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RIPON, Wis. – The 2012 edition of the Midwest Conference (MWC) Swimming and Diving Championships will take place Friday, February 17 through Sunday, February 19, 2012 at the Boldt Natatorium on the campus of Lawrence University.
Grinnell looks to extend its championship streak to 11 after capturing both the men’s and women’s team championships in 2011. Lake Forest was the last team to hold championships, winning on the men’s side in 2001 and the women’s in 1998, and aim to overthrow the Pioneers after a pair of runner-up finishes last season.
On the women’s side there are 13 events that return a champion while the men will have 14 champions come back to defend their crowns. Along with MWC Championships there will be MWC records and NCAA qualifications at stake as a combined 14 conference records were broken with five different events having champions that secured a NCAA “A” cut or “B” cut.
Beloit’s men snagged a sixth place finish and the women ended up fifth in the 2011 championships and look to move up this season. For the men, Greg Schalla holds the sixth fastest time in the conference in the 1650-freestyle (18:14.45) and has the Bucs top times in eight other events. William McAneny leads Beloit in the sprint events with top marks in the 50-freestyle (23.17) and 100-freestyle (50.74). Nora Harty Holte headlines the women’s side and tops the charts in five different events which include the 50-, 100-, 200-, 500- and 1650-freestyles while checking in as a top-16 performer in the conference in four of those events. Julianna Angeli will compete for a medal in the 100- and 200-butterfly events while Emily Law leads Beloit in the 200-backstroke and 400-IM events.
Carroll slipped down in the standings with a fifth and sixth place finish, respectively, by its men’s and women’s programs but looks to be back in the mix in 2012. Alberto Degiovanni owns the top performances in the 50- and 100-freestyle as well as the 100- and 200-backstroke while Alex Schneider leads the Pioneers in the 100-breaststroke and 200-IM. Alex Mishun returns as the champion of the one and three-meter dive and was among the best in MWC during the regular season. Jordan Barclay defends her 200-yard IM championships as she is the only Carroll swimmer to have captured gold last season. Barclay notched the second fastest time in the MWC this season (2:15.66) in the 200-IM while she also clocked the top time in the conference in the 100-yard breast stroke (1:08.97) and a top-10 time in the 100-butterfly (1:04.19, sixth).
After capturing the men’s and women’s championships last season Grinnell looks to win dual championships for the 11th straight year when they travel to Appleton, Wis. Michael Brus is the defending champion in the 100- and 200-backstroke as well as the 400-IM. Brus was one of the top swimmers during the regular season where he tallied the top time in 10 different events. Marco Fulgoni also defends his 50-freestyle title and holds the second fastest time (21.92) in the conference behind Brus. Kelly Bruce leads the Grinnell women after a pair of diving championships last year and is joined by Morgan Bober as returning champions. Bober holds the top time in the 100-butterfly (1:02.49) which is the event she won gold in 2011 while also holding the conference top mark in the 200-butterfly (2:22.49). Grinnell also defends titles in eight different relays which included all five on the men’s side and three on the women’s side.
Coming off a ninth place women’s finish and an eighth place men’s finish Illinois C. sets its sights higher in 2012 Tom Deppe ranks seventh in the MWC in the 100-backstroke (57.02) and looks to contend for a medal while also ranking 16th in the 50-freestyle (22.99). Xander Benziger leads the team in both the 100- and 200-breaststroke and will look to contribute points on the men’s side. Elisha Nelson leads the Lady Blues into the championships ranking sixth in MWC in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:12.14) and eighth in the 200-breaststroke (2:41.87). Taylor Brien will contend in the 100- and 200-butterfly, ranking 18th and 17th, respectively, with Amibeth Thompson topping the charts in the distance events including the 500- and 1650-freestyle.
