago on Saturday in Chicago.

“We took another step in the right direction tonight,” said UK head coach Tim Garrison, who is in his first season with the UK program. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I am very proud of our athletes and the fight that they showed in the meet tonight.”

UK’s team score of 195.05 is the highest in a regular-season dual-meet since last year’s squad earned the same mark at Ohio State. Kentucky posted season-high scores on bars and beam, earning a 48.825 on bars to crush the previous season high of 48.5. On beam, Kentucky earned a team score of 48.975, which is tied for the 12th-highest beam score in school history and the highest since the 2009 team posted a 49.1 on March 15 in Alaska.

Individually, Kentucky (3-3, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) set or tied 17 season highs and 14 career highs in the meet. Sophomore Audrey Harrison paced Kentucky with a career-high score of 39.0 in the all-around competition, while setting a career high on uneven bars and tying a career high on floor exercise. Freshman Alexis Gross also earned a career high in the all-around competition with a score of 38.875. Gross posted career highs on vault, uneven bars and balance beam.

The Wildcats continued to use a youthful lineup in the meet as 19 of UK’s 24 routines were performed by freshmen and sophomores. Kentucky has now used 18 or more performances from underclassmen in every meet this season, including a season-high 20 last week against SEC foe Florida.

Amazingly all six gymnasts that made the UK lineup on beam set season highs in the meet, including five gymnasts that set of tied a career high on the event. Senior Storey Morris led the Wildcats with a career-high tying 9.85, which earned her the event title. The high mark for Morris was also a season high. Sophomore Holly Cunningham followed closely behind with a career-high 9.825 to finish tied for third on the event, while sophomore Kayla Sienkowski and Gross set career highs when each earned a 9.775. Harrison continued her consistency on beam with a 9.75, while freshman Shannon Mitchell completed the UK scoring with a career-high 9.65.

The Wildcats started the night on uneven bars, earning a team score of 48.825 behind sophomore Caitlyn Ciokajlo winning the individual event title with a season-high 9.825. The event title is the first of the season for Ciokajlo and the fourth and of her career. Gross, who set a career high on the event, and Morris finished tied for second at the meet with a pair of 9.775s, while Harrison set a career high with a 9.725. Senior co-captain Whitney Rose earned a season high on bars with a 9.725, followed by freshman Sara Shipley, who posted a 9.1.

Kentucky had a nice night on vault, led by three gymnasts earning career highs. Cunningham won her first career event title with a career-high score of 9.825 on vault, while freshman Kenzie Hedges finished second at the meet with a 9.8. Morris, who leads off the UK rotation on vault, got things going with a 9.775, followed by Harrison’s 9.725. Gross and fellow freshman Shelby Hilton earned career highs on the event when each scored a 9.6 to complete the UK rotation.

UK narrowly missed tying a season-high floor score by one tenth when it posted a team score of 48.525. Harrison’s career-high tying 9.8 led UK on the event, while Hedges tied a career high with a 9.725. Gross also earned a 9.725 on the event, followed by Sienkowski’s 9.675. Hilton and Hartley wrapped up the UK rotation with Hilton posting a 9.6 and Hartley an 8.3.

UIC’s Andrea Skala took home the all-around title with a score of 39.050, while Harrison finished second with a 39.0 and Gross third with a 38.875.

Kentucky will continue its two-meet road trip next Friday when it returns to SEC action against LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The meet is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.

Team Results
1) Kentucky 195.05, 2) Illinois-Chicago 194.35

UK: VAULT 48.725, BARS 48.825, BEAM 48.975, FLOOR 48.525

VAULT: Cunningham 9.825, Hedges 9.8, Morris 9.775, Harrison 9.725, Hilton 9.6, Gross 9.6
BARS: Ciokajlo 9.825, Gross 9.775, Morris 9.775, Rose 9.725, Harrison 9.725, Shipley 9.1
BEAM: Morris 9.85, Cunningham 9.825, Sienkowski 9.775, Gross 9.775, Harrison 9.75, Mitchell 9.65
FLOOR: Harrison 9.8, Gross 9.725, Hedges 9.725, Sienkowski 9.675, Hilton 9.6, Hartley 8.3
All-Around: Harrison 39.0, Gross 38.875

 

January 28, 2012
MEN'S TENNIS

Gomez’s Thriller Powers UK to National Indoor Championships

No. 111 Alejandro Gomez wins three-set thriller to clinch 4-1 UK win over No. 22 Tulsa

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Behind sophomore No. 111 Alejandro Gomez posting a dominating 6-0 third-set win, the No. 7 University of Kentucky men’s tennis team defeated No. 22 Tulsa 4-1 to seal its third-straight appearance in the National Indoor Team Championships. Gomez’s win on the final day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend on Saturday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex gave the Wildcats the decisive fourth point of the match.

