BROWN DEER, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – After winning three titles at the 2013 WIAC Swimming & Diving Championships, UW-Eau Claire men's swimmer Alex Card (Jr.-Prior Lake, Minn.) led the Blugold men's and women's swimming & diving teams by being named men's Swimmer of the Meet at Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center.
View Complete Results for All Three Days
Card won one conference title each day at the WIAC Championship. Saturday, he broke a conference meet and school record twice on his way to winning the 200-yard breaststroke title. He broke the WIAC and school record in prelims with a time of 2:02.57 and then re-broke the records with a time of 2:01.57 in finals, a mark that automatically qualified him for nationals. This is the first time in school history a Blugold men's swimmer earned Swimmer of the Meet honors.
Also winning a title today was Lisa Reed (So.-Duluth, Minn.). She took first in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:42.59. While it was her first-ever WIAC title, the Blugolds have been strong in the event recently, having won five out of the last six years.
Five Blugolds had runner-up finishes today as well.
In the men's 1,650-yard freestyle, Jake McDade (So.-Monona, Wis./Monona Grove) took second with a time of 16:17.52, less than three seconds behind the winner. Corey Groshens (Sr.-St. Louis Park, Minn./Hopkins) finished right behind Card in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:03.85 to take second.
Nick Badilla (Sr.-Appleton, Wis./North) was runner-up in the three-meter dive as he finished with 512.65 points.
In the women's 200-yard backstroke, Sara Eggebrecht (Sr.-Abbotsford, Wis./Colby) took second place with a time of 2:05.25, an NCAA Division III Championship provisional qualifying time.
Grace Fair (Sr.-Monticello, Minn.) finished second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.48 seconds.
As a team, both Blugold teams finished in fourth place out of six teams. The men scored 606 points while the women scored 641.50. UW-La Crosse won the women's title with 910.50 points and UW-Stevens Point took first in the men's competition with 779.
Following competition, a number of Blugolds were honored with conference awards. Alex Strom (Jr.-Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) and Taylor Kindschy (So.-New London, Wis.) were named to the All-Sportsmanship Team while Fair was named a Judy Kruckman Tri-Scholar-Athlete.
Next up for the Blugold divers is a regional meet, March 1-2 at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. The NCAA Division III Championships will be contested March 20-23 in Shenandoah, Texas.
Card Leads Swimmers & Divers on Day Two of WIAC Championship
Posted: February 15, 2013 - 10:24 p.m.
BROWN DEER, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – Alex Card (Jr.-Prior Lake, Minn.) led the UW-Eau Claire men's and women's swimming & diving teams on day two of the 2013 WIAC Championships, held at Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center today.
For the second year in a row, Card won the 100-yard breaststroke title. While he finished with a time of 56.38 seconds in the finals, he won prelims earlier in the day with a time of 55.78 seconds, a school and conference meet record. Card held the previous school record of 56.07, which he set on March 23, 2012. The mark was also an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Division III Championship.
Also today for the men, Nick Badilla (Sr.-Appleton, Wis./North) finished as a runner-up in the one meter dive with a score of 471.90 while the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Card, Jake McDade (So.-Monona, Wis./Monona Grove), Nick Stern (Fr.-Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) and Spencer Rose (Jr.-Brookfield, Wis./Central) took second with a time of 6:55.84, a half-second out of first place.
The women's top finish came in the 800-yard freestyle relay as the team of Grace Fair (Sr.-Monticello, Minn.), Kristin Peters (Jr.-Farmington, Minn.), Sidney Fairbrother (Fr.-Maple Plain, Minn./Orono) and Lisa Reed (So.-Duluth, Minn./East) earned runner-up status as it came in with a time of 7:48.36.
After both Blugold teams were in second place following day one of the championships, the women dropped to third today while the men are in fourth place.
The final day of the championships get underway at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Swimming & Diving Teams in Second After Day One of WIAC Championships
Posted: February 14, 2013 - 9:56 p.m.
BROWN DEER, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire men's and women's swimming & diving teams are both in second place out of six teams after day one of the 2013 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships at Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center.
Alex Card (Jr.-Prior Lake, Minn.) led the Blugolds as he won the men's 200-yard individual medley title for the second straight year with a time of 1:52.36.
The Blugold women came away with third place finishes in six events while the men had fourth place finishes in three events.
In the team standings, UW-La Crosse leads for the women with 246 points while the Blugolds had 219 for second place. The men scored 175 points and are in second while UW-Stevens Point leads the six-team field with 221 points.
Day two will get underway Friday with prelims at 10 a.m. while finals will be contested beginning at 6 p.m. The championships will conclude Saturday.
-KM-
