UW-La Crosse’s very own women’s swimming and diving team took home their fourth straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship on Feb. 21. The competition took place both Friday, Feb. 20, and Saturday, Feb. 21. They were the underdogs going in, but swept the competition. UW-Whitewater was the front runner, but they took second, while UW-Stevens Point took home third place.
Brooke Reynolds received the WIAC Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award. To be considered for this award, the current season must be the last year of competition for the athlete, they must maintain at minimum a 3.5 grade point average and they must have competed for at least two years.
Reynolds helped the Eagles bring home another title with winning the 200 backstroke. When asked how it felt to have such a big part in getting the team to nationals, Reynolds said, “I have learned so much about what it takes to be a leader while being on this team. Everyone on the team contributed to our conference championship and we could not have done it without each team member.”
Other team members who contributed to this triumph were Sara Zemanovic, who took the 100 freestyle title, her third win in a row.
UW-L’s Jordan Anderson was awarded the WIAC Diver of the Meet. Anderson placed third in the one-meter competition and took home the three-meter title. She is now the fourth diver in UW-L history to take home the WIAC Diver of the Meet award.
Senior Rachel Medenwaldt was enlisted to the 2014-15 WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team. This team is for individuals who have displayed ideal sportsmanship throughout the swimming and diving season. Reynolds notes how excited the entire team and staff are to have won four consecutive championships. “We all have worked so hard in and out of the pool, and it feels good to celebrate all of your hard work paying off as a team.”
Diving Head Coach Barry Schockmel added, “Going into the final day, we had a very slim lead over Whitewater. The team rose up and competed as well as I have ever seen.”
Coach Charlie King has led the Eagles to back-to-back WIAC titles. King was named as the WIAC Women’s Coach of the Year for his first two seasons.
The Eagles competed at Nationals last weekend, Feb. 28 to March 1, in the NCAA Division III Region 1 Diving Championships at the University of Chicago. There were six divers qualified, four women and two men. According to Schockmel, qualifying in this major meet is very difficult. The men included Justin Bublitz and Tanner Folvag, and women Anderson, Christina Reif, Kayley Alioto and Jessica Metz competed. Bublitz is the only senior who competed at the Regional Qualifying Meet.
They will then head to the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships over spring break from March 18 through March 21 in Texas. Good luck, lady eagles!