Although the WIAC Championships are on the horizon, the UW-Eau Claire swimming and diving teams didn’t appear to be looking ahead Friday night, each downing UW-Oshkosh in dual meet action and earning their fourth consecutive dual meet victory.
Led by a dazzling display of speed and diving skill, both the men and women coasted to easy victories in the final tune-up meet before the WIAC championship meet on Thursday, Feb. 17.
The Blugold men earned a 142-93 victory, keyed by four out of a possible five victories in 200-yard events.
Senior Matt Schuebel edged out sophomore teammate Nick Peterson in the 200-yard freestyle.
Freshman Brian Hauerwas claimed victory in the 200-yard butterfly, while sophomore Cale Schmidt-Jackson was ahead of the pack in the 200-yard backstroke and freshman Doug Horton rounded off the 200-yard dominance by winning the 200-yard breaststroke.
Rounding out the scoring for the Blugold men was a sweep in the diving events. Senior Scott Heatwole continued his recent success by winning the 3-meter event with a score of 282.6, while freshman Bryan Dykstra claimed the 1-meter event with a score of 290.55.
Schuebel was quick to note the main strength of the men’s team.
“The divers are the strong point of the men’s team right now,” Schuebel said, “but a lot of the younger swimmers are gonna come through and hopefully the seniors do what they always do and place top six in all their events.”
The victory gives the Blugold men’s team a 3-2 conference record and a 5-2 record overall.
In similar fashion, the Eau Claire women’s team nearly doubled the Titans’ score, winning 158.5 to 83.5.
The scoring for the Blugold women was distributed among distance events more so than the men’s team, with freshman Amanda Kroger claiming victory in the 500-yard freestyle, edging out freshman teammate Lindsey Koch with a time of 5 minutes, 37.57 seconds. Junior Cori Severson had a strong swim in the 50-yard freestyle, earning another victory in the event in 25.26 seconds.
Freshman Emily Diehl headed an exclusive Eau Claire front five in the 200-yard freestyle, earning a win in a time of 2:04:37.
Rounding out individual swimming notables for the women was freshman Emmie Lee, who won the 200 yard-backstroke in a time of 2:15:38.
The women’s relay teams didn’t disappoint either, winning both scheduled relays.
The team of freshman Kyle Welke, Lee, Severson and Diehl won the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 4:12:16, more than seven seconds faster than second-place UW-Oshkosh.
The team of senior Jessica Lang, junior Annie Gorman, and freshmen Sarah Lembke and Katie Cowden paced the field in the 400-yard freestyle relay, winning in a time of 4:02:43, a full 16 seconds faster than the best-finishing Oshkosh team.
The women’s diving team was easily summed up by one name: Sarah Myers.
The sophomore swept the 1- and 3- meter diving events with scores of 246.95 and 272.1, respectively.
She said she had little doubt that she’d win both events.
“I knew how the Oshkosh diver was, and how our divers are,” Myers said. “I’m a sophomore so I have a lot more experience. (Oshkosh divers) are newbies.”
With the latest victory, the Blugold women’s record keeps up with the men’s, with a conference record of 3-2 and 4-3 overall.
Up next for the Blugolds is the WIAC Championships Thursday, Feb. 17, at UW-Whitewater, where Eau Claire hopes to avenge their earlier loss against UW-La Crosse.
