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Kessler, Moran Finish Second At WIAC Championship

David Bahr Chris Kessler Mike Moran Ben Tompkins

Senior Randy Boelk became the most decorated male swimmer in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history Friday night to help the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's swimming and diving team strengthen its lead on first place after two days of competition at the conference championships in Oshkosh.

The Pointers now have 680 points to easily outdistance second-place UW-La Crosse's 460 points as UW-Stevens Point aims for its fourth title in five years. The UW-Stevens Point women's team also remains in first place with 560.5 points, while UW-Eau Claire is in second place with 525.5.

Friday's competition featured four WIAC records as UW-Eau Claire junior Matt Oglesby had an NCAA Division III "A" cut time of 50.11 in the 100 yard butterfly for the only men's record. UW-Eau Claire senior Brianna Crowley set a record in the 400 yard individual medley with a time of 4:41.07, while UW-Stevens Point junior Christine Sammons set the 100 yard breaststroke record in the preliminaries at 1:07.88. Sammons also was a member of the Pointers' record-setting 200 yard medley relay team that was clocked in 1:48.47. She was joined by freshman Alissa Bartz, junior Mary Thone and sophomore Jennifer Randall.

Boelk became the first WIAC participant to ever win four career 400 yard individual medley titles. He had a time of 4:08.9 for his ninth career individual title, tying him with three other swimmers for the most career individual titles. He also was a member of his 12th conference championship relay title, winning both the 200 yard medley relay in 1:33.81 and the 800 yard freestyle relay in 7:00.00. His 21 overall league titles surpass the previous WIAC career record of 18 held by UW-Eau Claire's Steve Hollman from 1984-87. Boelk was joined on the 200 yard medley by senior Tim Benjamin, junior Anthony Harris and junior Nate Eddingsaas. The 800 yard relay featured Boelk, sophomore Thad Gunther, Benjamin and Harris.

In addition to the 100 yard butterfly title, Oglesby also claimed the 100 yard backstroke crown on Friday with a time of 51.78 seconds. UW-La Crosse junior Chad Morrow won the 100 yard breaststroke in 59.36 seconds. UW-Stevens Point also received titles from Benjamin in the 200 yard freestyle in 1:44.56 and freshman Chris Hansman in the three meter diving event with 463.0 points.

UW-Oshkosh freshman Renee Porter won the 100 yard backstroke for her second title of the meet. Porter, who also won the 50 yard freestyle on Thursday, posted a time of 59.06 seconds in her backstroke win. UW-Oshkosh freshman diver Rachel Heitkamp won the one meter event with a score of 416.35 points, giving UW-Oshkosh three of the four diving titles. Teammate Erin LeRoy, a junior, won the three meter event Thursday and was third in the one meter with a score of 402.75.

UW-La Crosse freshman Shara Guerts won the 200 yard freestyle in 1:56.98 for the Eagles' second women's individual title of the meet. After setting the WIAC record in preliminaries, Sammons captured the 100 yard breaststroke title for the third straight year, posting a finals time of 1:08.17.

In addition to its 200 yard medley relay win, UW-Stevens Point also won the 800 yard freestyle relay in 7:55.90. Randall, freshman Erica Janssen, Thone and junior Amy Rockwell swam the 800 yard freestyle relay.

Other highlights for the UW-Oshkosh women were a pair of top-five finishes by sophomore Elizabeth Tierney, who placed fourth in the 100 yard breaststroke and fifth in 100 yard butterfly. The Titans also received a fifth-place finish from junior Jennifer Broadley in the 100 yard backstroke and a sixth-place finish from senior Stacy Bradley in the 400 yard individual medley. The UW-Oshkosh men also received a second-place finish from junior Mike Moran in the 100 yard breaststroke, a second-place finish from junior Chris Kessler in the 3 meter diving, a third-place finish from junior Dave Bahr in the 3 meter diving, a fourth-place finish from freshman Ben Tompkins in the 3 meter diving and a fifth-place finish from sophomore Nick Duffy in the 400 yard individual medley.

Three teams are within just 30 points on the women's side as the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point holds the first day lead at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in Oshkosh. UW-Stevens Point is also off to a successful start in defending its men's team title after the first day.

UW-Stevens Point's women's team has 245.5 points, compared to 233.5 for UW-Eau Claire and 216 for UW-La Crosse. The UW-Stevens Point men's team has 318 points to lead second place UW-La Crosse, which has 201 points.

The Pointer men's team won all five swimming events Thursday, capturing relay titles in the 200 yard freestyle at 1:24.30 and the 400 yard medley at 3:27.65.

Pointers' senior Randy Boelk won the 200 yard individual medley for the third time in his career with a time of 1:54.66. The win, combined with the relay victory, gives him eight individual titles and 10 relay titles in his four-year career. Nick Hansen captured the title in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 21.65 and Tim Benjamin claimed the 500 yard freestyle in 4:46.31. It was the first career individual titles for both UW-Stevens Point seniors.

Junior Dave Bahr of UW-Oshkosh won the one-meter diving event while teammate Chris Kessler, a junior, finished second. The Titans also had the top two finishers in the women's three-meter diving in junior Erin LeRoy and freshman Rachel Heitkamp. It marked the first time in school history that the Titans had the top two finishers in any diving event.

UW-Stevens Point's women's team set the only WIAC record on the first day of competition in the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:37.14, winning the event for the first time since 1987. The Pointers also won the 400 yard medley relay in 3:58.09.

UW-Oshkosh freshman Renee Porter qualified for next month's NCAA Division III Championship by winning the 50 yard freestyle in a time of 24.02 seconds. Freshman Karrin Lick of UW-La Crosse won the 500 yard freestyle in 5:12.84 and sophomore Kristjana Marston of UW-Eau Claire claimed the 200 yard individual medley in 2:13.12, edging teammate Brianna Crowley, senior, by one-hundredth of a second.

The Titans also received a fifth-place finish from junior Mike Moran in the 500 yard freestyle, a sixth-place finish from freshman Ben Tompkins in the 1 meter diving and an eighth-place finish from senior Stacy Bradley in the 200 yard individual medley.