Horizon League Championships: Day One

BROWN DEER, Wisconsin, February 26. AFTER the first day of competition at the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships, the women from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are leading with 180 points, followed by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in second-place (111), with Wright State University in third (120), and the University of Illinois at Chicago in fourth (111). Rounding out the field is Youngstown State University (69), Cleveland State University (58), Valparaiso University (48) and Butler University (44).

For the men, UIC leads with 113 points, followed by Cleveland State with 111, and Wright State with 94 points. Milwaukee (82), Green Bay (80) and Valparaiso (55) round out the group.

The Green Bay women started the night on a fantastic note, as their 200-yard freestyle relay team sprinted to victory by smashing the Horizon League record with a time of 1:32.59. The Phoenix team of Alyssa Danielson, Danielle DeGrand, Shannon Demrow and Christine Spading beat the previous record of 1:34.86, ahead of runner-up Wright State (1:34.87), and third-place Milwaukee (1:35.33).

The top three finishers in the women’s 1000-yard freestyle swam under the previous League championship mark of 10:16.60. Milwaukee sophomore Danielle Wenger defended her title and beat her own League record with a time of 10:06.65, while freshman Molley Pipkorn of Wright State was second (10:10.73) and UIC’s Kelly Hashoian was third (10:12.78). In three-meter diving, Milwaukee senior Ashley Hall took the title with a score of 295.90. Last year’s Diver of the Meet Lauren McGraw of Green Bay was second (277.05) while Milwaukee’s Kelsey George was third (274.40). The women concluded competition with the 200-yard medley relay, where Green Bay successfully defended its title from 2008. The squad of Danielle DeGrand, Renee Reindl, Ashley Warzon, and Alyssa Danielson posted a League record time of 1:42.40, with Wright State in second-place (1:44.67) and Milwaukee in third (1:44.88).

On the men’s side, the Cleveland State team of Jakub Dobies, Stephen Grove, Keith Everhart and Mike Marsico won the 200-yard freestyle relay, defeating runner-up Wright State (1:20.06) and third-place UIC (1:20.42) by destroying the old League record of 1:20.80 with their time of 1:19.50. Jake Kalinowski of Milwaukee also set the 50-yard freestyle record with his lead-off split of 20.17. Then, in the 1000-yard freestyle, newcomer Mark deSwardt of Cleveland State won the event with a time of 9:08.01, breaking the previous championship record of 9:17.93. Last year’s champion, Nathan Demchuk placed second (9:16.70) while UIC’s Zach Van Swol finished third (9:25.39). CSU concluded the night by annihilating the 200-yard medley relay League record. The team of Todd Winchell, Jakub Dobies, Stephen Grove and Mike Marsico posted a time of 1:27.58, bettering the previous mark of 1:29.80. UIC was second (1:29.76) and Milwaukee was third (1:30.43).

The championship continues on Thursday with the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley relay, and the men’s one-meter dive.

Special thanks to the Horizon League for contributing this report.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use