Badgers Hit the Road for Iowa, UW-Milwaukee
October 12, 2006 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The University of Wisconsin men's and women's swimming and diving teams will look to carry their momentum from last week when they take on Iowa and UW-Milwaukee at 5 p.m. Friday at the UI Fieldhouse in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Badgers are coming off strong performances last week when they defeated UW-Green Bay at the UW Natatorium. The men won by a score of 190-106 while the women won 218.5-78.5.
Following the season-opening triumph, freshmen Derrick O'Donnell and Gabby Maddalena were named Big Ten Swimmers of the Week while sophomore diver Kelly Todd and freshman Jenny Hawkins were named Big Ten Divers of the Week.
Sophomore Scott Rice won three events against the Phoenix, earning titles in the 100-yard butterfly (51.03), the 200-yard butterfly (1:53.82) while also being a member of the first-place 200-yard free relay team (1:26.01) with Tommy Gregory, Dan Koenig and senior captain Tom Molzahn.
Molzahn also was victorious in the 100-yard freestyle (46.67) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.90) to tie Rice for the most wins.
Leading the way for the Badger women last weekend were sophomore Yi Ting Siow and senior Jackie Vavrek. Both were a part of the first-place 200-yard freestyle relay team (1:36.49) along with juniors Jenny Will and Kristy Brager. Siow also was triumphant in both the 100-yard (1:04.05) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:16.91) while Vavrek also won the 50-yard freestyle (24.03).
Maddalena and classmate Kasey Carpenter will both look to improve on their strong starts at Wisconsin. Maddalena won two events, the 500-yard freestyle (5:00.88) and the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:10.70), while Carpenter was victorious in the 200-yard backstroke (2:02.92) and placed second in the 100-yard backstroke (58.50).
Look for Hawkins and Todd to keep leading the divers. Last weekend Hawkins won the women 's 1-meter board with a score of 212.33 and the 3-meter board with a score of 237.30. Todd, meanwhile, claimed second in both the men's 1-meter (264.08) and the 3-meter (220.73).
The Hawkeyes have not yet competed this season, save for their intrasquad scrimmage two weeks ago. Sophomore James Dragon won both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly for the Black team, while freshmen Christine Kuczek and Julie Feingold each had two wins for the Gold team. Sophomore Nick Divan was a three-event champion as he was victorious in the 1,000-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard IM.
The Panthers men's team opened up the season by placing fourth at the Dennis Stark Relays in South Bend, Ind., on Oct. 6. UWM returns stand-out swimmer Chase Gravengood, an all-Horizon League first team member who set school records in the 100 fly, 200 fly and 200 IM at the Horizon League championships last year.
The Panther women finished fifth at the same event to begin the season. Senior Lindsay Caldwell, who was named the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year and the Horizon League Championships Swimmer of the Meet, set school records in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free, and the league record in the 50 free in 2005-06. She holds nine UWM records and three Horizon League records.
The triangular begins a string of seven consecutive road meets for the Badgers. Last season, UW played host to this event at the UW Natatorium. The men defeated the Hawkeyes 162-80 and the Panthers 201-42, while the women won by scores of 243-10 and 184-59, respectively.
