Badgers shine in Big Ten showdown

Saturday, January 19

Iowa City, IA

11 AM

Wisconsin Badgers

136

164

Iowa

Photo by: Deb Lindsey

Badgers shine in Big Ten showdown

January 19, 2019 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

UW bags 16 wins in conference clash vs. Iowa, Northwestern

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Wisconsin swimming and diving team wrapped up its double dual meet vs. Iowa and Northwestern on Saturday with 13 individual wins to go along with three relay victories.

Those triumphs added up to a sweep of the Hawkeyes and Wildcats for the Wisconsin women and a split for the UW men, who downed Northwestern (188.5-111.5) and fell to Iowa (164-136).

The No. 16-ranked women's team won by scores of 191-109 over Iowa and 166.5-133.5 over Northwestern.

"I love racing at this time of year because it gives all of us great feedback on where we are and what we need to improve on," said UW coach Yuri Suguiyama, whose team wrapped up its dual-meet schedule and turn its attention to next month's Big Ten championships.

The Badgers pushed the pace early, grabbing wins in the men's and women's 200-yard medley relay to open the competition. From there, it was no looking back.

Junior Beata Nelson, paving the way for the No. 16-ranked UW women's team, tallied individual wins in the 100 backstroke (54.20), 200 backstroke (1:54.40) and 200 individual medley (1:59.01).

The Madison native already holds nation-best marks in all three events.

Senior Emmy Sehmann showed no let-up in the pool, notching a first-place mark of 50.11 seconds in the women's 100 free.

The sprint specialist also took part in the 400 free relay squad's win in 3 minutes, 23.44 seconds.

Junior Megan Doty polished her day off with wins in the women's 100 fly (53.97) and 200 fly (1:59.70).

Clocking in at 10 minutes, 6.61 seconds, senior Grace Tierney hauled in a win in the 1000 freestyle.

In the 1-meter diving competition, senior Hazel Hertting took fourth place with a mark of 283.00.

On the men's side, it was the MJ Mao show.

The sophomore showcased his versatility by securing three individual victories in the 100 breast (54.28), 200 breast (2:00.37) and 100 fly (48.41).

Junior Michael Milinovich posted a win in the 200 IM (1:50.84) and took second in the 200 fly (1:48.91).

Sophomore Matt Novinski also had a stellar showing, winning the 100 back with a time of 48.80.

In a hair's breadth finish, junior Cameron Tysoe touched first in the 200 back (1:45.51) by a margin of just three tenths of a second.

Junior Kevin Pomeroy was the Badgers' third-place finisher in the 3-meter springboard with a score of 351.25.

"I think we saw a couple of key people step forward today outside of our front-line athletes," Suguiyama said. "Building that depth and encouraging everyone on the roster to value their contribution to the team, no matter what it is, will be crucial to our team success as we enter the home stretch."