Badgers Earn Four All-Americans on Day Two of NCAAs
March 21, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
The No. 20 University of Wisconsin women's swimming and diving earned four honorable mention All-America honors on the second day of the NCAA championships Saturday night at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. The Badgers are currently in 17th place with 42 points. Arizona leads the event with 361 points.
The Badgers started strong for the second night in a row as they earned honorable mention All-America honors in the 200-yard medley relay. Freshman Maggie Meyer (North Oaks, Minn.), sophomore Rosie Morahan (London, England), junior Christine Zwiegers (Somerset West, South Africa) and senior Jackie Vavrek (West Chicago, Ill.) finished 11th in a time of 1:39.63. Vavrek picks up her sixth career honorable mention All-America, while Zwiegers, Meyer and Morahan all earned their first.
Head coach Eric Hansen said the team bounced back after a slow morning session.
'We started off the morning not as good as we had hoped, but our relay team came through,' he said. 'I'm really happy with how they stepped up under the circumstances.'
Zwiegers competed individually in the 100-yard butterfly and finished 31st. She completed the event in a time of 53.78, a career-best mark.
In the 200-yard freestyle, junior Jen Illescas (East Elmhurst, N.Y.) placed 39th and senior Hannah McClurg (San Diego, Calif.) finished in 72nd place. Illescas finished with a career-best time of 1:47.66, while McClurg ended in a time of 1:50.60.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Morahan placed 45th with a time of 1:04.50.
Meyer competed individually in the 100-yard backstroke and finished 25th. She finished with a time of 54.73. Also competing in the event was sophomore Candice Peak (Andover, Mass.). She completed it in a time of 55.18, good for 35th place.
The Badgers closed out the night by placing 19th in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Illescas, McClurg, Meyer and Morahan completed the event in a time of 7:17.22.
Hansen said that the team is still looking to improve on the final day.
'We're in 17th place and we're looking to move up on the last day,' he said. 'We're looking forward to the opportunity. '
Wisconsin returns to the pool tomorrow for the third and final day of the NCAA championships. Prelims will start at 10 a.m. (CT) with the finals to follow at 6 p.m. (CT). Fans can get more information and live stats by clicking DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1362521&KEY=&DB_OEM_ID=17300&DB_LANG=&IN_SUBSCRIBER_CONTENT="> --> here and can check back to UWBadgers for results.
