Badgers End with Five NCAA Qualifying Times at Texas Invite
December 01, 2007 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The University of Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team earned three more NCAA times Saturday night as the Texas Invitational concluded in Austin, Texas. The team finished with five qualifying times in the three-day event.
Sophomore Phil Davies got the Badgers going, earning an NCAA 'B' time in the 100-yard freestyle. Davies came in at a time of 44.27 to earn his second 'B ' time of the weekend.
Two events later, junior Scott Rice grabbed another NCAA 'B' time and made school history in the process. Rice, who earned a 'B' time in the 100-yard butterfly on Thursday night, finished the 200-yard butterfly in ninth place with a time of 1:45.15. Rice's time broke the mark he set last year by .49 seconds.
'I thought Scott Rice really highlighted the meet for us,' Wisconsin head coach Eric Hansen said.
Hansen also believes that Rice has a shot at qualifying for the NCAA Championships because his 'B' time was high.
The Badgers picked up their third NCAA 'B' time of the night in the meet's last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of juniors Mike Desautels and Kyle Sorensen, Davies and freshman Greg Zupek finished in fifth place with a time of 2:57.87.
'All in all, we're really happy about our performance,' Hansen said. 'This will provide great momentum as we head into December and our training camp. '
Freshmen Luke Lengfeld was the top Badger in the 1650-yard freestyle. Lengfeld was 14th with a time of 16:13.33, over 17 seconds better than the team's previous best time in the event this year.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, junior Eric Johnson led the Badgers as he finished in 19th place. Johnson swam to a time of 2:03.41, three seconds better than the team's previous time this year.
Junior Michael Hopkins finished in 17th place to lead the Badgers in the 200-yard backstroke. Hopkins finished in a time of 1:47.38 establishing a season-best time for the team.
In the evening's lone diving event, freshman Caleb Percevecz led the Badgers. He finished in sixth place on the platform with a score of 274.60 and set a new school record.
The University of Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team returns to action Jan. 12, when it heads to Honolulu, Hawaii to take on the University of Hawaii.
