Devine Picks Up Another Set Of WIAC Diving Titles

Phil Devine (So. • Winnebago, Ill.) won the one and three-meter diving events for the second consecutive season to lead UW-Oshkosh at the WIAC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship held Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 11-13) in Minneapolis, Minn.

Devine took first place in the one-meter diving with 493.10 points and the three-meter diving with 521.85. The scores allowed him to repeat as the winner of the meet’s Outstanding Diver Award. Nick Badilla of UW-Eau Claire finished second in both categories, posting values of 425.50 in the one-meter diving and 426.20 in the three-meter.

Dalton Anderson (Fr. • Elkhorn) also had a big meet for the Titans. He established four school records, including two with his second-place times of 50.29 in the 100-yard butterfly and 1:54.79 in the 200-yard butterfly. Anderson’s swim in the 100-yard butterfly surpassed the provisional qualifying standard for next month’s NCAA Division III Championship in Minneapolis. Ryan Farmer of UW-Stevens Point won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 50.18, while Zach Desy of UW-Stevens Point won the 200-yard butterfly in 1:54.23.

Anderson added another school mark with his ninth-place time of 1:57.19 in the 200-yard individual medley. Anderson’s other record-setting performance came in the 200-yard freestyle relay, where he registered a time of 1:45.04 as the group’s fourth and final swimmer.

Tim Kuckuk (Fr. • Plymouth) gave UW-Oshkosh a potent one-two punch in the diving by placing third off the one-meter board with 390.95 points and fourth off the three-meter plank with 376.85.

In the relays, UW-Oshkosh’s fourth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle was the highest ranking. Members of that quartet that registered a time of 7:30.42 were Anderson, Matt Engelhardt (Fr. • DeForest), Kent Ludeman (Sr. • Cedarburg) and Jon Streich (So. • Hubertus).

The Titans also placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:29.84, 400-yard freestyle relay with a performance of 3:18.66 and 400-yard medley relay with an effort of 3:4.42. UW-Oshkosh finished sixth in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:44.38.

Other UW-Oshkosh results had Markovich placing ninth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.11 and Jon Dudzinski (So. • Ripon) 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.77.

UW-Stevens Point scored 956 points to capture its second straight title and 10th overall. UW-La Crosse finished second in the six-team meet with 786 points, while UW-Whitewater placed third with 500, UW-Eau Claire fourth with 496, UW-Oshkosh fifth with 300 and UW-River Falls sixth with 155.

The WIAC named Matt Diehl of UW-La Crosse as its Swimmer of the Meet, Rich Pein of UW-La Crosse as its Coach of the Year and Chris Hruska of UW-Stevens Point as its Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

UW-Oshkosh will send a small contingent to a meet hosted by UW-La Crosse on Friday (Feb. 19).