Nov. 7, 2014
- Results
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Swimming among some of the nation's best, it's easy to imagine many athletes blending into the mix.
Ivy Martin had no issues standing out on Friday, as she led the efforts of the No. 16 Wisconsin women's swimming and diving team against No. 4 California with a pair of individual victories, including a win in the 100-yard freestyle over both Missy Franklin and Rachel Bootsma.
The Wisconsin women earned six first-place finishes at the Spieker Aquatics Complex, including senior captain Martin winning both the 100 free and 100-yard butterfly.
Martin continued to build upon her impressive start to the season, winning the 100 free in 49.13 seconds and the 100 fly in 53.93 seconds. Competing against some of the world's greatest talent, it was Martin who touched before not one, but two Olympic gold medalists—four-time gold medal winner Franklin and Bootsma.
"Ivy is at that level," head coach Whitney Hite said of the Madison, Wisconsin, native. "It's exciting to see her race the best swimmers, arguably in the world, and to see her have success. It was a good day for Ivy and another good step for her."
Another standout for the UW women was Jenny Holtzen, as the junior out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, turned heads in the distance events by winning both the 500- (4:52.15) and 1000-yard freestyle (10:01.84).
"Jenny had a great meet," Hite said. "She really stepped up. She'd been doing very well and that continued today. Ivy and Jenny were definitely the stars today."
Annie Tamblyn, Martin, Anna Meinholz and Chase Kinney combined to swim Wisconsin’s fastest 200-yard individual medley relay this season and won with a time of 1:41.30. Martin, Kinney, Tamblyn and Caroline Palm also teamed up to win in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:23.85).
Despite strong swims across the board, the Wisconsin women were defeated by reigning NCAA runner-up California, 161-124.
While the No. 13 Wisconsin men's team was unable to come up with an event win, the Badgers displayed their depth and picked up five second-place finishes against No. 6 California.
Senior Drew teDuits earned second in both the 100- (48.73) and 200-yard (1:45.23) backstroke. teDuits, the 2013 national champion in the 200-yard backstroke, fell to defending national champion Ryan Murphy in the 100-yard backstroke.
Brett Pinfold, a sophomore out of Sugar Land, Texas, placed second in the 100 free (45.37). Fellow sophomore and native of Frisco, Texas, Harrison Tran also picked up a second-place finish in the 100 fly (50.18).
Nick Schafer was another standout performer, placing second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:02.71).
"At the end of the day, this is really valuable for us," Hite said. "This makes us better. The payoff is not right now, it's in March. That's when we want it. I really liked the challenge of coming and swimming one of the best teams in the nation. It's not going to be easy, but that's ok, because we're better for it."
The UW men, which came in undefeated, suffered their first loss of the season and fell to the reigning national champions, 169-116.
Wisconsin concludes its trip out west with another dual meet tomorrow against Stanford. The event is set to start at 12 p.m. (CT) Saturday.
