2019 WIAC Championships
- Thursday, February 14 – Saturday, February 16, 2019
- Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center, Brown Deer, WI
- Full results
Women’s Meet
Despite three event wins in a dominating performance from Eau Claire’s Samantha Senczyszyn, La Crosse won its eight consecutive women’s WIAC (Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) title. La Crosse now moves into a tie with Eau Claire for the most women’s swimming WIAC titles in history at 19.
La Crosse won five individual events with five different athletes in a show of well-rounded force. Most of those came on day 3. La Crosse entered the day staring down a 16-point deficit to Eau Claire, but won three of the day’s six individual events to ice the team title. That started with sophomore Lilly Larsen, who went 2:07.68 to win the 200 back by more than a second. A few events later, junior Maria Vaudreuil went 2:21.44 to dominate the 200 breast by more than five seconds.
A 1-2-3 sweep of the 1-meter diving event was what really sealed the win. Sophomore Lizzie Konkel scored 409.05, followed by freshman Samantha Lemke and sophomore Sydney Vian in a huge points swing for La Crosse.
On day 2, La Crosse got a 100 fly win from Ellie Szczupakiewicz in 57.77, plus a 200 medley relay title from Maddie Volk, Vaudreuil, Sammy Seymour and Jaime Kloehn. Volk, Amanda Wciorka, Aubrey Lonergran and Kloehn won the 200 free relay on day 1, and Vian won the 3-meter diving title that day as well. That was a 1-2 finish for La Crosse, with Konkel second.
Eau Claire’s Senczyszyn was the individual star, winning her third career Swimmer of the Meet award. The senior won three individual races: the 50 free (23.43), the 100 breast (1:01.69) and the 100 free (50.23). She was also a powerhouse on two winning relays: she joined Brittany Farr, Katherine O’Connell and Olivia Hanzak to win the 400 free relay in 3:31.94, splitting 50.09 on the anchor leg, coming from behind to beat La Crosse. Jessica Wilson, Senczyszyn, Anna Egli and Farr won the 400 medley relay in 3:53.61, getting a 1:00.03 breaststroke split from Senczyszyn.
Stevens Point got an individual conference meet record on the final day, as distance champ Anna Pilecky went 17:09.61 to win the mile. Pilecky also won the 500 free in 5:01.85 on day 1, besting the field by more than six seconds.
Meanwhile Whitewater’s Erin Hawker was the meet’s top IMer, winning the 200 IM (2:08.98) and 400 IM (4:36.95). Hawker also joined Shayna Putney, Bailey Weston and Olivia Theobald to win the 800 free relay in 7:51.53.
Weston would also win the 200 free in 1:55.98. That was a solid session for Whitewater, with the relay win and Weston’s win joining a 57.06 100 backstroke win from Renata Schlomann. The next day, Meredith Gustafson won the 200 fly in 2:08.79 for Whitewater.
Team Scores
- UW La Crosse – 835
- UW Eau Claire – 798
- UW Whitewater – 651
- UW Stevens Point – 541
- UW Oshkosh – 296
Men’s Meet
Stevens Point freshman Sam Young won two events and broke a meet record, powering his team to the conference title. Young led a 1-2 finish in the 400 IM, going 4:00.12 to break the WIAC meet record with junior Jacob Aegerter (4:00.85) on his heels. The next day, Young went 2:03.42 to win the 200 breaststroke.
Aegerter would go on to win the 200 fly that day in 1:50.19. Stevens Point’s other event winner was Reilly Donellan, who won the 50 free in 20.61 on day 1.
Eau Claire’s Collin Miller was the individual Swimmer of the Meet. He won three events, set new meet records in each and beat Young and Aegerter head-to-head in the 200 IM on day 1. Miller went 1:48.76 to break the WIAC meet record in that 200 IM, topping both Stevens Point swimmers by three-and-a-half seconds. The next day, Miller won the 100 breast in 53.62, also breaking a WIAC meet record and winning by almost three seconds. On day 3, Miller added a 100 free win, going 43.95.
Miller swam breaststroke on the 400 medley relay, splitting a blistering 53.21 in the final to power Eau Claire to a win. Michael Bylander, Miller, Andrew Strauch and Caleb Odmark went 3:20.85 in that event.
Eau Claire swept the individual awards, with Dylan Glumac-Berberich winning diver of the meet. He won the 3-meter (546.95 points) and 1-meter (529.00) boards.
La Crosse swept the other four relays. Jacob Burchfield, Alec Carlson, Jack Rohlinger and Hans Hover were 1:21.44 to win the 200 free relay. A day later, Burchfield, Cal Hartt, Hover and Rohlinger won the 800 free relay in 6:49.16, and Carlson, Marley Kaiser, Hover and Burchfield went 1:30.64 to win the 200 medley relay. On the final day, Burchfield, Carlson, Hover and Rohlinger went 3:02.47 to win the 400 free relay.
Hover doubled up on day 2, winning the 100 fly (49.42) and 100 back (50.61) in a tough double. He added a third win on day 3, taking the 200 back in 1:51.80.
Rohlinger won the 200 free (1:40.97) on day 2 for La Crosse.
Whitewater got a conference 500 free title from Chandler Lewis (4:40.49) and Oshkosh won the 500 free with Jarrett Lieder (16:24.21).
Team Scores
- UW Stevens Point – 816
- UW La Crosse – 721
- UW Eau Claire – 671
- UW Whitewater – 541
- UW Oshkosh – 311