The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater swimming and diving program competed in a triangular featuring Lawrence University and Lake Forest College in Appleton Saturday. The Warhawk men topped Lawrence 195-84 and Lake Forest 135-119 while the women defeated Lawrence 149-105 but fell to LFC 189-91. In combined scores, UWW topped the Vikings 344-189 and were bested by the Foresters 308-226.
Saturday's meet opened up with the 200-yard medley relay. The Warhawk women's squad of
Gianna Gnewuch (Madison, Wis./Verona Area),
Gabby Sponseller (Goshen, Ind./Concord),
Naomi Hamerla (Lac Du Flambeau, Wis./Lakeland Union) and
Zaria Terry (Madison, Wis./La Follette) came into the wall in 1:56.15 to finish second by less than three-tenths of a second. The men's foursome of
Ethan Coons (Neenah, Wis./Neenah),
Donny Gramer (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore),
Matthew Ozog (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) and
Ethan Bergman (Racine, Wis./Bradford) took first by nearly four seconds with a clocking of 1:39.44.
Hunter Hayberger (Sandusky, Ohio/Sandusky) was the first Warhawk to take gold individually with a time of 10:32.02 in the 1000 freestyle. Dom Schleuter added another first place finish for UWW with a time of 1:50.64 in the 200 free. Gnewuch was the top finisher for the Warhawk women in the 100 backstroke with a second-place time of 1:03.27. Izzy Doczy was close behind for third in the event. Coons grabbed silver on the men's side with a clocking of 57.19 in the 100 back.
In the 100 breaststroke, the women's race was a photo finish with Sponseller narrowly taking second with a time of 1:11.87, just .02 behind the winner from Lake Forest. Gramer was tops for the men registering a time of 1:01.09.
Anthony Mrozowski (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) added third-place points to the team total in the event. Ozog also added third-place points with a time of 2:10.70 in the 200 butterfly.
Zaria Terry (Madison, Wis./La Follette) was flying in the 50 free taking gold by half of a second with a time of 25.29.
Emily Connell (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) secured third with a time of 26.50. Bergman made it a sweep of firsts for the Warhawks with a time of 22.26 in the men's race. The pair repeated the feat in the 100 fly with Terry posting a time of 59.91 and Bergman clocking a 53.33. UWW also swept 3-4-5 on the men's side in the event led by Ozog's 55.63. Schleuter picked up another gold with a time of 49.18 in the 100 free.
The 200 backstroke belonged to Gnewuch with a time of 2:15.58. On the men's side, Coons led UWW with a silver time of 2:04.54.
Daniel Keller (Omaha, Neb./Papillion-LaVista) and Gramer went 1-2 in the 200 breaststroke clocking times of 2:18.31 and 2:19.52 respectively.
Hayberger claimed his second top-three finish of the day with bronze in the 500 free after stopping the clock in 5:09.26.
Gnewuch and Sponseller teamed up for second and third in the 200 yard individual medley with times of 2:20.32 and 2:20.45 respectively. Keller was barely out-touched in the men's race with a time of 2:02.78, just .03 behind the winner.
The final event of the meet, the 200 freestyle relay, saw the Warhawk men's combination of Mrozowski, Hayberger, Gramer and Bergman securing first in a thriller - winning the event by .05 with a time of 1:29.98.
Ciara Hynes (Eureka, Mo./Eureka),
Ava Hennig (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove), Connell and Terry combined for the top time for a UWW foursome. Their 1:45.31 was good for a runner-up finish.
