EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire men's swimming & diving team recorded six top-three finishes but fell to both St. Cloud State University (Minn.) and UW-Stevens Point today at the McPhee Physical Education Center.
Alex Card (So.- Prior Lake, Minn.) recorded the best finishes for Eau Claire today, placing second twice. Card raced to second in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke competitions with respective times of 59.91 and 2:14.18. Both times he led fellow Blugold Corey Groshens (Jr.-St. Louis Park, Minn./Hopkins), who place fourth in the 100 and third in the 200-yard event.
Two other Blugolds placed third in their individual events. Newcomer Jake McDade (Monona, Wis./Monona Grove) earned third in the 1,000-yard freestyle race, finishing in 10:22.18. Jonathan Poppele (Sr.-Maple Grove, Minn./Wayzata) also nabbed a third place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, completing the event 2:01.61.
In diving, Nick Badilla (Jr.-Appleton, Wis./North) competed in both the one and three-meter dives. Badilla placed third in the three-meter dive with a score of 268.25. He also scored 242 in the one-meter dive for fourth place.
Both Eau Claire relay teams placed fifth in their respective events. In the 200-yard medley relay, Poppele, Groshens, Alex Plaetzer (Sr.- Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) and Aaron Lickel (So.-Madison, Wis./East) completed the race in 1:42.01. The quartet of Groshens, Spencer Rose (So.-Brookfield, Wis./Central), Lickel and Card also combined for fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
The Blugolds will travel to UW-Oshkosh on Saturday, Nov. 12 for a meet against the Titans. Competition is set to begin at 1 p.m.
-AH-