Badgers Fall to No. 4 Arizona
November 03, 2007 | Women's Swimming & Diving
The No. 16 University of Wisconsin women's swimming and diving team put forth a strong effort but fell short in their dual meet against No. 4 Arizona on Friday night at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. The Wildcats defeated the Badgers 166-128 and Wisconsin is now 3-1 on the season.
The Badgers' strong effort can be seen by the fact that they finished in at least third place in all but one event on the evening, including six first-place finishes. The team also recorded new season-best times in 11 of the 16 events.
Head coach Eric Hansen was pleased with the team's efforts.
'The women swam really well tonight,' he said. 'I'm really proud of them.'
The top performer for the Badgers was junior Jen Illescas. The East Elmhurst, N.Y., native won three events. She won the 200-yard butterfly in an NCAA 'B' qualifying time of 2:00.50. It also marked the fastest time of the year in the event for Wisconsin. She earned another NCAA 'B' time in the 500-yard freestyle, winning in a time of 4:53.77. Illescas' other win came in the 200-yard IM. She swam in a season-best time of 2:06.46. Illescas also earned a fourth NCAA 'B ' time in the 200-yard freestyle. She finished second with a time of 1:49.91.
Also earning first-place finishes were sophomore Gabby Maddalena, freshman Maggie Meyer and the team of seniors Hannah McClurg, Jackie Vavrek and freshmen Meyer and Kelsey Gergen.
Maddalena won the 1000-yard freestyle in a season-best time of 10:01.77. Meyer earned top honors in the 200-yard backstroke. She swam to an NCAA 'B' time and season-best finish of 2:01.13. The previously mentioned quartet earned a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team finished in a time of 1:33.36, earning an NCAA 'B' time and the top time on the season for the team.
Also earning an NCAA 'B' time was sophomore Rosie Morahan. Morahan finished third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:18.15 to earn the mark.
On the diving board, sophomore Jenny Hawkins took third on the 1-meter diving board with a score of 235.18, while freshman Ciara Rinaudo was third on the 3-meter board with a score of 229.19.
The women's swimming and diving team returns to action Nov. 16-17 when it travels to Evanston, Ill. for the Northwestern Triangular against Notre Dame and Northwestern.
