As the end of the semester approaches, the Badger men's and
women's swimming and diving teams can look back at the first half of their
respective seasons and label them as successful.
Last weekend, the teams competed in their final calendar
event of 2007 at the annual Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas. The event is
the primary focus of the season's first half, as it establishes the qualifiers
for next March's NCAA championships.
The men's team earned five qualifying times while the women
racked up an impressive 24 qualifiers at the competition.
"All in all, we're really happy about our performance," University
of Wisconsin head coach Eric Hansen said. "This will provide great momentum as
we head into December and our training camp."
The meet capped off quality starts to the 2007-08 season for
both squads, as they kept their heads above water in one-on-one competition.
The Badger women (5-1) are currently ranked 19th in the nation and the men's
team, at 3-3, hopes to break into the top 20 yet this season.
October saw both teams start the schedule with 3-0 marks,
aided by a pair of dominating performances over in-state rivals UW-Milwaukee
and UW-Green Bay in addition to a sweep of Big Ten rival Iowa.
A road trip to the dusty Southwest in November, however,
proved to be a challenge for the Badgers. They suffered losses at the hands of
the No. 4 ranked Arizona Wildcats, with the men and women falling 172-116 and
166-128, respectively.
Despite the defeat, the women's team returned to the Midwest
and redeemed itself by winning the annual Northwestern Triangular, defeating
Notre Dame 218-151 and edging out host-team Northwestern 196-173. Freshman
Maggie Meyer was impressive at the meet, claiming an individual win in the
100-yard backstroke and taking part in the 200-yard medley relay, where the
Badgers also placed first.
The men didn't fare as well, falling hard to No. 5 Michigan
and No. 18 Northwestern during the weekend's competition.
In Texas, the women continued their strong run.
"The women swam really well today," Hansen said after the
second day of competition Dec. 1. "We have qualified several swimmers … so we
are above and beyond where we thought we'd be (after today)."
And there was still more to come, as the team tacked on an
additional nine qualifying times on its final day in Austin to finish with 24.
Meyer — continuing her stellar year — took eight of those times individually,
and was part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that captured the Badgers
only "A" time of the meet — which gained them an automatic NCAA championship bid.
Junior Scott Rice was the standout on the men's side,
claiming two of the team's five qualifying times. Rice earned "B" times in both
the 100 and 200-yard butterfly events. In the process, he set a UW school
record in the 200 with a time of 1:45.15, besting the previous mark, which he
set last year, by nearly half a second.
"I thought Scott Rice really highlighted the meet for us,"
Hansen said.
In individual performances throughout the year, Kyle
Sorenson has proven to be an anchor once again for the men's team. He nabbed
four wins in head-to-head competition in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles.
Additionally, he garnered five first-place finishes while swimming for the 200
and 400-yard relay teams.
For the women, it's been a mix of the old and the new that
has kept them in contention this year. Seniors Jackie Vavrek, a five-time
All-American, and Katie Imhoff-Smith have teamed up with junior Jen Illescas
and Meyer to produce a myriad of first place finishes in both individual and
relay competitions.
With the season halfway done, UW hopes the second half will
hopefully bring more success.
2008 will first consist of a trip to Hawaii in January,
followed by the Big Ten championship in February, and the NCAAs and the U.S.
Diving Nationals in March and April.
— UWBadgers.com
contributed to this report
