Titans To Splash At WIAC Championship
UW-Oshkosh freshmen Francesca Schiro and Bailey Schroeder earned top seeds for this weekend's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Championship (presented by Culver's) in Brown Deer.
Competition in the four-day meet begins Wednesday (Feb. 16) and concludes Saturday (Feb. 19) at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center. Sessions start at 1:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on both Thursday (Feb. 17) and Friday (Feb. 18), and 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
UW-Stevens Point is serving as the host institution for the 50th edition of the women's championship that will be held in unison with the 59th gathering of the men's squads. Both championships will feature student-athletes from UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater. 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.
UW-La Crosse is the defending WIAC champion after the 2021 championship was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Eagles tallied 812.5 points at the 2020 championship to win their ninth straight title and 20th overall.
The Eagles were followed in the team listings by second-place UW-Eau Claire with 777 points, third-place UW-Whitewater with 603.5, fourth-place UW-Stevens Point with 559 and fifth-place UW-Oshkosh with 369. UW-Oshkosh's point total was its second highest since the 2005 championship.
UW-Eau Claire ranks second in league history with 19 championships while UW-Stevens Point owns six titles. Former WIAC member University of Wisconsin captured four first-place finishes.
Schiro secured the top seed for this year's 100-yard freestyle after swimming to a time of 53.65 seconds at the Carthage College Classic held Dec. 2-4 in Kenosha. She is also seeded fourth in the 50- and sixth in the 200-yard freestyles with times of 24.88 seconds and 1:59.61, respectively.
Schroeder claimed this weekend's top 1-meter diving seed after performing to a score of 409.85 at the Carthage College Classic.
UW-Oshkosh freshman Cadence Showalter is seeded in three swimming events as well. She ranks second with times of 59.40 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly and 2:15.48 in the 200-yard individual medley and sixth with a time of 54.94 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle.
Titan freshmen Morgan Beckett and Grace Fergus both achieved a pair of top 16 seeds. Beckett is seeded eighth in the 100- and ninth in the 200-yard breaststrokes with times of 1:11.04 and 2:35.62, respectively, while Fergus is seeded 14th in the 200- and 16th in the 100-yard backstrokes with swims of 2:18.72 and 1:03.59, respectively.
UW-Oshkosh additionally acquired seeds from freshmen Moriah Drabenstadt and Emma Hall and sophomores Brianna Smith and Corrina Winkler.
Smith is seeded ninth in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 19:37.76, Hall 13th in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:17.64, Drabenstadt 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:19.74 and Winkler 16th in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:04.63.
UW-Stevens Point's Anna Pilecky is the most decorated returnee at this year's championship with five individual titles to her credit. In 2020, she was victorious in the 200-, 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles. Her time of 17:07.18 in the 1,650-yard freestyle established a conference meet record. During the 2019 championship, Pilecky posted first-place finishes in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles.
UW-Eau Claire's Emma Steffel is the defending champion in the 200-yard backstroke, while UW-La Crosse's Amanda Wciorka and Sarina Le were members of the winning 200-yard medley relay in 2020.
At the 2019 championship, Wciorka and Aubrey Lonergan were members of UW-La Crosse's triumphant 200-yard freestyle relay team while UW-Eau Claire's Katherine O'Connell contributed to the Blugolds' first-place 400-yard freestyle relay team.