Men's Swimmers Splash Into Third at Texas
December 05, 2002 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The No. 13 Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team completed first day action Thursday at the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas. The Badgers are in third place with 212 points, behind No. 5 California and No. 3 Texas. UW's third-place position puts them ahead of No. 6 USC and No. 11 Arizona State.
'We had a real good day today, especially only on two days of rest. Our men's swimmers performed extremely well and I hope we can do the same tomorrow,' coach Eric Hansen said.
Wisconsin freshman James Wike finished third in the 200 IM (1:48.97), which qualified him for an NCAA B standard time. Matt Marshall claimed fourth place in the 100 fly, also with an NCAA consideration time of 47.47, .11 seconds off the UW school record. Both Marshall and Wike finished first in their respective events in the morning prelims.
'James Wike swam really well and continues to impress us. Matt Marshall also swam great in the 100 fly and once again Eric Wiesner had a solid performance,' Hansen said.
Wiesner was the top Badger in the 500 free taking 11th in 4:27.84. Andrew Ackley followed right behind Wiesner in 12th-place in 4:28.50. In the 50 free, the Badgers took the sixth, seventh and eighth spots with Marshall, Dale Rogers and Adam Mania, respectively. Marshall's time of 20.30 was UW's lone NCAA consideration time in the 50.
The Badger relays excelled as per usual. Both relays on the day took third, with the 200 free relay earning a NCAA B standard in 1:20.31. The 400 medley relay of Mania, Zakrzewski, Marshall and Rogers earned the first NCAA automatic qualifying time for a Badger quartet this season with a 3:12.36.
In diving, Wisconsin freshman Matt Smith took eighth place (241.20) on the 1-meter board.
The Texas Invitational continues Friday, with prelims starting at 10:00 a.m. and finals beginning at 6 p.m.
