[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]As the start of the NCAA Championships nears for the Badger women's swimming team, Sarah Hernandez will be attempting to do as well as she can in putting the finishing touches on her career.

And what a fine career it has been for the senior.

Wisconsin head coach, Eric Hansen has dubbed Hernandez as one of the most vital parts of his program over the past four years.

"Sarah Hernandez has been a workhorse for our program," Hansen said. "I think her most important role for us is being able to be on every relay that we swim. And it's not, which one are we going to put her on, it's which one are we going to keep her off of, because she could actually be on all five of them."

Indeed, Hernandez has proved a versatile competitor in the water. Recently, at the 2006 Big Ten Championships, the Chico, Calif., native helped Wisconsin kick off the meet as the butterfly leg of UW's first-place 200-yard medley relay. Seniors Hernandez and Amalia Sarnecki, junior Susan Johnson and sophomore Jackie Vavrek collectively set a Big Ten Championship record with a time of 1:38.89, an instant qualifying mark for the national championships.

But Hernandez's relay success doesn't stop there. She was also a part of Wisconsin's 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relays, which each took second place. Her efforts in the 400-yard freestyle relay also helped the Badgers to a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten meet.

Perhaps one of the main contributors to Hernandez's legacy at Wisconsin is her historical success in each of the aforementioned team events. She currently holds the school record in each of those four relays, helping her attain All-American honors twice, as well as spots on a pair of all-Big Ten teams.

At this year's conference meet, Hernandez sat out the 800-yard freestyle relay, which rounds out the relay competitions. But like Hansen said, she represents a valuable asset to Wisconsin due to her ability to compete in each of the events.

"Relays are always really exciting, just because it's more of a team event versus an individual one," Hernandez said. "So you always get that much more pumped up for relays, [because] it's just really fun to be a part of them."

Hansen reiterated the significance of excelling in the four-woman events, saying that various objectives are satisfied by team success.

"Relays are the most important part of our program, and we stress that with kids, they know it, both for points and also for the team atmosphere," Hansen said … "If you have a great relay that means you have four individuals that can stand on their own individually too … we put relays before anything."

Hernandez added that the extra incentive of dependence upon teammates contributes to her passion for relay events.

"You always want do as well as you can for the other three girls for your team," Hernandez commented.

Interestingly enough, when asked about her greatest memory as a Badger, Hernandez referred to an accomplishment in an individual role. In 2004, she became an Olympic Trials qualifier in one of her best events, the 50-meter freestyle, by dipping below the 26 second mark.

"I think when I finally qualified for Olympic trials, that just kind of helped me realize that I could take my swimming to the next step," Hernandez said.

Hernandez, who just missed the NCAA automatic bid in the 50-yard freestyle at the Big Ten meet two weeks ago, spoke of the change in her attitude towards swimming upon reaching the Trials qualifying mark.

"That whole summer, I had been trying to get the times that kept me from there, and then I got it," Hernandez said. "It just helped me see that working hard and keeping up the confidence will help me accomplish my goals."

Hansen said that his experiences with seniors like Hernandez has helped his team find success, and hopes to see some of his strong freshman class emerge into competitors of the same caliber.

"Those are the type of women that have built us into a perennial top ten team," Hansen said. "That's what we look for, and that's what we'll continue to build our program with."