Titans' First Plunge Of Season Will Be In Eau Claire
UW-Oshkosh begins the 2018-19 women's swimming & diving season at WIAC adversary UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (Oct. 13).
After the season opener, the Titans travel to the Wisconsin College Showcase on Oct. 20 in Brown Deer before hosting their first home meet of the year against Carroll University on Oct. 27 at the Albee Hall Pool.
UW-Oshkosh will also host home dual meets against UW-Whitewater on Nov. 9, Lawrence University on Jan. 5, Iowa Central Community College on Jan. 26 and Ripon College on Feb. 2.
The Titans' schedule includes WIAC road trips to UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 7 and to seven-time defending league champion UW-La Crosse on Jan. 19.
Completing the UW-Oshkosh slate of regular season events are the Lawrence University Gene Davis Invitational on Nov. 17, the Carthage College Classic on Nov. 29-Dec. 1, the Beloit College Triangular and Luther College (Iowa) Diving Invitational on Jan. 12, and the University of Illinois at Chicago Diving Invitational on Feb. 2.
The WIAC Championship is set for Feb. 14-16 in Brown Deer, while the NCAA Division III Championship is scheduled for March 20-23 in Greensboro, N.C.
UW-Oshkosh fourth-year head coach Christopher Culp, the 2018 WIAC Coach of the Year, brings back 10 letter winners from last year's squad that compiled a 3-5 record in dual meets before finishing fifth at the WIAC Championship with 409.5 points. The Titans' amassed their most points and finished among the top four teams at the WIAC Championship for the first time since 2005.
UW-La Crosse won last year's league title with 863 points to easily outpace runner-up UW-Whitewater's total of 730.5. Rounding out the WIAC Championship standings were third-place UW-Eau Claire with 689 points, fourth-place UW-Oshkosh and fifth-place UW-Stevens Point with 387 points.
During last year's regular season, UW-Oshkosh placed second at the six-team Gene Davis Invitational and recorded dual meets victories of 121.5-104.-5 over Lawrence University, 171-50 over Beloit College and 134-70 over Ripon College.
Headlining the list of returning Titans are junior Sydney Challoner and sophomores Rebecca Birriel, Lexi Gray, Jennifer Lutz and Tessa Shorten, who each produced top-10 finishes at least year's WIAC Championship.
Challoner had a team-best third-place effort in the 200-yard breaststroke at last year's league meet. She also placed fourth in the 200-yard individual medley and seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Birriel finished fourth in the 400-yard individual medley in addition to ninth-place swims in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke.
Lutz also had three top-10 finishes at the WIAC Championship a year ago, placing sixth in the 100-yard butterfly, seventh in the 200-yard butterfly and 10th in the 100-yard backstroke.
Completing the Titans' top-10 results at last year's league event were Gray with an eighth-place showing in the 1,650-yard freestyle and Tessa Shorten with a ninth-place effort in the 100-yard freestyle.
UW-Oshkosh's group of returning letter winners also include juniors Brianna Beseler, Johnna Seelman and Emma Wilcher; and sophomores Jennifer Anderson and Josie Ruckdashel.