Renee RosenowUW-Eau Claire hosted the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Relays on Saturday, in the McPhee Pool. Men’s swimming and diving took second and women’s took third out of six teams.
The Blugold men’s team scored 120 total points, beating UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-River Falls and UW-Whitewater. They lost to UW-Stevens Point who scored a total of 152 points.
“The team as a whole did amazing,” senior diver Bryan Dykstra said. “It was the first time we beat La Crosse in over 10 years, so it was kind of a big deal.”
The men also took first in the men’s one-meter diving event with 277.45 points and second in the men’s three-meter with 229.40 points.
“We had a couple of rocky dives on the three-meter board and we ended up taking second,” said junior diver Kenney Ritt. “I had the best one and a half dive I’ve ever had. I got a lot of sevens and seven and a halfs.”
Ritt said it was tough with so many divers but he was surprised at how well they did.
“It’s pretty stiff competition,” he said. “Me and Bryan (Dykstra) both dove really well and we had a really good meet. Hopefully we’ll keep diving like we did.”
Last season Ritt broke his back and had to take a year off.
“It’s been pretty rough getting back,” he said.
The men’s 850-yard freestyle relay consisting of junior Brett Olson, senior Patrick Finley, sophomore Nick Mehring and sophomore Ben Macalalad took first place with 11 seconds ahead of second place. Their time was 8:05:50.
Dykstra said Eau Claire’s dramatic win was due to some confusion among the other teams. During the 200-yard section of the relay the Eau Claire team began chanting “Ben” for teammate Ben Macalalad who was getting ready to dive off the block. This confused La Crosse and Stevens Point, who’s swimmers dove too early and disqualified their teams. Macalalad was not thrown off however and raced without a hitch.
“Ben had to do what he needed to do,” Dykstra said.
The women’s team scored a total of 88 points and beat Oshkosh, River Falls and Whitewater. La Crosse took first place with 158 points and Stevens Point took second with 154.
“The women had a good meet,” Dykstra said, “but (La Crosse and Stevens Point) have some really good swimmers and divers.”
Dykstra said that the week had been busy for the Eau Claire swimming and diving team and they were all feeling a little worn out.
The women had 11 third place finishes. Their best was in 200-yard freestyle relay where they missed first by only two seconds. The relay team of sophomore Megan Linder, freshman Casey Preissel, sophomore Megan Finley and freshman Emily Bowen finished the event with a time of 1:41:35.
This was the team’s last home meet before they lose a few people next semester. Among these people is sophomore Nick Mehring, who will be studying abroad.
“It’s going to be tough to make up these points,” said Ritt, “but the team will come together and we’ll be strong going into conference.”
