Defending champion UW-Stevens Point and 2007 runner-up UW-La Crosse are the leading contenders for the team title at this weekend’s Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship in UW-Oshkosh’s Albee Hall.

The 46th edition of the WIAC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship will run in conjunction with the 37th Annual WIAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship this Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 21-23). The daily schedule features preliminary competition in the 10 a.m. sessions and consolation and championship activity in the 5:30 p.m. sessions.

UW-Stevens Point is splashing for its ninth consecutive WIAC title and 12th overall. The Pointers won last year’s meet held in Stevens Point with 914 points, while UW-La Crosse placed second with 882. UW-La Crosse, which captured its last WIAC crown in 1971, has finished second the past seven years.

UW-Eau Claire followed in third place at last year’s championship with 507 points, while UW-Whitewater ranked fourth with 457, UW-Oshkosh fifth with 310 and UW-River Falls sixth with 175. UW-Eau Claire owns 25 WIAC championships, with its latest coming in 1999.

This year’s meet features 13 student-athletes who have combined to total 52 first-place finishes in previous individual and relay events at the WIAC Championship.

Leading the group of returning WIAC titleholders is 10-time champion Chase Gross of UW-Stevens Point. Gross, a junior, is the two-time defending champion in both the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events. He also won the 50-yard freestyle in 2006. Gross has been a member of five first-place relay teams, including the Pointers’ 400-yard medley relay squad of a year ago.

Ben Gensler and Rob Donisch will also be expected to accumulate points for a UW-Stevens Point squad that hasn’t finished lower than third place in the WIAC standings since 1975.

Gensler, a senior, will be gunning for his third straight title in the 200-yard breaststroke and his second consecutive championship in the 100-yard breaststroke. He has been a part of three first-place relay teams, including last year’s 400-yard medley relay.

Donisch, a junior, hits the water in an attempt to capture his third straight title in the 200-yard butterfly and his second consecutive winning performance in the 100-yard butterfly. Last year, Donisch joined Chase and Gensler as a member of the Pointers’ first-place 400-yard medley relay squad.

Senior Willie Clapp is the other returning WIAC champion for UW-Stevens Point. Clapp won the 100-yard backstroke last season after being a part of the Pointers’ first-place 200-yard medley and 400-yard medley relay teams in 2006.

If UW-La Crosse is expected to break UW-Stevens Point’s string of WIAC titles, the Eagles will need strong performances from seniors Karl Richters and Anthony Schmidt.

Richters is attempting to become the first swimmer in WIAC history to win four straight titles in the 1,650-yard freestyle. He also is a two-time 500-yard freestyle champion. Last year, Richters swam on the Eagles’ first-place 800-yard freestyle relay team.

Schmidt, who was named the outstanding swimmer at last year’s meet, has seven WIAC titles to his credit. He is looking to become the second swimmer in WIAC annals to capture four straight 400-yard individual medley championships. Schmidt is the two-time defending champion in the 200-yard backstroke and the defending champion in the 200-yard individual medley. He also won the 100-yard backstroke in 2005.

Another key performer back for UW-La Crosse is sophomore Matthew Diehl. Last year, Diehl won the 50-yard freestyle and swam on first-place teams in the 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay, 800-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay.

Senior Anthony Wolff, junior Chris Boyle and sophomores Michael Beilman and Cole Swanson also return for the Eagles.

Last year, Wolff was a part of three relay titles, Beilman and Boyle two each and Swanson one. The Eagles’ 200-yard freestyle relay team included Boyle and Wolf, while the 400-yard freestyle relay squad included Beilman, Boyle and Wolff and the 800-yard freestyle relay Beilman. UW-La Crosse’s 200-yard medley relay team included Swanson and Wolff.

Junior Jacob Chadderdon of UW-Oshkosh and junior Bryan Dykstra of UW-Eau Claire conclude the list of returning WIAC champions.

Chadderdon has been named the meet’s outstanding diver the past two years. He won the three-meter diving in 2007 and the one-meter diving in 2006. Dykstra was the one-meter diving champion at last year’s meet.

On the national stage, UW-Stevens Point’s Gross leads the NCAA Division III in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 48.92 seconds. He also ranks fourth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:53.29 and fifth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.63 seconds.

UW-Stevens Point’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Clapp, Donisch, Gross and freshman Matthew Olp ranks third in the country with a time of 1:22.93.

The NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship will be held March 20-22 in Oxford, Ohio.