“Fantastic win for us today,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “It was a very intense match and you have to give Tulsa credit because they are a great team. I am happy we get to take this team to the National Indoors because we have made deep runs in that event before, but we feel this team has a great chance to do something special over there.”

The win advances Kentucky (6-0) to the round of 16 of the ITA National Indoor Team Championships, which will be held Feb. 17-20 at the Boar’s Head Tennis Club in Charlottesville, Va. This is the third consecutive season Kentucky has advanced to the round of 16 of the national indoor event. The Wildcats have now made five consecutive rounds of 16 in either the indoor or outdoor team championships. Including this season, UK has advanced to the last three rounds of 16 in the indoor team championships, on top of appearances in the outdoor round of 16 in 2010 and 2011.

With UK holding a 3-1 lead in the match and play at No. 2 and No. 6 singles also in a third set, Gomez took matters into his own hands, dominating Tristan Jackson for a 6-0 win to clinch the match. The sophomore from Cali, Colombia, won the first set 6-3, before Jackson returned the favor in the second set with a 6-3 win. Gomez would break early in the third set to take a 2-0 lead and never looked back, earning the match 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

“I am really proud of Alejandro Gomez for clinching the match, and I’m particularly happy with how our sophomore class is performing so far this season,” UK associate head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “I think that class is really growing into great players. Tom Jomby had a good win today and Panav Jha was about to win in the third set as well. We are going to need those three (Gomez, Jomby, Jha) and the rest of that class later on this season so it is good to see how much they have grown.”

Senior No. 13 Alex Musialek and sophomore No. 85 Panav Jha were leading in their third sets at No. 2 and No. 6 singles, respectively, when the team match was clinched. Musialek had just earned a break and was serving with match point over No. 83 Ashley Watling, while Jha was up two breaks 4-0 in the third over Alejandro Sanchez.

“We knew that Tulsa would not go away and they didn’t, they played really well from behind to force third sets on several courts,” Emery said. “But I think we kind of got our second wind in those third sets and were able to take back control of the match.”

Kentucky’s other three points came from straight-set wins in singles action. Sophomore No. 95 Tom Jomby tied the match 1-1 when he took down Lucian Gheorghe at No. 4 singles 6-2, 6-2. Senior No. 5 Eric Quigley gave UK a lead it wouldn’t relinquish at No. 1 singles when he defeated Clifford Marsland 6-3, 6-4, while Rossi showed great poise under pressure in his match, breaking No. 88 Grant Ive to win both sets 7-5, 7-5.

“I think Tom Jomby was one of the keys to the match the way he was able to win his match early and get us some momentum,” Emery said. “Then when Anthony (Rossi) was able to break to win the first set 7-5 that gave us even more momentum.”

The Golden Hurricane earned its lone point in the match in doubles play, getting wins at courts one and two. UK would actually earn the first win in doubles when Musialek and Gomez took down Sanchez and Gheorghe 8-5 at No. 3 doubles. TU would respond, with No. 3 Marsland and Watling earning an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles before No. 37 Ive and Jackson clinched the point at No. 2 doubles with an 8-6 win over Rossi and Jomby.

“I think that Tulsa is by far the best doubles team we have played all year, but we did an outstanding job of keeping our composure and winning first sets in singles to swing momentum back in our direction,” Emery said.

Tulsa advanced to face Kentucky after a 4-1 win over No. 58 East Tennessee State in the opening round Friday. The Golden Hurricane is 1-4 on the season with all four losses coming to top-20 ranked teams. Tulsa started the year with a 4-3 loss to No. 14 California before dropping another 4-3 contest to No. 6 Stanford last Friday. No. 20 North Carolina gave TU its third loss of the season in a 5-2 win last Sunday before UK gave TU its fourth loss.

UK holds a 3-0 record all-time against Tulsa, dating back to the first-ever meeting in 1983. The win also marked Kentucky’s 20th win over a top-25 opponent dating back to the 2009 season.

