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Conference meet awaits UW swim

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Also by Tom Hager:

Coleman returns home (November 15, 2007)
Men's golf season in review (October 26, 2007)
Big Ten coaches lament conference scheduling (October 24, 2007)
Pre-NCAAs offers harriers new life (October 11, 2007)

by Tom Hager

Friday, February 1, 2008

After spending some time in Hawaii, the Badgers look prepared to finish the season the way it started. After starting the season off with three consecutive wins, Wisconsin began to cool off as the season wore on. The trip to the islands was just what the team needed during its current three-week layoff between meets. However, it was anything but a vacation for the team.

“It was a business trip,” head coach Eric Hansen said. “It was all about working hard and recovering and being able to be outside with consistent weather.”

In addition to competing against Hawaii in a dual meet, the team used the rest of the trip to hone their skills.

“I think Hawaii was extremely productive for us this year,” junior Kyle Sorensen said. “Everyone on the team knows how hard we work when we go there, and usually we all prepare ourselves very well.”

Freshman Luke Lengfeld improved a great deal during the layoff. While taking first place in the 1,000-yard freestyle against the Warriors, Lengfeld set his best time of the season with a mark of 9:34:07. According to Hansen, Lengfeld “has just made huge steps.”

In the dual meet, which the Badgers won 181.5-117.5, the rest of the team also performed well.

“I believe that Hawaii was one of our best dual meet performances, maybe even in the three years that I have been here,” Sorensen said. “Our men really pulled together as a team, and everyone wanted to show the Hawaii team what we had. I think we accomplished that goal together.”

Hoping to capitalize on the success of the Hawaii trip, both the men’s and women’s teams now head to Minnesota to compete in the Big Ten Quads this weekend. In addition to the Gophers, Wisconsin will also compete against Illinois and Purdue. The Badgers will use the Big Ten Quads to prepare for the Big Ten Championships later this month.

“It’s a setup meet for Big Tens, which is a setup for NCAAs,” Hansen said. “When we evaluate our season, the majority of our evaluation goes toward how we do at NCAAs and where we end up nationally.”

The tough competition that the Badgers will face in the Quad meet will give the team a good evaluation of where the team is at, since Purdue and Minnesota are both ranked in the top 15.

“Minnesota is a very strong team, and any opportunity to race is always positive thing for our team,” Sorensen said. “This meet will give us one last chance to get up to racing speed before Big Tens, and it will be nice to go head-to-head with other teams in the conference.

“I think by showing a team like Minnesota how fast we really are will help to boost our confidence going into our championship meets.”

The Gophers will also be excellent competition for the women’s team as well. Minnesota’s women’s team, similar to the men’s team, are ranked in the top 10 nationally and are undefeated since the first dual meet against the Gators. Wisconsin’s women’s team, currently ranked 19th in the country, is also swimming well right now. At the Texas Invite in December, Wisconsin had 24 NCAA Championship times on the women’s team. After beating the Warriors 183-107, the team now stands at 6-1. However, if the Badgers are going to be successful this weekend against the Gophers, they will have to rely on the performances of seniors Hannah McClurg and Katie Inhoff-Smith.

“Our senior leadership has been incredible this year,” Hansen said. “We’ve got some great talent.”

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