Titans Place Fourth At WIAC Championship
UW-Oshkosh enjoyed its best performance at the WIAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championship since 2005, totaling 409.5 points and finishing fourth at the three-day league event that concluded Saturday (Feb. 17) at the Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer.
UW-La Crosse scored 863 points to win its seventh straight WIAC title and 18th overall. The Eagles were followed by second-place UW-Whitewater with 730.5 points, third-place UW-Eau Claire with 689, UW-Oshkosh and fifth-place UW-Stevens Point with 387 points.
UW-Oshkosh finished fourth at the 2005 WIAC Championship with 466 points and had placed fifth every year that followed until Saturday. Last year, the Titans tallied 330.5 points for their previous best scoring high since the 2005 event that was held in Whitewater.
The Titans scored points in 15 individual events, including 30 in the 200-yard breaststroke. UW-Oshkosh also counted 29 points in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 27 in the 200-yard individual medley.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Sydney Challoner finished third with a time of 2:28.87 while Rebecca Birriel placed ninth in 2:33.45 and Jennifer Anderson 12th in 2:36.93.
The 1,650-yard freestyle had five Titans scoring as Cortney Claypool finished seventh with a time of 18:46.22, Lexi Gray listed eighth in 19:26.04, Janelle Sharpee 14th in 20:26.84, Elizabeth Kelly 15th in 20:31.96 and Brianna Beseler 16th in 20:43.20.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Challoner ranked fourth with a time of 2:14.26, Birriel ninth in 2:17.14 and Anderson 14th in 2:21.35.
UW-Oshkosh's highest finish in the meet was a second by McKinzie Halkola in the 200-yard backstroke. She completed the race with a time of 2:09.13 while placing sixth in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:00.73 and 10th in 500-yard freestyle at 5:16.17.
Birriel also finished fourth in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:46.73, and Challoner seventh and Anderson 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke with times of 1:08.54 and 1:12.04, respectively. Claypool contributed a 13th-place effort of 2:19.06 in the 200-yard backstroke and a 15th-place showing of 1:05.46 in the 100-yard backstroke.
UW-Oshkosh had three other Titans score in three events – Jennifer Lutz, Alison Panske and Tessa Shorten.
Lutz finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.30, seventh in the 200-yard butterfly at 2:15.89 and 10th in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:02.76 while Panske placed 12th in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:02.24, 13th in 100-yard freestyle at 55.57 seconds and 14th in the 50-yard freestyle at 25.65 seconds. Shorten listed ninth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.99 seconds and 12th in the 50-yard freestyle and 13th in the 200-yard freestyle with times of 25.37 seconds and 2:02.48, respectively.
Other individual swimming results had UW-Oshkosh's Gray finish 14th in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:04.66 and Emma Wilcher 16th in the 200-yard butterfly at 2:26.74.
In the diving, both Gabrielle Kraus and Johnna Seelman placed in the top 13 in two categories. Kraus finished fourth with 400.15 points and Seelman 12th with 261.20 of the 1-meter board while Kraus ranked fifth with 365.75 points and Seelman 13th with 234.60 off the 3-meter plank.
The Titans' best finish in the relays was a third in the 400-yard medley, where Challoner, Halkola, Lutz and Shorten swam to a time of 4:02.51.
UW-Oshkosh's Christopher Culp was named the 2018 WIAC Women's Co-Coach of the Year. He shares the award with UW-Whitewater's Joel Rollings.