MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin closed out its final day of dual-meet action against Georgia, accumulating five wins Saturday to round out its weekend in Athens.
Georgia remains undefeated this season, topping the Badgers women 200-148 and the men 206.5-141.5.
Cierra Runge and
Matt Hutchins once again proved that they're amongst the top distance freestylers in the nation, with both winning their respective 500-yard freestyle events in some of the top times in the country.
Runge went on to win her race in 4 minutes, 44.17 seconds, which is slotted at the sixth-fastest time in the nation, while Hutchins sealed victory in the men's race in 4:22.73, the fourth-ranked time in the country.
Wisconsin's men's and women's 400 free relay teams each notched top-four times nationally, with the women's team of
Chase Kinney,
Emmy Sehmann,
Jess Unicomb and Runge placing second in 3:19.58, good for the fourth-fastest time in the nation.
On the men's side, the relay team of
Cannon Clifton, Hutchins,
Ryan Stack and
Brett Pinfold closed out the meet with a win, clinching victory with the third-ranked time in the country (2:56.74).
The Badgers men also opened the day with a relay victory. The 200 medley relay team of Pinfold,
Griffin Back,
Harrison Tran and Clifton clinched the win for the team in 1:30.19.
The Wisconsin women also found success in their 200 medley relay, with the team of Unicomb,
Marissa Berg,
Beata Nelson and Kinney finishing runner-up with a time of 1:41.02.
Tran also came away with a win for Wisconsin, tying for first in the 100 butterfly (47.94) along with Georgia's Pace Clark, the Bulldogs' school record-holder in the event.
After sweeping the 50 free events Friday, both Clifton and Kinney garnered second-place finishes in the 100 free, with Clifton touching the wall in 44.24 and Kinney recording a time of 49.73.
Junior
Todd McCarthy also posted a runner-up finish for UW, logging a time of 1:46.82 in the men's 200 backstroke.
A pair of freshmen stood out with second-place honors in Athens, as Nelson earned a runner-up finish in the women's 200 backstroke (1:57.62) and
Cooper Hodge notched a second-place showing in the men's 200 breaststroke (2:05.38).
On the diving boards,
Hazel Hertting and
Ashley Peterson led Wisconsin on the 1-meter springboard, finishing 2-3 with scores of 296.33 and 293.40, respectively.
Freshman
Kevin Pomeroy highlighted the Badgers men on the 3-meter board, earning runner-up accolades with a tally of 356.25 points.
A select group of Badgers will be back in action next week in Indianapolis, representing the Big Ten in the inaugural USA College Challenge. The two-day competition will be held from Nov. 12-13 and will air live on BTN.
