2004 WIAC Championships • Thursday Recap

The UW-Stevens Point men, which have won the league championship the past four seasons, enter Friday's (Feb. 20) competition with 270 points. UW-La Crosse is in second place with 254 points, while UW-Oshkosh is third with 124, UW-Whitewater fourth with 100, UW-Eau Claire fifth with 96 and UW-River Falls sixth with 93.

UW-Stevens Point had champions in three of the six events held Thursday, including Alex Anderson who won the 200 yard individual medley and Matt Sievers the 50 yard freestyle for the second straight year. Anderson posted a winning time of 1:56.03, while Sievers a mark of 21.41. The Pointers also finished first in the 200 yard freestyle relay, with Anderson, Sievers, Aaron Marshall and Tyler Eloranta swimming to a time of 1:24.43. UW-Stevens Point also won the relay a year ago.

UW-La Crosse had a pair of first-place efforts on Thursday, led by Shane Ryan's winning time of 4:45.07 in the 500 yard freestyle. Ryan established an Albee Hall record for the 500 yard freestyle by swimming to a time of 4:44.43 in the preliminaries. He is a two-time WIAC champion in the event. The Eagles also took the 400 yard medley relay, with Paul Noffke, David Dettmann, Matthew Spurr and Trevor Rowlands swimming to an Albee Hall record of 3:26.17.

Capturing the remaining event on Thursday's agenda was UW-Oshkosh's Chris Hansman. Hansman scored 485.70 points to win the one meter diving for the third consecutive year.

In the women's meet, UW-Stevens Point enters Friday's competition with 276 points, while two-time defending league champion UW-La Crosse is second with 238.5. UW-Eau Claire is situated in third place with 162 points, while UW-Oshkosh is fourth with 109, UW-Whitewater fifth with 82.5 and UW-River Falls sixth with 69.

UW-La Crosse had four event winners on Thursday, including Carlene Empanger and Anne Melvin who repeated as event champions. Empanger took the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:01.87 after setting WIAC and Albee Hall records with a time of 5:01.51 in the preliminaries. Melvin successfully defended her title in the 50 yard freestyle by posting a time of 24.46, but shared the crown due to a tie with UW-Eau Claire's Cori Severson. Another individual champion for the Eagles was Shara Geurts, who won the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:11.57, an Albee Hall record. UW-La Crosse also was victorious in the 400 yard medley relay, an event in which Fallon Toomsen, Steph Karis, Anne Melvin and Krista Melvin swam to a time of 3:55.14, a record for both the WIAC and Albee Hall. The Eagles won the event a year ago.

UW-Stevens Point, which scored a meet-best 81 points in the 50 yard freestyle, had only one event winner on Thursday, the 200 yard freestyle relay. Swimming to a time of 1:38.78 for the Pointers were Alissa Bartz, Jerica Crook, Kelsey Crunstedt and Erica Janssen.

UW-Oshkosh claimed the sixth and final champion of Thursday's competition as Rachel Heitkamp won the three meter diving with a score of 495.25. Heitkamp, who also won the event last year, counted 510.85 points in the preliminaries to set both WIAC and Albee Hall records.