Kentucky has been nearly unbeatable at home the past few seasons. Since the 2009 season, UK is an impressive 47-9 at home, including a 4-0 mark this year. The Wildcats were 18-3 at home last season.

This marks the third consecutive season Kentucky has hosted an ITA Kickoff. The Wildcats advanced through the event in each of the previous two seasons and went on to have successful runs at the team championships. UK was one of 15 schools that was chosen to host an ITA Kickoff Weekend event. Those schools were designated as host sites in order of their year-end 2011 Campbell/ITA team ranking.

No. 7 Kentucky 4, No. 22 Tulsa 1

Singles:
1 – No. 5 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Clifford Marsland (TU) 6-3, 6-4
2 – No. 13 Alex Musialek (UK) led No. 83 Ashley Watling (TU) 6-4, 5-7, 5-3 DNF
3 – No. 36 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. No. 88 Grant Ive (TU) 7-5, 7-5
4 – No. 95 Tom Jomby (UK) def. Lucian Gheorghe (TU) 6-2, 6-2
5 – No. 111 Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Tristan Jackson (TU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
6 – No. 85 Panav Jha (UK) led Alejandro Sanchez (TU) 6-1, 1-6, 4-0 DNF

Doubles:
1 – No. 3 Clifford Marsland/Ashley Watling (TU) def. Eric Quigley/Panav Jha (UK) 8-6
2 – No. 37 Grant Ive/Tristan Jackson (TU) def. Anthony Rossi/Tom Jomby (UK) 8-6
3 – Alex Musialek/Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Alejandro Sanchez/Lucian Gheorghe (TU) 8-5

Order of Finish
Singles: 4, 1, 3, 5*
Doubles: 3, 1, 2*

No. 57 North Carolina State 4, No. 58 East Tennessee State 0

Singles:
1 – Jamie Pulgar (NC State) led Sander Gille (ETSU) 3-6, 7-6 (8), 4-3 DNF
2 – Dominic Hodgson (NC State) def. Jesus Bandres (ETSU) 6-0, 6-4
3 – Robbie Mudge (NC State) def. Juan Ramirez (ETSU) 6-3, 6-4
4 – No. 100 Austin Powell (NC State) def. Jeremy Bonnevalle (ETSU) 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3
5 – Rafael Paez (NC State) vs. Roger Ordeig (ETSU) 5-5 DNF
6 – Rogerio Ribeiro (ETSU) led Ivan Sanchez Gomez (NC State) 5-4 DNF

Doubles:
1 – Sander Gille/Jesus Bandres (ETSU) def. Julian Sullivan/Sean Weber (NC State) 9-8 (4)
2 – Dominic Hodgson/Matt Thomson (NC State) def. Juan Ramirez/Jorge Varon (ETSU) 9-8 (5)
3 – Robbie Mudge/Jamie Pulgar (NC State) def. Jeremy Bonnevall/Roger Ordeig (ETSU) 8-3

Order of Finish
Singles: 3, 2, 4*
Doubles: 3, 1, 2*

 

January 28, 2012
TRACK & FIELD

Tyson Breaks Freshman Record on Day Two of Rod McCravy

Senior high jumper Terri-Ann Grant records second-best mark in program history

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Led by eye-opening performances from freshman Keilah Tyson and senior Terri-Ann Grant, the University of Kentucky men’s and women’s track and field teams enjoyed a great final day at the Rod McCravy Memorial meet at Nutter Field House on Saturday.

Tyson excelled in the women’s 60-meter dash, etching her name in the UK freshman record books in her first collegiate appearance in the event. Tyson, a standout from Western Branch High School in Norfolk, Va., was a state champion in the 55-meter dash as a sophomore and senior. On Saturday, Tyson showed her speed, breaking former Kentucky great Passion Richardson’s indoor 60m dash freshman record.

Richardson, a four-time All-American at Kentucky, won a bronze medal in the 2000 summer Olympic games in Sydney as a member of the United States’ 4x100 relay team. Tyson got off to a strong start in the two-round sprint event by finishing second in the preliminary round with a time of 7.44, which would have ranked fourth in the all-time record books. Tyson showed her true grit in the finals though, tying the third fastest time in program history, and setting a new Kentucky freshman record with a time of 7.36.

“This is my first 60-meter dash of the year,” Tyson said. “For me to run 7.36 – and that was the worst 60 I’ve ever had in my life. Nothing about it was good to me except the time. I was really shocked. I came out of the blocks dead last. I had to play catch up at the beginning of the race. I began to catch up, but I feel like if I would have had a better start like in the preliminaries, I would have ran faster. There’s room for improvement, that’s what that shows. My competition today did a really great job.”

