Titans To Splash At WIAC Championship
Freshman Jack Miller and juniors Jarrett Lieder and Matt Wilke own seven of UW-Oshkosh's eight top-10 individual seeds for this weekend's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men's Swimming & Diving Championship (presented by Culver's) in Brown Deer.
Competition in the three-day meet begins Thursday (Feb. 13) and concludes Saturday (Feb. 15) at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center. Sessions start at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. both Thursday and Friday (Feb. 15) and 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
UW-Whitewater is serving as the host institution for the 58th men's championship that will be held concurrently with the 49th women's championship. Medals will be awarded to the top eight finishers in each of the individual events and to the individuals comprising the top three relay teams.
Miller earned the Titans' lone top seed for this weekend's championship after swimming to a season-best time of 4:45.28 in the 500-yard freestyle at the Carthage College Classic held Dec. 5-7 in Kenosha. Miller is also seeded eighth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.38 seconds.
Lieder is seeded in three freestyle events, including the 1,650-yard event where he lists third with a season-best time of 17:05.35. He also is seeded fifth with a time of 4:49.62 at 500 yards and seventh with a swim of 1:46.01 at 200. Lieder holds UW-Oshkosh records in the 200-, 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyles and the 400-yard individual medley.
At last year's championship, Lieder won the 1,650-yard freestyle, finished in the top six in two other freestyle events, established three individual school records and performed 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.
Lieder earned three top-nine freestyle finishes during the 2018 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.
Wilke, who finished 13th in the 3- and 16th in the 1-meter diving categories at last year's NCAA Division III Championship, is seeded second in both events for this weekend's meet. He owns season-best scores of 471.95 off the 1-meter board and 486.35 off the 3-meter plank.
Wilke placed second in both diving events at last year's WIAC Championship with scores of 495.60 in the 1-meter class and 515.90 in the 3-meter section. In 2018, Wilke finished second in the 1- and third in the 3-meter diving with scores of 460.65 and 443.05, respectively.
UW-Oshkosh's remaining top-10 individual seed for this weekend belongs to Jernberg. The sophomore is seeded seventh in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:23.04. 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 during last year's league championship.
The Titans are also seeded third in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:08.79.
UW-Oshkosh finished fifth in the team competition at last year's conference championship with 311 points. The Titans scored in 10 individual events, including 35 points in the 1,650-yard freestyle, 32 in the 1-meter diving and 31 in both the 500-yard freestyle and 3-meter diving.
UW-Stevens Point scored 816 points to win its 20th consecutive WIAC team title and 23rd overall at last year's meet. The Pointers were followed in the team listings 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.
UW-Stevens Point's 23 first-place finishes rank second behind UW-Eau Claire's 25 titles, while UW-La Crosse has collected four team championships. Former WIAC programs to win titles include UW-Platteville with four and UW-Milwaukee with one.
This year's championship features 10 student-athletes that have combined to win 26 individual and 17 relay first-place medals at previous league meets.
UW-Stevens Point's Jacob Aegerter is the three-time defending champion in the 200-yard butterfly and could become just the third individual in conference history to win the event four times. His time of 1:49.90 in the event at the 2017 meet established a conference meet record. He also was a member of the Pointers' first-place 400-yard freestyle relay and 800-yard freestyle relay teams in 2017 and 2018. Aegerter was joined on the 800-yard freestyle relay squad by Payton Kilian in 2018.
The Pointers' Nate Somers owns four individual and two relay crowns. He won the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles at the 2016 and 2017 championships. Somers also was a member of UW-Stevens Point's first-place 800-yard freestyle relay teams both years. He received Swimmer of the Meet recognition at the 2016 championship, where he set a conference meet record of 15:49.36 in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
UW-Stevens Point's Sam Young is the defending champion in the 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard individual medley. His time of 4:00.12 in the 400-yard individual medley established a conference meet record.
UW-Eau Claire's Collin Miller received Swimmer of the Meet accolades in 2017 and 2019. He has won three consecutive titles in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley, and could become just the second four-time winner of each event. Miller also was victorious in the 100-yard freestyle at the 2017 and 2019 championships. He contributed to the Blugolds' first-place 400-yard medley relay team a season ago and was joined by Michael Bylander. Miller owns conference meet records in the 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley with times of 43.95 seconds, 53.62 seconds and 1:48.76, respectively. All three marks were established a season ago.
The Blugolds' Dylan Glumac-Berberich has claimed Diver of the Meet recognition the last two years. He has posted three consecutive first-place finishes on the one-meter board and added the three-meter title a season ago. He could become the third individual in league history to win four one-meter championships.
UW-La Crosse's Hans Hover has collected four individual WIAC titles and four relay crowns during his career. He is the defending champion in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly, and has posted consecutive first-place finishes in the 200-yard backstroke. In relay events a season ago, Hover was a member of the Eagles' winning 200-yard freestyle, 400-yard freestyle, 800-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley squads. He was joined on the 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay and 800-yard freestyle relay by Jack Rohlinger, while Marley Kaiser contributed to the 200-yard medley relay. Rohlinger is also the defending champion in the 200-yard freestyle.