Siow Wins Another at Big Tens
February 10, 2007 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Sophomore Yi Ting Siow repeated as champion of the 200-yard breaststroke as the University of Wisconsin women's swimming and diving team concluded competition at the Big Ten championships Saturday at the University Aquatic Center.
Siow's winning mark of 2:11.91 was an NCAA qualifying time and was shy of the Big Ten record by 0.31 seconds. Siow, who was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year, was one of three finalists for UW, which finished in fifth place with 413.5 points (Indiana won with 715.5).
'I thought we swam pretty well over the past three days, and we definitely had some positive aspects in the meet,' head coach Eric Hansen said. 'We still have some work to do before NCAAs, but we're looking forward to the national championships.'
Freshman Gabby Maddalena started the night on a high note by reeling off an NCAA automatic mark of 16:15.13 to capture third in the 1650-yard freestyle. Her time was third fastest all-time at UW.
Junior Gwen Jorgensen posted 27th (17:20.54) in the same event, while sophomore Katie Twitchell followed one spot later with a time of 17:24.45.
Senior Susan Johnson, competing in her third individual final of the meet, earned second place in the 200-yard backstroke with an NCAA 'A' cut of 1:56.58. The time was a season-best for her as well as for the Badgers.
The only relay event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle, saw Wisconsin's team of junior Hannah McClurg, junior Jackie Vavrek, Johnson and senior Liz Klanderman earn fifth with an NCAA 'B' cut of 3:22.08.
In the consolation finals, freshman Kasey Carpenter picked up third place in the 200 back (1:59.83, NCAA 'B' time), Vavrek took third (50.66, NCAA 'B ' time) and McClurg sixth (50.95, NCAA 'B' time) in the 100-yard freestyle, and sophomore Jen Illescas and junior Katie Imhoff-Smith grabbed first (2:00.61, NCAA 'B' time) and sixth (2:02.90), respectively, in the 200-yard butterfly.
Wisconsin did not qualify anyone for the final round of the platform diving competition. Freshman Jenny Hawkins was 24th in the prelims with a score of 179.25, and sophomore Lauren Morrison came in 26th with a score of 150.70.
'I thought the experience Jenny and Lauren gained here was great,' first-year diving coach Tom Michael, noting that UW does not have its own platform, said. 'For a sophomore and freshman, under a new coach, to come in and do what they did was phenomenal.'
The Badgers will be off until NCAA Zone Diving March 2-4 and the NCAA championships March 8-10.
Meet Notes
Yi Ting Siow, Jackie Vavrek, Susan Johnson and Katie Imhoff-Smith were named first-team All-Big Ten ' Hannah McClurg and Christine Zwiegers were named to the second team ' Johnson and Siow were Wisconsin's high-point getters ' UW 's Big Ten record in the 1650-yard freestyle held up another year, but the Badgers ' 400-yard freestyle relay record was broken by 0.02 seconds by Michigan ' the Big Ten acknowledged and introduced every school's seniors before the start of competition.
