Jan. 19, 2012

• Complete Results

MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin swimming and diving teams dropped a two-day meet to the University of Southern California on Thursday afternoon at the USC McDonald’s Swim Stadium.

The women lost to the No. 3-ranked USC squad 176-119, while the men lost to the No. 5-ranked team, 168-111.

It was a tough situation by design, having to travel after the tough training in Hawaii,” commented head coach Whitney Hite. “I thought the athletes did a nice job of competing against one of the best teams, both men and women, in the country. I think we surprised USC a bit and I think we surprised ourselves a bit. We did a great job of controlling what we could control, which was our attitude and effort.”

Michael Weiss had a standout day for Wisconsin as he beat USC’s Sean Mulroy by almost eight seconds in the 400 IM, finishing with a time of 3:55.62. In the 500 free, Weiss was narrowly edged by USC’s Chad Bobrosky on the final lap as Weiss finished second in 4:30.72, just .13 seconds behind.

Ashley Wanland was stellar again for the Badgers as she raced to first in the 200 breast in 2:13.72. She also joined teammates Amie Osten, Rebecka Palm and Beckie Thompson to take first place in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:43.10.

Thompson performed well in her individual events too as she outpaced USC’s Christel Simms in the 100 free by .45 seconds taking first place in 50.27. Also in the 100 free, Laura Miller came in third just .25 seconds behind Simms.

“When we left Madison on Jan. 5, I explained to the team that this was going to be a critical 15 days,” coach Hite commented about the trip to Hawaii and USC. “We knew if we didn’t bring our ‘A’ game, we’d have a hard time. I think we’ve done an excellent job with training and I really like where our team is right now. We’ve set up ourselves up for success.”

The Badgers will be back in the pool this Saturday, Jan. 21, as they host Green Bay at the Natatorium for senior day at noon.