WISCONSIN vs MICHIGAN vs ARIZONA (WOMEN’S MEET)
- Friday-Saturday, October 20-21, 2023
- Soderholm Family Aquatic Center, Madison, WI
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
TEAM SCORES
- Wisconsin def. Michigan 216-137
- Wisconsin def. Arizona 240-101
- Michigan def. Arizona 228-119
Wisconsin hosted Michigan and Arizona for a double dual last weekend at the Soderholm Family Aquatic Center. It was a two-day yards meet, which saw the Badgers beat the Wolverines and Wildcats soundly. Michigan also handled Arizona in a 228-119 decision.
This post contains only the recap for the women’s events. For the men’s recap, click here.
Wisconsin was on fire in the distance free events. In the first individual event of the meet, the 1000 free, the Badgers posted a 1-2 finish. Freshman Maddie Waggoner led the way with a 9:47.30, beating out Paige McKenna, who came in 2nd in 9:48.15. Though she’s just a freshman with a couple college meets under her belt, Waggoner has actually already been quite a bit faster in the 1000 this season, having gone a 9:43.27 at meet against Notre Dame in early October. Meanwhile, McKenna is, of course, one of the top distance swimmers in the NCAA, and she holds a personal best of 9:31.93.
McKenna would go on to take 2nd in the 500 free as well, where she swam a 4:52.05. In that event, Waggoner came in 4th with a 4:52.26. Wisconsin’s Abby Carlson picked up the win in the 500, clocking a 4:48.23. She was in control from the start, hitting the 250-yard turn with about a 2-second lead over the field. Michigan’s Katie Crom was right there in the mix, taking 3rd in 4:52.08.
Carlson also won the 200 free, where she posted a 1:47.03. She opened up her lead in the middle of the race, splitting 27.03 on the 2nd 50 and 27.27 on the 3rd 50, which comes out to 54.30 on the middle 100 of the race.
On top of the individual wins, Carlson helped Wisconsin’s 400 free relay to victory at the end of the meet. Blair Stoneburg (50.27), Hailey Tierney (49.51), Phoebe Bacon (49.99), and Carlson (50.11) combined for a 3:19.88, beating Michigan by about a second. Notably, Michigan’s Lindsay Flynn led the Wolverines off in 49.68, which was the 2nd-fastest split in the field despite coming on the lead-off.
Stoneburg, Tierney, and Bacon teamed up with Abby Wanezek to win the 200 free relay for Wisconsin as well. Tierney led off in 22.62, then Wanezek split 22.91, Stoneburg clocked a 22.71, and Bacon anchored in 22.59. They hit the wall in 1:30.83, touching Michigan out by just 0.09 seconds. The Wolverines once again had the fastest split in the field, as Natalie Kan anchored their relay in 22.50.
In addition to her big lead-off leg on the Michigan 400 free relay, Lindsay Flynn picked up a win in the individual 100 free, clocking a 49.47. She was out about half-a-second ahead of Arizona’s Julia Heimstead, and Heimstead closed on her on the back half of the race but ended up finishing 2nd in 49.60.
Meanwhile, Tierney came out on top in the 50 free, where she stopped the clock in 22.45. Flynn was 2nd in that race, finishing as the only other swimmer under 23 seconds with a 22.72.
Of course, Wisconsin’s Phoebe Bacon was also huge over the course of the two-day meet. Bacon won all 4 of her individual events. She started with the 200 back, where she won handily in 1:54.44. Bacon went on to win the 100 fly on the first day of the meet, clocking a 53.10. As she did in the 100 free, Arizona’s Julia Heimstead was out behind the leader (Bacon) but closed the gap on the back half. This time, it was even closer, though Heimstead still ended up finishing 2nd. She posted a 53.13.
Bacon would move into day 2 and start with the 200 IM, which she won in 2:00.47. While 2:00 isn’t necessarily a crazy fast 200 IM for a dual meet, Bacon was dominant in it, winning the event by nearly 3 seconds. As we would expect, she was excellent on the front half of the race, splitting 25.56 on fly and 29.81 on back for a 55.37 on the first 100.
She then concluded her meet individually with a win in the 100 back, where she posted a 53.37 to finish as the only swimmer in the race under 54 seconds. That was an alright swim for Bacon, though she was considerably better leading off the Wisconsin 400 medley relay, which was the very first event of the meet. There, Bacon popped a 52.60, which is a great dual meet 100 back for her. Hazal Ozkan (1:01.19), Mackenzie McConagha (53.98), and Hailey Tierney (49.93) rounded out the rest of that relay, which clocked a 3:37.70 to win.
The same quartet would team up to win the 200 medley relay as well. Bacon (25.02), Ozkan (28.21), McConagha (24.33), and Tierney (22.08), combined for a 1:39.64. Michigan came in 2nd at 1:40.04, receiving a big split from freshman Lexi Greenhawt, who led off in 25.03.
Hazel Ozkan was dominant in the breaststroke events, which is an area where both Michigan and Arizona are pretty thin. She kicked things off with a 2:13.76, winning the event by over 4 seconds. Ozkan would go on to take the 100 breast in 1:02.53, winning that race by 1.5 seconds.
After finishing 2nd in the 100 free, 200 free, and 100 fly, Arizona’s Julia Heimstead finally got hers, taking the 200 fly in 1:59.80. Four swimmers in the field were faster than Heimstead on the first 100 of the race but she had the far superior back half and ended up taking the lead on the final 50 and carrying it through the finish. That would stand as Arizona’s only individual event win in the pool.
The 400 IM went to Michigan’s Kathryn Ackerman, who swam a 4:16.16.
