After day two of the WIAC championships in Brown Deer, Wisconsin La Crosse sits at the top of the women’s standings with 476 points. Whitewater has been edging closer as well as this year’s team takes down numerous school records, working on closing the gap and is less than 40 points behind in second with 439. Third is Stevens Point with 397 points.
On the men’s side, Stevens Point is holding its lead with 598 points, more than 100 ahead of La Crosse (486). In third is Whitewater (438).
Women
The Whitewater women got off to a great start yesterday evening in the 200 medley relay. The quartet of Kayla Martin, Amy Spaay, Michaela Matthys and Kelsey Kohlbeck posted a 1:44.32 (a new school record) to steal away with the victory easily, slipping under the NCAA B cut standard in the process. All four athletes posted impressive splits, but perhaps most notable were Spaay’s 50 breast (27.84) and Matthys’ 50 fly (24.70), which outdistanced the field considerably. Also under the B cut time was runner up La Crosse. Third was Stevens Point.
In the 400 IM, Warhawk Sarah Arteaga posted a B cut time and took the win by dropping nearly eight seconds off her prelims time to rewrite another Whitewater school record. Arteaga’s final time was 4:33.63, putting her almost three seconds ahead of runner up Rachael Treadway of Eau Claire, who also posted a B cut time of 4:36.35. Third for La Crosse was Rachel Medenwaldt.
After their successful relay, Matthys and Kohlbeck returned to the pool for a 1-2 finish in the women’s 100 butterfly. Matthys stole the show with her WIAC meet record, posting a 55.94 time which vaults her into the top ten nationally as well as taking down the third Whitewater women’s school record in as many events. Teammate Kohlbeck had an exciting race of her own, holding off a late charge by Cassie Matthys of Stevens Point by a bare .02 seconds to take second place. Third went to C. Matthys.
Amanda Walker of Stevens Point posted an NCAA B cut time in the 200 freestyle, just a .02 seconds shy of her own meet record set last year. Her final time was 1:51.39, leaving her to finish almost two seconds ahead of the field. Coming in second for La Crosse was Sara Zemanovic with Lisa Reed of Eau Claire in third.
Breaststroke queen Spaay lived up to expectation in her 100 breaststroke race. She posted a 1:01.93 to cruise to victory, leading from start to finish and besting the field by almost four seconds. That time returns Spaay to the top of the DIII list of 100 breaststrokers. In second for Oshkosh is Katie Challoner with Maggie Gomberg of Whitewater in third.
La Crosse’s Brooke Reynolds claimed first and posted a B cut in her 100 backstroke. This victory marks the first time a female swimmer has won the 100 backstroke all four years in a row at the WIAC championship. Reynolds’s final time was 57.48 – a shade slower than her prelims B cut of 57.35 – and put her more than a second in front of runner up Taylor Teske of Oshkosh. Third for Stevens Point was Emily Neinhaus.
To close out the night on the women’s side was the 800 freestyle relay. The team of Kohlbeck, Grace Devine, Martin and Margaret Lotzer of Whitewater took the title despite a late push from second place La Crosse’s anchor leg. In second was La Crosse with Eau Claire finishing in third.
Men
Stevens Point opened up the night in style with the quartet of Kyle McNair, Zach Ogurek, Sam Jekel and Andrew King taking top honors in the 200 medley relay. The team posted a 1:31.76 – an NCAA B cut time – to snag the top spot. The runner up squad of La Crosse sported the only sub 20 split on the relay with anchor Ryan Jessen posting a 19.98 as he tried to chase King down. Third went to Whitewater.
Stevens Point took another event with Evan Catani winning the 400 IM by shaving over three seconds off his prelims swim. Catani’s final time was a 4:06.18, under the NCAA B cut. Runner up for Eau Claire was Dayton Miller with Charlie Skinner of La Crosse in third. Out of the B final, Andrew Staszak of Whitewater dropped four seconds to swim a 4:16.77 which would have placed him seventh in the A final.
The men’s 100 butterfly went according to expectation with Jekel running away with the win. He took control from start to finish and outsplit everyone on both legs of the race to finish in a 48.69.That time puts Jekel sixth nationally. Runner up for La Crosse was Kade McGilvray with McNAir of Stevens Point taking third.
Joshua Kanute of Whitewater rose to the occasion in the 200 freestyle, taking down the WIAC record set in 2011 by Sam Davy and resetting a Whitewater school record as well. His final time of 1:40.83 was also a B cut time. Runner up and third for Stevens Point were Hans Peters and Garrett Richetto, respectively. Out of the B final, La Crosse’s Garret Runing dropped almost a second and a half to post a time that would have finished fourth in the A final.
Eau Claire’s Ben Fisher claimed the victory in the 100 breaststroke with a B cut time of 56.87. That was just a smidge slower than his 56.72 from prelims. Coming in as runner up was Spencer Twining of Whitewter with Joel Harris from Stevens Point in third.
Whitewater continued making waves with a win in the 100 backstroke by Joseph Devroy. Devroy’s final time of 49.84 was good for first place, just a smidget off the WIAC record set in 2013 (49.74), a new school record and fast enough to jump him into the top 16 nationally in Division III. Runner up Ethan Bott of Stevens Point was also under the NCAA B cut time. Third for Stevens Point, in his second individual event of the night, was McNair.
The men’s 800 freestyle relay went to Whitewater with a new school record. The quartet of Kanute, Alexander Gidlow, Ryan Stuart and Devroy combined to post a 6:50.41, chasing down the Stevens Point team on the final 200 for the victory. Stevens Point came in second with La Crosse taking third.
The final event of the men’s night was the 1 meter diving. La Crosse picked up some points with a 1-2 finish by Justin Bublitz (493.25) and Tanner Folvag (422.45). In third for Whitewater was Keefer Kuhl (411.70). With this victory, Bublitz is now the sixth diver in WIAC history to win three consecutive 1 meter diving titles.
For complete day two results, click here. Don’t forget to check out the finals tonight at the Schroeder YMCA in Brown Deer, WI as the 2015 WIAC wraps up tonight, starting at 6:30 CST.
