Wisconsin Finishes Day Two at Texas Invitational
November 30, 2007 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team put forth an impressive effort in day two of the three-day Texas Invitational on Friday. The Badgers were, however, unable to come up with any times to garner NCAA qualification or consideration after notching two on Thursday. The meet was held in Austin, Texas, at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
"As a group, the men are getting better with each session (of the three-day meet)," said head coach Eric Hansen. "Hopefully the final session tomorrow will be the best one yet."
Wisconsin kicked off the day's finals by just barely missing out at an NCAA 'B' time that would have given them NCAA consideration. Derrick O 'Donnell (McFarland, Wis.), Eric Johnson (Federal Way, Wash.), Scott Rice (Des Moines, Wash.) and Michael Desautels (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) swam the 200-yard medley relay in 1:29.93 to get sixth place. The Badgers finished right behind the fifth-place SMU team that recorded a 'B' time.
Freshman Caleb Percevecz (Scottsdale, Ariz.) finished as one of the talent-packed event 's top divers for the second-straight day. Diving from the 3-meter board on Friday, the young star claimed sixth place in the finals with an impressive score of 309.55.
In the final event of the day, Wisconsin's relay team again fell just short of an NCAA 'B' time. Phil Davies (Rye, N.Y.), Michael Desautels, Kyle Thompson (New Berlin, Wis.) and Scott Rice finished the 800-yard freestyle relay in 6:37.78 to notch third place.
In the same event, UW's second team was close behind with a time of 6:45.32. Michael Hopkins (Wilmington, Del.), Kyle Sorensen (Palatine, Ill.), Greg Zupek (Manitowoc, Wis.) and Michael Swanson (Lancaster, Pa.) teamed up to finish in fifth place.
Notable performances in the preliminary events included Brett Koerten's (Sevierville, Tenn.) 4:00.06 in the 400-yard IM, good for thirteenth place, and Eric Johnson's 55.41 in the 100-yard breaststroke, positioning him in 12th place.
Complete results from the day's events can be found here .
The Badgers will finish their participation in the Texas Invitational on Saturday, with the 1,650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly and 400-yard freestyle relay set to occur. Competition will start at 10 a.m. at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
