BROWN DEER, Wis. (blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's and women's swimming and diving teams picked up right where they left off at Day 2 of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship on Thursday. Kadin Denner (So. - Aurora, Colo.) set a new school record to earn a conference title in the men's 500-yard freestyle, highlighting a day which saw the Blugold men and women combine to win six events and surge to the top of the standings.
Denner clocked in at 4:32.39 to win the title in the men's 500 freestyle. It beat a school record which stood for 35 years by 1.5 seconds. It is the first career conference title for Denner.
Overall, the Blugold men won three individual conference titles and added a relay win to their haul. Ben Keller (Jr. - Cedarburg, Wis.) became the men's 200-yard IM champion with a time of 1:51.79. It is the fifth career conference title for Keller, and his second of the meet already. He was part of Wednesday's victorious 800 freestyle relay team.
Ben Koller (Jr. - Savage, Minn./Shakopee) earned the conference title in the one-meter diving competition. He topped the leaderboard with a score of 494.60 to clinch the first conference championship of his career. The Blugolds were also victorious in the 400-yard medley relay, with Sam Ryf (Sr. - Berlin, Wis.), Ian Olson (Jr. - Chippewa Falls, Wis.), Keller and Alex Jorgenson (Jr. - Winona, Minn.) placing first in 3:19.61. Ryf earned the 10th WIAC title of his career, Keller added a sixth to his tally, Jorgenson got a fifth and Olson secured his fourth.
Sydney McCollor (Jr. - St. Paul, Minn./Irondale) picked up another conference title for the Blugold women, placing first in the 500-yard freestyle. She finished in 5:05.44 to secure her second title of the meet and her career.
UW-Eau Claire's Sydney McGuine (Jr. - Huntley, Ill.), Ella Weaver (Jr. - McFarland, Wis.), Kiara Bissen (So. - Madison, Wis./Memorial) and Paige Pelikan (Sr. - New Berlin, Wis.) teamed up to win the WIAC title in the women's 400-yard medley relay. They finished in 3:50.36 to win the event. It was the second title of the meet for Pelikan, and the first for the other three swimmers. Weaver now has three career conference titles, McGuine has two and Bissen earned her first.
The Blugolds lead the standings in both the men's and women's meet. The UW-Eau Claire women have 347 points and lead second-place UW-La Crosse by 54 points. The men have 299 points and lead UW-Stevens Point by five.
UW-Eau Claire also had four runner-up finishes — Pelikan (500 freestyle), Bissen (200 IM) and McGuine (50 freestyle) had second-place showings for the women, and Martin Kocher (Sr. - St. Paul, Minn./Johnson) took second in the men's one-meter diving competition.
The WIAC Championship continues with the third day of action on Friday before concluding on Saturday. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. and finals are set for 6:30 p.m.
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