Nov. 6, 2009
Complete Results | Complete Results
MADISON, Wis. -- Maggie Meyer remained unbeaten on the season by grabbing a pair of individual wins Friday, as the Wisconsin’s women’s swimming and diving team split a pair of dual meets at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center in Tucson, Ariz.
The Badgers downed UNLV by a score of 203.50-96.50 in the teams’ first-ever meeting, but UW fell to host Arizona for the ninth-consecutive season by a 178-122 margin.
Meyer swept the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events to remain unbeaten in 10 individual races this season and recorded her fifth NCAA championships qualifying mark of the year in the 100 back.
Those were two of the eight event wins UW claimed on the day, with junior Ciara Rinaudo also posting a sweep of the springboard diving events. Rinaudo, a Phoenix native competing in her home state, tallied a score of 261.05 to claim victory in the 1-meter competition and then posted a score of 293.85 to score the win on the 3-meter board.
Meyer’s win in the 100 back came in a time of 54.41, as she edged out Arizona’s Ana Agy. Her winning mark of 1:59.50 in the 200 back was her first of the season in a backstroke event to not meet the NCAA consideration cut.
Redshirt freshman Monika Stitski led a sweep of the top two spots in the 500 freestyle for the Badgers, as she claimed the win in an impressive NCAA qualifying time of 4:44.83 – UW’s top time in the event this year. Sophomore Danielle Beckwith was just behind in second place with a time of 5:00.09.
In the 50 free, sophomore Beckie Thompson claimed victory for UW for a second-consecutive week by clocking a time of 23.68 to distance herself from a tightly-grouped pack.
Junior Ashley Wanland also was an individual event winner for the Badgers, as she claimed the 200 breaststroke in an NCAA-qualifying time of 2:14.89. Earlier, Wanland was edged out by just .05 seconds and took second place to Arizona’s Annie Chandler in the 100 breast, clocking a time of 1:02.36.
The Badgers also scored a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with the quartet of Thompson, Meyer, senior Rosie Morahan and freshman Laura Miller clocking in at 1:34.01 to win by more than a second over Arizona’s top entry.
In the 200 medley relay, the Badgers clocked an NCAA championships qualifying time of 1:42.21, a mark good enough for second behind Arizona’s ‘A’ squad.
The Badgers (3-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) return to conference action next Friday with a 5 p.m. dual meet against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.