Finals opened last night for the first day of the 2015 WIAC championship. At the close of the evening, La Crosse had the lead for the women by 100 points, tallying 286. Whitewater was second with 186 points and Eau Claire sits in third on the women’s side with 175. On the men’s side, Stevens Point has the lead with 234 points, La Crosse is second (191) and Whitewater third (158).
Women
Lacrosse got off to a great start with the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Mikayla Beuch, Carrie Schrock, Brooke Reynolds and Sara Zemanovic snatched up the 2015 crown with a time of 1:34.86. The quartet led from start to finish, though the Stevens Point relay nibbled away at the lead throughout the race. Stevens Point touched in second with the team from Eau Claire in third.
In the women’s 500, Amanda Walker of Stevens Point broke her own meet record by over two seconds to post an NCA B cut time of 4:56.45, winning the event. Walker’s time from prelims was over half a second faster than her 2014 WIAC meet record (she swam a 4:58.00 in prelims; the record was 4:58.74 last year), but she absolutely destroyed it in finals, winning by over five seconds. In second, the runner up from Eau Claire was Lisa Reed with Kayla Martin of Whitewater in third.
Whitewater’s Sarah Arteaga claimed her moment in the spotlight in the 200 IM. She posted a 2:08.16 to win, squeaking past runner up Brooke Reynolds of La Crosse by less than two tenths of a second. The close race was a back-and-forth spectacle, ultimately decided by the breaststroke leg, where Arteaga outsplit Reynolds by over a second. In third was Arteaga’s teammate from Whitewater, Kelsey Kohlbeck.
After having a successful race in the 200 freestyle relay, Beuch returned to the water to claim her first individual title of the meet with a win in the 50 freestyle. Her time – 23.64 – was an NCAA B cut time. Runner up for Eau Claire was Allie Hable, with Michaela Matthys of Whitewater third.
The 400 medley relay was littered with heartbreak as two of the five relay teams suffered disqualifications. Whitewater and Eau Claire (who would have finished first and fourth, respectively) were both cut out of the running, leaving the Stevens Point women to claim the win (3:53.99) with a team of Emily Neinhaus, Katelyn Homeyer, Cassie Matthys and Katy Walker-Daniels. Second was La Crosse with Oshkosh taking third. Just glancing at splits, Amy Spaay of Whitewater put up a 1:01.10 in the breaststroke leg, suggesting she will be the top contender at the WIAC championships for the individual event, but also that she will have a shot at the NCAA record in March. (The meet record belongs to Spaay at 1:00.85; the NCAA record is 1:00.54 from William’s Lindsay Payne in 2006).
Jordan Anderson of La Crosse walks away from Thursday night with the top honor in the women’s 3 meter diving. Her score of 463.60 was good for first. Runner up and third, both from Eau Claire were Amanda Baker and Sara Axness, respectively.
Men
Stevens Point took off at the start of the evening in the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet of Andrew King, Zach Ogurek, Kyle McNair and Sam Jekel zoomed right along to a 1:22.32 victory, nearly a second ahead of the runners up from La Crosse. The Pointers were easily under the NCAA B cut time for the relay. Eau Claire was third.
In the 500 freestyle, Joshua Kanute of Whitewater made a statement with his swim, posting a new meet record as well as an NCAA B cut time. His final time was 4:31.13, lopping over three and a half seconds off the record set by John Borta (also of Whitewater) in 2000. With that swim, Kanute also rewrote his team’s record books with a new school record. Second in the event was Jake McDade of Eau Claire with Hans Peters in third for Stevens Point.
The 200 IM was claimed by Stevens Point athlete Joe Hollman with a 1:52.79. His time slipped under the B cut time for Division III. Sitting in second for Eau Claire was Thomas Hensen with Joseph Devroy of Whitewater in third.
After their commanding relay performance, it was no surprise to have the Pointers go 1-2 in the 50 freestyle. Jekel (split a 20.16 to anchor the freestyle relay) came through for Stevens Point in a 20.68 to make an NCAA B cut and claim the 2015 crown in the 50 free. Teammate King was the only other athlete under 21 seconds, posting a 20.99 for second. Third was Ben Fisher of Eau Claire.
To close out the night was the 400 medley relay. Again displaying relay prowess, the Stevens Point team claimed the victory by over three seconds. The quartet of Ethan Bott, Ogurek, Jekel and Peters combined to post a 3:22.11. Jekel again displayed his prowess in sprint events, and butterfly – with a 47.79 split leaving little doubt that he will claim the 100 fly title tonight.
For complete meet results, click here. The second night of WIAC finals will begin at 6:30 CST at the Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, WI.