Grant entered Saturday’s competition with a personal-best indoor high jump mark of 5-08.00 set at the Southeastern Conference Championships last season, but shattered that mark with Saturday’s performance. The Kingston, Jamaica native put together a truly impressive performance in the high jump, clearing each of the first three heights on her first attempt. Grant clipped the bar on her first attempt at the 1.79m/5-10.50 mark, but cleared it on her second try to move up to 1.82m/5-11.50. With the event down to two competitors, Grant sealed up first place by clearing 5-11.50, the second-highest mark in program history. Grant finally bowed out on the NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 1.85m/6-00.75, which would have been both a program record and a meet record.

“Terri-Ann did really well and it’s very encouraging,” UK head coach Don Weber said. “Last year she was hurting all year long and then had surgery to correct it. Just watching today, I was telling her, ‘You look like a completely different woman. You look like you’re pain free for the first time in a long time.’ ”

“It really motivates me,” said Grant about reaching 5-11.50 in her first competition of the season. “It shows that I can do a lot better if I can do this my first meet out because that is usually not everyone’s best meet. It just shows me I can go a lot further.”

Freshman Joanne Imbert also had a very strong showing in the women’s high jump. Imbert, a native of Valley Stream, N.Y., set a new personal collegiate-best mark of 1.76m/5-09.25, the fourth-highest mark in program history, to finish in a tie for third. Imbert had a flare for the dramatic Saturday morning, clearing each of the first three height progressions on her third and final attempt.

Overall, Weber said he was pleased with the Wildcats’ performance Saturday. Not only did UK have good times and marks, Weber said, but the student-athletes’ mindset was a more aggressive one, which is what he had been looking for.

“I think it was a big step forward based on some performances, but I think it was another big step forward because people raced and competed more daringly this weekend than they did two weeks ago,” Weber said. “Some of those more daring performances ended up with a better final result, some of them didn’t – they maybe over did it and were too daring. The most important thing is they continue to understand that being aggressive is an ingredient to a good performance. If you don’t have that ingredient in your performance you’re not going to get it. You have to be daring.”

Junior Darryl Bradshaw nearly broke his personal record in the 60-meter hurdles. Bradshaw and sophomore Brandon Bagley each qualified for the finals of the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.17. In the finals, Bradshaw finished fourth with a time of 8.05, just barely falling short of his career-best time of 8.04, the sixth best time in program history. Bagley ran an 8.21 in the finals.

Junior Luis Orta had another strong performance, finishing second in the men’s 3,000m run with a time of 8:10.58. The time is a career best for the Caracas, Venezuela native, and is the eighth best 3,000m time in program history. The winner of the event, Soufiane Bouchikhi, set a meet record with a time of 8:04.00.

Freshman Terence Boyd, who tied the seventh-best mark in program history in the long jump Friday, had another strong performance Saturday in the men’s triple jump. Boyd broke his previous career best in the event with a mark of 15.23m/49-11.75 to finish fourth. The jump is the eighth best in program history.

Senior Jennifer Svoboda finished third in the women’s shot put. Svoboda, a 2008 and 2009 NCAA Mideast Regional Semifinalist in the shot put, threw 15.59m/51-01.75 to finish third. Jeneva McCall of Southern Illinois won the women’s shot put with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 17.31m/56-09.50.

The Rod McCravy Memorial was Kentucky’s second home meet of the young season. Kentucky will compete at the Nutter Field House again Feb. 24-26 at the Southeastern Conference Championships. The Wildcats’ next meet is in one week at the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind., from Feb. 3-4.

Rod McCravy Memorial
Nutter Field House
Jan. 27-28, 2012

Saturday Results

Women’s High Jump
1. Terri-Ann Grant – 1.82m/5-11.50
T3. Joanne Imbert – 1.76m/5-09.25

Women’s Triple Jump
12. Brittany Britt – 11.25m/36-11.00

Men’s Triple Jump
4. Terence Boyd – 15.23m/49-11.75

Men’s Shot Put
5. Bradley Szypka – 15.98m/52-05.25
8. Isiah Kent – 15.12m/49-07.25

Women’s Shot Put
3. Jennifer Svoboda – 15.59m/51-01.75

Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles (Prelims)
5. Kayla Parker – 8.57q

Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles (Prelims)
T5. Brandon Bagley – 8.17q
T5. Darryl Bradshaw – 8.17q
20. Daniel Buckles – 9.10

Women’s 60-Meter Dash (Prelims)
2. Keilah Tyson – 7.44q
36. Candice Taylor – 8.03
38. Brittany Britt – 8.06

Men’s 60-Meter Dash (Prelims)
18. Darryl Bradshaw – 7.12q
24. Ben Mason – 7.16

Women’s One-Mile Run
6. Allison Peare – 4:56.65
10. Megan Broderick – 4:59.17
12. Megan Wright – 5:00.63
39. Katie Achtien – 5:24.06

Men’s One-Mile Run
3. Adam Kahleifeh – 4:09.82
7. Trent Halasek – 4:11.42
9. Keffri Neal – 4:12.50
14. Walter Luttrell – 4:15.36
18. Stacey Eden – 4:17.71
34. Miles Kilgore – 4:40.59

Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles (Finals)
4. Darryl Bradshaw – 8.05
8. Brandon Bagley – 8.21

Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles (Finals)
6. Kayla Parker – 8.58

Men’s 60-Meter Dash (Finals)
18. Darryl Bradshaw – 7.13

Women’s 60-Meter Dash (Finals)
2. Keilah Tyson – 7.36

Women’s 400-Meter Dash
8. Julie Nunn – 55.86
T12. Shiara Robinson – 56.33
T12. Angelica Whaley – 56.33

Men’s 400-Meter Dash
30. Brandon Bagley – 51.52

Women’s 800-Meter Run
12. Allison Peare – 2:14.13
17. Megan Broderick – 2:15.95

Men’s 800-Meter Run
8. Robert Scharold – 1:53.15
12. Sean Keane – 1:55.20
13. Adam Kahleifeh – 1:55.33

Men’s 200-Meter Dash
6. Ben Mason – 22.01
13. Darryl Bradshaw – 22.53
15. Brandon Bagley – 22.73
23. Daniel Buckles – 24.23

Women’s 3,000-Meter Run
7. Chelsea Oswald – 9:49.95
18. Taylor Wendler – 10:06.16

Men’s 3,000-Meter Run
2. Luis Orta – 8:10.58

Women’s 4x400-Meter Relay
5. Kentucky ‘A’ – 3:46.31
   Julie Nunn, Shiara Robinson, Angelica Whaley and Keilah Tyson

 

January 28, 2012
MEN'S BASKETBALL

Postgame Notes

Kentucky vs. LSU

-- Kentucky improves to 21-1, 7-0 in the Southeastern Conference, while LSU falls to 12-9, 2-5.
-- The Wildcats are 81-24 all-time against LSU and 29-16 in Baton Rouge.
-- UK is now 892-251 in SEC regular season action.
-- Kentucky has won three-straight against LSU by an average of 29.3 points.
-- Kentucky extends its winning streak to 13 straight games and has won four straight on the road. The 13-game streak is the second longest streak in the Calipari era behind the 19-0 start by the 2009-10 squad.
-- Kentucky has won its first seven in league play, the best SEC start for the Wildcats since the 2004-05 team started 10-0.
-- UK returns to action on Tuesday, hosting Tennessee. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

Team game notes
-- The Wildcats used the starting combination of Terrence Jones, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Doron Lamb, Anthony Davis and Marquis Teague for the 13th time. UK is 12-1 with that starting five.
-- Darius Miller was the first sub off the bench for the 12th time this season.
-- Kentucky extended its streak of games with a 3-pointer to 809 games, the third-longest streak in the country.
-- UK led 35-26 at the half. The Wildcats are 17-0, 6-0 when leading at halftime.
-- Terrence Jones scored UK’s final four points of the first half and first nine of the second half.
-- The 24-point victory was Kentucky’s largest in conference play this season.
-- The Wildcats held the Tigers to 39.6 pct. from the field. The 14th time this season the Cats have held its opponent below 40 pct.
-- The Wildcats held their turnovers to single-digits for the seventh time this season.
-- The six Kentucky turnovers were the fewest since four against Portland on Nov. 26.
-- The Wildcats blocked eight shots, giving them 204 on the season, fourth most on the all-time season blocks list.

Individual game notes

#1 Darius Miller
-- Finished with 13 points pushing career total to 1,081 career points, moving him to 48th on the UK all-time scoring list.
-- Scored in double-figures in the first half for the second-straight game and the fourth time this season.
-- Has hit nine 3-pointers over last three games.

