Five Things to Know: Badgers head to Texas and Georgia

Wednesday, November 15

Austin, Texas

10 a.m./6 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

Texas Invitational

Alivia Lindorfer dives into the pool at the start of a race.

Photo by: Taylor Wolfram

Five Things to Know: Badgers head to Texas and Georgia

November 15, 2023 | Women's Swimming & Diving

Wisconsin set to compete against three top-10 programs

By: Olivia Bozich

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 12 Wisconsin women's swimming and diving program (4-0, 2-0 B1G) continues the regular season, heading to two meets this weekend. The Badger swimmers head to the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas, from Thursday-Saturday. Prelims start each day at 10 a.m. with finals at 6 p.m. UW's divers head to Athens, Georgia, for the Georgia Invitational from Thursday to Saturday. Preliminaries begin at 8:30 a.m. CT while finals start at 5:30 p.m. CT.

Here are five things to know for this weekend.

1. Ranked in the Top 25: According to the CSCAA preseason poll, the Badgers check in at No. 12 to start the season. They are competing against an elite stage at the Texas Invitational, including No. 2 Texas, No. 7 Southern California, and No. 10 Stanford. The divers also face No.13 Georgia in their competitive slate for this weekend.

2. Honorary Badgers: Only four weeks into the season, the Badgers continue to receive honors from the Big Ten in their weekly awards. Junior Mackenzie McConagha earned Swimmer of the Week and Hailey Tierney was named Freshman of the Week on Nov. 8. McConagha helped the Badgers win over No. 24 Minnesota with wins in the 100 back and 100 fly. Tierney kept up her four-meet win streak in the 50 free, hitting the wall first in 22.66, which leads the Big Ten.

3. NCAA Ticket Punched: So far, Wisconsin has five athletes who have earned individual NCAA "B" cut times this season. Phoebe Bacon made the standard in the 100 back, 200 back, 100 fly, and 200 individual medley while Abby Carlson made it in the 200 free and 500 free. Tierney picked up a cut in the 50 free while sophomore Hazal Ozkan has made the standard in the 200 breast. McConagha earned her first cut in the 100 back with a time of 53.35.

4. B1G Leaders: Tierney continues to make a huge impact for Wisconsin, leading the Big Ten in the 50 free in an NCAA B qualifying time of 22.45. She is also ranked eighth in the 100 free in 49.77. Carlson, the reigning Big Ten champion in the 500 free, leads the conference in that event with a time of 4:46.14 and is also ranked second in the 200 free in 1:46.82. In the 1000 free, freshman Maddie Waggoner is ranked first with a 9:43.27 with junior Paige Mckenna closely behind her in second with a 9:44.28, and Blair Stoneburg in fourth with a 9:55.93. Bacon also leads the conference in the 100 back and 200 back, securing her first-place spot in both events by over a second. McConagha closely follows in the 100 back with a second-place ranking with an NCAA "B" cut time of 53.35.

5. HOW TO FOLLOW: Texas Invitational meet results are available here. Live results for the Georgia Invitational will be available here along with a live streaming link that can be found here. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the inside scoop throughout the weekend @BadgerSwimDive.