Titans To Splash At WIAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championship
UW-Oshkosh achieved 23 top-16 seeds for this weekend's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Swimming & Diving Championship (presented by Culver's) in Brown Deer.
Competition in the three-day championship begins Thursday (Feb. 15) and concludes Saturday (Feb. 17) at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center. Sessions will be held at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday (Feb. 16) and at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
UW-La Crosse is serving as the host institution for the 47th women's championship that will be held concurrently with the 56th men's championship.
UW-Oshkosh has three seeds in both the 200-yard breaststroke and 1,650-yard freestyle.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, sophomore Sydney Challoner is seeded third with a time of 2:30.16 while freshmen Rebecca Birriel and Jennifer Anderson are seeded 11th at 2:37.85 and 14th at 2:42.83, respectively. UW-La Crosse's Maria Vaudreuil is the event's top seed at 2:28.07.
In the 1,650-yard freestyle, sophomore Cortney Claypool is seeded 14th with a time of 20:05.64, freshman Lexi Gray 15th at 20:14.71 and senior Elizabeth Kelly 16th at 20:17.41. UW-Eau Claire's Sari Mailey owns the top seed with her time 18:15.38.
Challoner and Birriel are also seeded in two other events each.
Challoner ranks third in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:16.09 and 11th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a performance of 1:12.07 while Birriel lists sixth in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:59.52 and 12th in the 200-yard individual medley with an effort of 2:20.52.
Challoner finished seventh in both the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard butterfly at last season's WIAC Championship.
UW-Eau Claire's Jessica Short is seeded first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:09.14 while UW-Whitewater's Erin Hawker is first in the 400-yard individual medley at 4:41.27 and UW-La Crosse's Vaudreuil first in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:07.50.
UW-Oshkosh senior McKinzie Halkola and freshmen Jennifer Lutz and Tessa Shorten all recorded top-16 seeds in three events each.
Halkola is seeded second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:14.01, fifth in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:01.53 and sixth in the 500-yard freestyle at 5:23.98 while Lutz ranks sixth in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:16.22, seventh in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:01.53 and 14th in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:04.11. Shorten is seeded eighth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.24 seconds, ninth in the 50-yard freestyle at 25.50 seconds and 11th in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:01.58.
At last year's championship, Halkola placed fourth in the 500-yard freestyle, seventh in the 200-yard backstroke and ninth in the 100-yard backstroke.
UW-Eau Claire's Short is the top seed in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.91 seconds and both the 50- and 100-yard freestyles at 24.39 and 53.07 seconds, respectively.
UW-Whitewater's Hawker is seeded first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:56.48 while Warhawks Michaela Matthys and Jessica Lenhart own the top listings in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly at 56.57 seconds and 2:05.40, respectively.
UW-La Crosse's Lilly Larsen is the top seed in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:12.50 while Eagle Ellie Szczupakiewicz is ranked first in the 500-yard freestyle at 5:13.38.
In the diving, UW-Oshkosh's Johnna Seelman is seeded sixth off the 3-meter board with 140.35 points and 10th off the 1-meter plank with 267.95. Titan Gabrielle Kraus is seeded third in the 1-meter diving with 382.13 points.
Kraus placed fifth in both the 1-meter and the 3-meter diving events at the 2017 championship.
The top seed in both diving categories is UW-La Crosse's Kayley Alioto. She owns 11-dive scores of 449.90 for the 1-meter event and 483.55 for the 3-meter section.
This year's championship features 11 student-athletes who have combined to win 19 individual and 22 relay first-place medals at previous conference meets.
UW-La Crosse's Alioto is the defending champion in the one- and three-meter diving, and was named the Diver of the Meet for her efforts in 2017.
Courtney Boak, Victoria Campbell and Jaime Kloehn contributed to the Eagles' first-place 800-yard freestyle relay team last year. Boak was also a member of the first-place 800-yard freestyle relay unit in 2016. Maddie Volk helped the 400-yard freestyle relay team register a first-place performance a season ago.
UW-Eau Claire's Samantha Senczyszyn has earned Swimmer of the Meet honors the past two seasons while collecting six individual and seven relay titles in her career. A year ago, she posted first-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley, 200-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay. In 2016, Senczyszyn was victorious in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard individual medley, 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay.
The Blugolds' Short has won consecutive titles in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay. A year ago, she added the 200-yard individual medley crown and helped the 200-yard medley relay squad to victory. At the 2016 championship, Short was a member of the first-place 400-yard freestyle relay team.
UW-Eau Claire's Mailey is the defending champion in the 1,650-yard freestyle while Brittany Farr was a member of last year's victorious 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard medley and 400-yard medley relay teams.
UW-Whitewater's Matthys is one of four performers in conference history to win three straight 100-yard butterfly titles and could become the first to secure four consecutive first-place finishes in the event. At the 2015 championship, she won the 200-yard butterfly and helped the 200-yard medley relay team reach the top spot on the award podium. The Warhawks' Melanie Carlson is the defending champion in the 200-yard butterfly.
UW-La Crosse aims for its seventh straight first-place finish at the WIAC Championship after scoring 864 points a year ago. UW-Eau Claire ranked second to the Eagles with 784.5 points while UW-Whitewater listed third with 731, UW-Stevens Point fourth with 404 and UW-Oshkosh fifth with 330.5.
UW-Eau Claire leads all current and past WIAC members with 19 league championships while UW-La Crosse follows with 17, UW-Stevens Point six and University of Wisconsin four.