BROWN DEER, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire swimming & diving teams secured five conference titles while the women's team took second place on the final day of the 2012 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center.
The Blugold women finished with 755 points to take second place, their best finish since the 2000-01 season when they won the conference title. UW-La Crosse won the conference championship with 906 points. For the men, the Blugolds were fourth with 541 points while UW-Stevens Point won the title with 874.
Nicole Dorvinen (Sr.-Green Bay, Wis./Bay Port) won two conference titles as she took first in the 200-yard butterfly and the 1,650-yard freestyle. The 200-yard butterfly title was her third straight. She won the 200 with a time of 2:06.77 while winning the 1,650-yard race with a time of 17:16.26, more than 36 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Sara Eggebrecht (Jr.-Abbotsford, Wis./Colby) claimed the 200-yard backstroke championship with a school record time of 2:04.51. She actually broke the school record in preliminaries and then re-broke the record in the finals.
Grace Fair (Jr.-Monticello, Minn.) won the 100-yard freestyle title with a time of 52.12 seconds.
On the men's side, Jake McDade (Fr.-Monona, Wis./Monona Grove) won the 1,650-yard freestyle championship with a time of 16:15.61.
Additionally, Kirsten Lickel (Sr.-Madison, Wis./East) broke her own school record in the 200-yard breaststroke as she finished third with 2:24.63. She was also named the conference's Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete at the conclusion of the championship.
An All-Sportsmanship Team was also chosen for individuals that displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season. Named from UW-Eau Claire were Kia Kraft (Sr.-Menomonie, Wis.) and Ben Epperly (So.-Schaumburg, Ill.).
The Blugolds will now have some time off and those selected to nationals will be in competition between March 21 and 24.
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