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AUBURN, Ala. – Earlier this week, Wisconsin coach Whitney Hite mentioned that he expects big things from Beata Nelson this season. On Friday, Nelson made Hite a man of his word.
 
The sophomore shined in the pool, winning the 200-yard individual medley and 200-yard backstroke. Nelson's finish of 1 minute, 59.24 seconds in the 200 IM was good for the 10th-fastest time in school history, and she finished the 200 back in 1:55.51, a full 3.31 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
 
Friday's performance at Auburn's Martin Aquatic Center came in the season-opening competition for the 12th-ranked Badgers women and 25th-ranked men, a double dual meet with Auburn and Tennessee.
 
"Beata swam very well today," Hite said. "That did not come as a surprise. She's very talented, and she's in a much different place than she was last year."
 
Nelson was also part of the women's 400-yard medley relay squad that opened the meet with a third-place finish. The relay squad also featured Jess Unicomb, Marissa Berg and Emmy Sehmann, and finished with a time of 3:39.96.
 
Notable
• The duo of Megan Doty and Alex Reddington finished first and second, respectively, in the women's 200 butterfly. Doty's time of 2:02.29 was good for seventh-best in school history.
 
• Senior captain Victor Goicoechea finished third in the men's 1000 freestyle. His time of 9:12.93 is the     seventh-fastest in school history.
 
• The women's 200 freestyle relay squad (Unicomb, Abby Jagdfeld, Sehmann and Berg) took second place, finishing in 1:32.30.
 
• In addition to her strong relay performances, Sehmann placed second in the 100 freestyle (49.96).
 
• North Dakota transfer Tyler Zelen made his Wisconsin debut, finishing fifth in the men's 50-yard free (20.64) and taking part in the men's 200 freestyle relay squad that finished third. The team of Zelen, Jon Salomon, Ryan Stack and Griffin Back finished in 1:21.93.
 
• Junior Maddie Tew finished third in the women's 1000 freestyle (10:06.51).
 
Quotable
On the team's opening meet performance:
"Good start to the season. We know that we were going up against elite programs. And I thought we competed pretty darn well today."
 
"It's still early. We've only been practicing for five and a half weeks, which is not very long. We're a little behind other programs in that regard but that's no excuse. We definitely have a lot of room for improvement, but we want to be our best in February in March, so we're in good shape."
 
On Megan Doty and Alex Reddington's 1-2 finish in the 200 fly:
"Those were some great swims. Megan is a model of consistency, and we expect that out of her. And Alex, for a freshman, that was an outstanding swim."
 
On the men's team:
"We had some good swims on the men's side. Ryan Stack did a great job today, started off his season very well. Tyler Zelen had an awesome debut. And I thought Todd McCarthy had a great swim in the 200 fly."
 
- Head coach Whitney Hite
 
Up Next
The Badgers are back in action against the Tigers and Volunteers on Saturday as the teams close out their two-day competition. The meet resumes at 9:30 a.m. (CT).