#3 Terrence Jones
-- Finished with a season-high 27 points.
-- Finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
-- Added three blocks.

#14 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
-- Finished with eight rebounds, giving him 19 in his last two games.

#20 Doron Lamb
-- Hit multiple 3s for the fourth straight game and six of the last seven games.

#23 Anthony Davis
-- Tallied three blocks, giving him 101 on the season, which ranks second on the SEC freshman blocks list and 12th on the league’s single-season blocks list.
-- Had 11 rebounds, giving him 228 rebounds on the season, fifth most by a UK freshman.
-- Recorded his 11th double-double of the season, one shy of third on the UK freshman double-double list.

#25 Marquis Teague
-- Hit multiple 3-pointers for the third time this season and first time since Auburn game on Jan. 11.
-- Finished with four assists and one turnover. His assist to turnover ratio of 3.0 over last four games.

January 28, 2012
SWIMMING & DIVING

UK Dominates,Sends Out Seniors with Win

Wildcats min multiple races en route to win

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Behind wins in 25 of 32 events, the University of Kentucky swimming and diving teams defeated the University of Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday at the Lancaster Aquatic Center with the men claiming a 192-101 win, and the womenclaiming a 169.5-116.5 win.

“We had a few really good swims,” UK head coach Gary Conelly said following the meet Saturday. “We are entering the taper phase of our season, so we could show up and be all over the place, and that’s kind of how we were today. There were some really good swims.”

Tyler Reed led the Wildcats again on the men’s side, swimming his best-ever time in a dual meet in the 50-freestyle, pacing the field with a 20.53 in that event. Also, in the 200-freestyle, Reed recorded a 1:38.95.

“I’m really excited about the way Tyler Reed is swimming right now. The 1:38.95 in the 200-free looked really easy, so I am pretty excited about that,” Conelly said.

In the 100-butterfly, Tripp Crosthwaite led the field with a 41.91, claiming firstplace in that event. Crosthwaite also served as the leadoff swimmer in the 200-freestlye relay team that earned a 1:27.56, taking home first place in that event.

“I really have to give credit and point out Tripp (Crosthwaite)’s performance today. I was really happy with his 100-butterfly and I thought it was a real good meet for him,” Conelly said.

KristenWilson had one of the best meets of her career Saturday, swimming a 23.46 in the 50-free and taking home first place. Wilson also served as a member of the 200-free relay team that swam a 1:35.05, which was good enough for first place.

”Kristen (Wilson) went pretty close to lifetime-best times today, so I feel like she is in pretty good shape,” Conelly said.

Saturday was also senior day at the Lancaster Aquatic Center, as the Wildcats honored eight swimmers who have dedicated their all to the UK swimming and diving program.

“It’s always nice to send the seniors out with a win, but it’s even better when you swim well in that meet, and the seniors across the meet swam well,” Conelly said.

It was another great day on the diving boards for the UK diving team, and yet another record broken for defending Southeastern Conference Freshman Diver of the Year Greg Ferrucci.

“Overall the team was fantastic today,” UK diving head coach Ted Hautau said. “We had a real tough week of training this week. We had a lot of volume trying to train for the SEC Championships in a couple of weeks. They stepped up and competed really well.”

Ferrucci posted a 418.65 in the one-meter competition, smashing his own school record by over 20 points. Ferrucci finished first in the one meter, and three-meter competitions, pacing the field with a 423.75 in the three-meter. The 423.75 was just six points shy of the UK program record, which Ferrucci owns.

“Greg (Ferrucci) was great today. I didn’t think he was going to dive that well based off of what I saw in warm-ups, but he just did a fantastic job all day for us and really came through,” Hautau said.

Sarah Chewning also had a fantastic day for UK, winning both the one-meter, and three-meter competition with scores of 291.83 and 297.45, respectfully.

“Sarah was really good up on three meter today, and I am looking forward to this team’s performances as we head towards the end of the season,” Hautau said.

Kentucky will next take to the waters against in-state rival Louisville on Feb. 3 in Louisville, Ky.

Cincinnati

Xavier
Miami
Northern Kentucky
Thomas More College
Mt. St. Joseph
Kentucky
Cincinnati State
UC-Clermont
Miami-Hamilton
Miami-Middletown
Dayton
Wright State

 

Top of Page