Titans To Compete At WIAC Championship

Phil Devine (Jr. • Winnebago, Ill.) strives to maintain his perfect diving record when UW-Oshkosh takes part in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship this weekend in Brown Deer. Competition in the three-day meet begins Thursday (Feb. 17) and concludes on Saturday (Feb. 19) at the Schroeder Aquatic Center.

The Titans have placed fifth at the conference championship during each of the past nine seasons. UW-Stevens Point has won the last 11 titles, including the 2010 edition with 956 points. UW-La Crosse took second place with 786 points, followed by UW-Whitewater in third (500), UW-Eau Claire in fourth (496), UW-Oshkosh in fifth (300) and UW-River Falls (155) in sixth.

Devine captured the one-meter and three-meter diving events in each of his first two seasons. Last year, he scored a 521.85 points at three meters and a 493.10 at one meter. That first-place finish gave UW-Oshkosh the three-meter champion for the seventh time in nine years. Devine could become the fifth person in WIAC history to win a diving event three consecutive seasons.

Dalton Anderson (So. • Elkhorn) is another Titan expected to perform well. He established four school records at the 2010 WIAC Championship, including second-place results in both the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard butterfly. Anderson was also a member of UW-Oshkosh's fourth-place 200-yard freestyle relay team.

UW-Stevens Point's Ian Girdley is gunning for his third straight triumph in the 200-yard backstroke, as is UW-La Crosse’s Justin Dembski in both the 500-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle. In all, 13 former champions will participate in the 49th edition of the WIAC Championship.