Badgers Start Strong at Texas Invitational
November 29, 2007 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Thanks to eight NCAA 'B' times, the University of Wisconsin women 's swimming and diving team found success on day one of the Texas Invitational at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The eight times came in five of the seven events on Thursday night.
"The women had a good day as well," said head coach Eric Hansen. "All in all, it was a good day."
The Badgers started strong, picking up an NCAA 'B' time in the night 's first event. Finishing in a time of 1:33.58, the team of sophomore Rosie Morahan, junior Christine Zwiegers, freshman Karlyn Hougan and senior Jenny Gelden took sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay to earn the consideration.
"Having the women's (200-yard freestyle relay) team get disqualified was unfortunate, but it's something we hope to fix tomorrow," expressed Hansen. (This relay team will conduct a time trial on Friday.)
The Badgers' other team in the race, consisting of seniors Hannah McClurg and Jackie Vavrek and freshmen Maggie Meyer and Kelsey Gergen, was disqualified.
Wisconsin had two swimmers each earn 'B' times in the 500-yard freestyle, the 100-yard butterfly and in the 50-yard freestyle.
In the 500-yard freestyle, junior Jen Illescas led the way for the Badgers as she finished fifth with a time 4:48.31. Finishing right behind her was sophomore Gabby Maddalena. Maddalena took sixth in the meet with a time of 4:50.12.
Senior Katie Imhoff-Smith and Zwiegers each earned 'B' times in the 100-yard butterfly. Imhoff-Smith finished 16th in the event with a time of 55.20, while Zwiegers was 20th with a time of 55.17.
After teaming up in the 200-yard freestyle relay, Vavrek and Meyer each earned a NCAA 'B' time individually in the 50-yard freestyle. Vavrek swam to a time of 22.98, which was good for 10th place. Meyer finished in a time of 23.26, which put her 17th.
The UW's eighth NCAA 'B' time came in the 400-yard medley relay. Meyer, Morahan, Imhoff-Smith and McClurg teamed up and finished with a time of 3:42.83, good for fourth place in the event.
In the 200-yard IM, Morahan had the best finish amongst Badger swimmers. She placed 22nd with a time of 2:04.83.
The 3-meter diving board was the lone diving event of the evening. Freshman Ciara Rinaudo placed eighth with a score of 224.45 to lead the Badgers.
Wisconsin returns to action Friday morning for the second day of the Texas Invitational. Prelims will begin at 10:00 a.m. and the finals will start at 6:00 p.m. Fans can find a schedule of events by clicking s=&url_channel_id=49&url_article_id=7726&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2"> --> here and can follow live results by clicking here . UWBadgers.com will have results and a recap at the conclusion of each day of competition.