The Prairie Fire claimed a pair of eighth place finishes last year and will rely on Tyler O’Neill to improve the men’s place in the standings. O’Neill leads Knox in six different events and ranks in the top-15 in the conference in the 100-backstroke (58.05), 200-backstroke (2:09.19), 100-breaststroke (1:04.66), 200-breaststroke (2:24.09), 200-backstroke (2:24.09) and the 100-butterfly (56.72). Patrick Inness holds top performances for Knox in four freestyle events while Matthew Klich (200-breaststroke) and Qichen Nig (400-IM) will contend in the breaststroke and individual medley events. Elizabeth Cooley and Victoria Kassabaum will guide the women as they combine for 11 different top-10 times in the MWC this season. Kassabaum ranks eighth in both the 500-freestyle (5:34.09) and 100-butterfly (1:05.84). Cooley will contend for championships in four different events in which she ranks in the top-six of the conference including the 200-breaststroke (third, 2:32.82), 100-breaststroke (fourth, 1:10.92), 200-IM (fifth, 2:19.82) and 400-IM (sixth, 4:59.06).
Lake Forest picked up a pair of runner-up finishes in 2011 and looks to improve on the teams’ point totals from last year’s championships. On the men’s side the Foresters return defending champions Alex Marks (200-breaststroke) and Garr Punnett (200-fly) to lead the way. Punnett leads the MWC so far this year in the 100- (52.77) and 200-fly (1:59.34) while Marks is first in the 200-breaststroke (2:11.03). Zachary Wenner rounds out a strong trio of swimmers, holding top-five times in the 100- (48.22), 200- (1:45.21), and 500-freestyle (4:53.88) events. The Forester women finished just eight points shy of a team title in 2011 and return champions in eight events. Becky Shaak defends titles in three events (400-IM, 500-freestyle, 1650-freestyle) while Kelsey Hoeper is the reigning 50- and 100-freestyle champion. The Lake Forest women also took home gold in the 400- and 800-freestyle relays and hold top times in all five relays this season. In addition, divers Sam Gardner and Christina Pekar are already eligible for selection to the 2012 NCAA Championships.
After improving to third-place finishes in both the men’s and women’s side Lawrence will compete for a chance to win a team championship for the first time since the 2000 season. Evan Flack will challenge for gold in the 200-freestyle (sixth, 1:50.91) and 100-butterfly (third, 54.92) as he ranks in the top six in both events while Peter Brengel also has a pair of top-six times in the 100- (sixth, 55.61) and 200-backstroke (third, 2:02.92). Hannah Gabriel and Taylor Winter lead the Vikings on the women’s side as both rank in the top five in the conference in a variety of freestyle events. Gabriel ranks second in the 200-freestyle (2:01.06), sixth in the 100-freestyle (57.12) and fifth in the 1650-freestyle (19:03.35). Winter holds the second best time in the 1000-freestyle (11:03.19) and the third fastest time in the 1650-freestyle (18:08.06). The women’s 800-freestyle relay is also a top contender after swimming the fourth-fastest time in the conference (8:31.85) this season.
Monmouth finished a spot behind Lawrence last season on both the men’s and women’s side and welcome back a strong group of swimmers to challenge for the school’s first championship. The Fighting Scots won five individual championships on the men’s side last year as Josh Dunn won the 100-freestyle, 200-freestyle and 200-IM with teammate Gabe Baginski capturing titles in the 500- and 1650-freestyle. This season Dunn holds a top-five time in the MWC in four events headlined by swimming the second fastest time in the 400-IM (4:23.99), 100-backstroke (54.62) and 100-freestyle (47.94). Baginski also has top-five marks in four events with the second best time in the 1000-freestyle (17:54.26). While the women don’t return an individual champion they have put together a solid season led by Krysta Sparks. Sparks ranks in the top-10 of the MWC in five different events including the second fastest time in the 100-fly (1:02.50) and the fifth best time in the 200-breaststroke (2:38.72). Kendra Kuehl will contend in the 500- and 1000-freestyle where she ranks 13th in the MWC in the 1000-freestyle.
Ripon captured a pair of seventh place finishes last year and look to move up in the standings in 2012. On the men’s side Jonathan Newberry holds top times in four different events for the Red Hawks including top-15 times in the conference in the 50-freestyle (22.88) and the 100-freestyle (50.17). Lucas Ebert has a top-10 time in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.77) while also topping the Ripon charts in the 200-breaststroke (2:28.59) and the 200-IM (2:13.64). Laura Shively has the Red Hawks top times in three different events including the 100-backstroke (32.71) and 100- (1:29.56) and 200-breaststroke (3:10.97). Sara Heitkamp joins Shively as she has top times in the 100- (1:08.52) and 200-butterfly (2:36.04) as well as the 200-IM (2:33.98).