Men’s and Women’s Swimming: Following up a strong performance at the Texas Invitational Dec. 2-4, Wisconsin hits the road again New Year’s Eve for the Rainbow Classic and a dual meet against the Hawaii Warriors Jan. 7. Both events will be held in Honolulu. After three days in Austin, Texas, the 11th-ranked women’s team finished in third place with 603 points, while the No. 20 men took sixth with 323 points.
Senior co-captain Carly Piper cruised to victory in the 1650-yard freestyle on day three with a time of 16:06.61. That time crushed the NCAA “A” standard of 16:23.54 and was good enough to beat the other competitors by at least two laps. Piper claimed two more NCAA bids that weekend, grabbing second twice in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events.
Adam Mania led the way with his win in the 200-yard IM. The senior co-captain’s time of 1:45.74 surpassed the automatic bid time of 1:46.69 and broke the previous UW record of 1:46.99, which Mania held.
Wisconsin sophomore Susan Johnson was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week Tuesday after posting three NCAA automatic qualifying times and two school records at the Texas Invitational. Johnson broke her own UW record (54.14) in the 100-yard backstroke in the preliminary round on day two. The following day, she again topped her own mark (1:55.93) in the finals of the 200-meter backstroke with a winning time of 1:55.42.
The Wisconsin divers struggled until day three when Amanda Witte, Cassie Kubly and Justin Bonner had top-10 finishes in the platform. Witte took eighth (320.20 points), Kubly notched 10th (310.75) and Bonner ended up in ninth (256.30) on the afternoon. Witte also placed eighth in the one-meter finals (243.40 points) on day two.
Wrestling: After a lengthy winter break, the Wisconsin grapplers will kick off the spring leg of their 2004-05 season Jan. 8 at the Lonestar Duals in Dallas, Texas. Of the 22 teams slated to compete at the duals, Purdue, Michigan and Wisconsin will be representing the Big Ten. Michigan will enter the tournament with a No. 5 ranking after a 40-9 stomping of Cleveland State. The unranked Boilermakers opened play this weekend with a 23-13 victory against Loras College, but fell to NUI 29-9. The day’s split puts Purdue’s dual record at 1-2 for the season.
The following Friday, the squad is set to host its second match of the year at the UW Field House as they roll out the mats for the No. 3 Fighting Illini. Senior Brian Glynn, sophomore Mike Behnke and senior Mark Jayne each chipped in phenomenal performances Saturday as the Illini rolled over Central Missouri State 51-0.
After a solid weekend on the road against Kent State and No. 25 Chattanooga, the No. 15 Badgers have started the season a perfect 5-0 for the second time in three years. Against Chattanooga, Wisconsin recorded six decision victories along with a pin by junior tri-captain Kelly Flaherty. Kelly Flaherty earned a pin over Daniel Peterson at the 6:01 mark as upper weight wrestlers Matt Maciag, Ryan Flaherty and Lee Kramer all took decision wins. The Badgers then defeated Kent State 29-12 as the UW earned two pins, two major decisions and three decision victories. Juniors Tom Clum and Ryan Flaherty both earned pins as Tyler Turner and Colin Cudd both took major decision wins against the Golden Flashes.
Women’s Tennis: The women’s tennis team will return to action at the Wildcat Duals in Evanston, Ill., Jan. 14-16. It will be the first action the ladies have seen since Oct. 25, when senior Katie McGaffigan lost to the top-ranked Northwestern single’s player Christelle Grier in the semifinals of the ITA Midwest Regional Championships.
The team grabbed two pre-frosh prospects Dec. 8, when Liz Carpenter and Erin Jobe signed National Letters of Intent to join Wisconsin for the 2005-06 season.
Carpenter was a four-time all-league selection at Maranatha High School and was named her league’s MVP her senior and freshman years. She helped her team to a conference championship and California Interscholastic Federation-Southern girls’ tennis divisional playoff her senior season. Carpenter made individual appearances at the CIF her freshman year, when she went undefeated, and her senior year, when she helped her team to an unbeaten record.
Jobe was named the Evansville Community Tennis Association Player of the Year and qualified for the National Hardcourt Championships in the 18s age group. She also finished as the runner-up in the 2004 Midwest Open and the 18s Kentucky State Qualifier. Jobe advanced to the round of 32 in the Southern girls’ 18s in her senior year.
