UW-L Finishes Second at WIAC Championships for Ninth Straight Year; Dembski Wins 1,650 Freestyle

For Immediate Release: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009

Brown Deer, Wis. - The UW-La Crosse men's swimming & diving team finished second at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships Saturday night at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center. It marks UW-L's ninth straight second-place finish. UW-Stevens Point captured its 10th straight league title with 999.5 team points while UW-L was second with 751.5. UW-Whitewater placed third (555.5) followed by UW-Eau Claire (483.5), UW-Oshkosh (244.0) and UW-River Falls (192.0).

The Eagles' Justin Dembski won the 1,650 freestyle Saturday with an NCAA Division III "B" qualifying time of 16:13.38.

Matt Diehl, Michael Beilman, Colin Schmidt and Spencer Loch finished second in the 400 freestyle relay Saturday night with a "B" national time of 3:04.07.

UW-L had three finishers in the top-seven of the 200 breaststroke Saturday as Diehl placed second (2:08.04), Chad Martin fifth (2:13.36) and Bill Shuster seventh (2:18.89). Diehl met national "B" qualifying standards with his second-place finish.

Other top finishes Saturday included Loch third (46.52) and Beilman seventh (46.92) in the 100 freestyle while Casey Borden was fourth (1:57.90) and Grayson Hoffmann sixth (2:00.30) in the 200 backstroke. Kurt Zehel finished fourth in the 200 butterfly (2:00.24).

In the 3-meter diving competition Saturday, Tannor Classon finished sixth (367.35 points) while Trey Edgerle was seventh (363.50) and Casey Chamberlain eighth (333.65).

For complete WIAC Championships results, click here.

UW-L returns to action Wednesday, March 18 at the NCAA Division III Championships in Minneapolis, Minn.