Lieder Excels For Titans At WIAC Championship

Lieder Excels For Titans At WIAC Championship

UW-Oshkosh's Jarrett Lieder made another big splash by winning an event, placing second in another and being involved in seven of the Titans' eight school-record performances at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men's Swimming & Diving Championship (Presented by Culver's) held Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 14-16) at the Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer.

Lieder earned three top-nine freestyle finishes during last year's championship by placing second at 1,650, sixth at 500 and ninth at 200 yards. He also formed individual school records in the 200, 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle distances while swimming on a record-setting 800-yard freestyle relay team.

This year, Lieder improved those achievements by winning the 1,650-yard freestyle, finishing in the top six in two other freestyle events, establishing three individual school records and performing on a trio of record-setting relay squads.

Lieder defeated 18 other swimmers in the 1,650-yard freestyle with his school-record time of 16:24.21. His victory in the event was the first by a Titan during the 57 years of the conference championship.

Lieder also finished second in the 500-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 4:41.29 and sixth in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:43.76. He also set another school record with his preliminary time of 1:42.96 in the 200-yard freestyle.

Lieder created his remaining individual school record by swimming to a time of 9:56.95 during the first 1,000 yards of the 1,650-yard freestyle.

In the relays, Lieder helped freestyle groups set school records of 1:25.85 at 200, 3:12.48 at 400 and 7:10.81 at 800 yards.

Other members of the 200- and 400-yard relay teams were Case Geidl, Michael Gerondale and Ian Sewell. Joining Lieder for the 800-yard race were Gerondale, Sewell and Alex Jernberg.

UW-Oshkosh's remaining individual school record was set by David Bain in the preliminary of the 200-yard backstroke. Bain, who finished 12th in the event's final with a time of 2:00.57, established his new school mark with a preliminary swim of 1:59.29.

Matt Wilke received a high grade for the Titans with his two second-place diving finishes. Wilke, who has qualified for next month's NCAA Division III Region 1 Diving Championship, compiled his runner-up mentions with scores of 495.60 off the 1-meter board and 515.90 off the 3-meter plank.

UW-Oshkosh's Evan Bredesen also placed in the diving. He finished fourth with 384.00 points in the 1-meter category and fifth with 350.20 in the 3-meter section.

In addition to his swim in the 800-yard freestyle relay, Jernberg finished fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:38.76, fifth in the 500-yard freestyle at 4:46.07 and 15th in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:02.46.

Geidl tallied UW-Oshkosh's remaining top-10 finish with his ninth-place time of 21.71 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle. He also contributed a 14th-place time of 48.16 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle.

Gerondale gave the Titans a pair of 16th-place efforts with his freestyle times of 49.41 seconds at 100 yards and 1:51.34 at 200.

UW-Oshkosh also had Bain finish 12th in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.66 seconds, Sewell 14th in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:49.86 and Cody Else 16th in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:04.79.

UW-Stevens Point scored 816 points to win its 21st consecutive WIAC team title and 23rd overall. The Pointers were followed in the team finishes by second-place UW-La Crosse with 721 points, third-place UW-Eau Claire with 671, fourth-place UW-Whitewater with 541 and fifth-place UW-Oshkosh with 311.

The Titans scored points in 10 individual events, including 35 in the 1,650-yard freestyle, 32 in the 1-meter diving and 31 in both the 500-yard freestyle and 3-meter diving.