Wisconsin vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay

MADISON, Wisconsin, January 25. IT was a simple, yet successful, formula for the Wisconsin women's swimming and diving team Saturday at the UW Natatorium: Give Candice Peak 200 yards to swim and wait for the wins to pile up.

Peak was a perfect 3-for-3 for the 17th-ranked Badgers in a dual meet against UW-Green Bay, claiming first-place finishes in the 200 freestyle, 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley, and led a clean sweep of all 11 swimming events by the Badgers.

Those wins, combined with Ciara Rinaudo's victory on the 3-meter springboard, propelled the Badgers to a 174-65 win over the Phoenix in their final home meet of the season. It also made a winner of head coach Eric Hansen, who coached his 100th dual meet with the UW women's program and improved his career record to 89-11.

Peak began her takeover of the 200-yard events by clocking a 1:52.74 to win the 200 free ahead of freshman teammate Danielle Beckwith, who was second in 1:52.91. Junior Rosie Morahan was third in the race for the Badgers, who swept the top three finishing positions in a total of five swimming events on the day.

Peak led another such sweep in the 200 IM, scoring the top spot in 2:05.51 to finish ahead of teammates Molly Southworth (2:07.29) and Abby Soderholm (2:09.46). She then repeated the feat again in the 200 backstroke, cruising to victory in 2:02.35 to finish ahead of teammate Sara Goff, who was runner-up in 2:07.17.

Fittingly, the 200 butterfly went to Jen Illescas, one of eight UW seniors honored before their final home meet. Illescas swam to a win in 2:01.63, with teammate Libby Brooks second in 2:06.01.

Also recognized prior to the meet were seniors Katie Twitchell and Christine Zwiegers, along with Ben Bruce, Nick Fulton, Mike Hopkins, Scott Rice and Kyle Sorensen from the UW men's team.

Even on Senior Day, however, there was plenty of youth served by the Badgers.

Freshman Beckie Thompson held off seniors Illescas and Zwiegers in the 50 freestyle, taking the win in 23.31, while freshman Danielle Beckwith claimed the 500 free in a time of 4:57.67.

Another freshman, Ashley Wanland, swam away from the field in the 200 breaststroke by clocking a time of 2:15.74 to win by nearly 7 1/2 seconds, while sophomore Maggie Meyer scored a win in the 100 freestyle in 50.78.

Thompson also anchored the Badgers' top efforts in both the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay, paving the way for a UW sweep of the relay events to bookend the meet.

In the opening event, it was Meyer, Wanland, Zwiegers and Thompson racing to a comfortable win in the 200 medley relay in 1:43.04.

Meyer, Zwiegers and Thompson then joined with Morahan to close the meet with a UW Natatorium-record time of 1:33.23 and a win in the 200 free relay.

The pool record actually fell for the second-consecutive home meet, as the Badgers quartet of Thompson, Meyer, Morahan and Illescas had previously lowered the standard to 1:33.28 in a dual against Northwestern on Nov. 13.

The Phoenix scored their lone event win in the 1-meter diving competition, as Laure McGraw scored a 227.05 to relegate Rinaduo to a runner-up finish with her total of 261.00.

Rinaudo responded by claiming the top spot on the 3-meter board, racking up a score of 292.50.

Having wrapped up their non-conference schedule, the Badgers turn their attention to next weekend's Big Ten Quad Duals in Minneapolis, Minn. Beginning Friday (Jan. 30), the UW will face Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue in its final competition before next month's Big Ten Championships.

For the men, after a decisive win over St. Olaf Friday night, the Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team continued its momentum Saturday afternoon, defeating UW-Green Bay, 156-82, at the UW Natatorium.

Making the most of his last home meet, senior Scott Rice was victorious in both of his individual events, winning the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 1:56.60 and taking the 200-yard butterfly in a time of 1:49.09.

Rice also played a significant role in winning 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:32.93. The team was led by junior Derrick O'Donnell in the backstroke, junior Dan Koenig in the breaststroke, Rice in the butterfly, and anchored by junior Phil Davies in the freestyle. Rice ended the weekend with six total wins.

The Badgers notched four more individual event wins in the meet, all of which were won by a different UW swimmer.

Sophomore Luke Lengfeld claimed the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 21.71, senior Kyle Sorenson won the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 45.80, senior Mike Hopkins won the 200-yard backstroke in a time of 1:52.82 and O'Donnell won the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:08.02.

The Wisconsin "B" team closed out the meet with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay in a time of 1:23.52, with the team of senior Kyle Sorenson, senior Nick Fulton, Luke Lengfeld and junior Steven Wiesner taking the win.

The Badgers' entire team contributed to winning the swimming competition, claiming victories in nine of the eleven swimming events. They also swept the first three spots in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles, the 200-yard butterfly and the 200-yard backstroke.

The UW was victorious in the diving portion of the meet, as well. With the help of sophomore Caleb Percevecz and junior Al Morrison, Wisconsin claimed first and second on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. Percevecz won the 1-meter competition with a score of 331.73, and the 3-meter board with a score of 313.88. Morrison took second in both, scoring 313.28 on the 1-meter board and 295.80 in the 3-meter competition.

Special thanks to Wisconsin for contributing this report.

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