UW-L Leads After First Day of WIAC Championships; Eagles Win Five Events

For Immediate Release: Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009

Brown Deer, Wis. - The UW-La Crosse women's swimming & diving team leads after the first day of competition at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships Thursday at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center. The Eagles have 309 team points while UW-Stevens Point is second with 212. UW-Eau Claire is in third-place (180) followed by UW-Whitewater (112), UW-Oshkosh (68) and UW-River Falls (65).

UW-L's Danielle Ellingson, Chelsea Hoff and Rachel LaValley each captured individual titles Thursday night while the Eagles swept the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relays. Ellingson and Hoff both set WIAC Championships records with their winning performances.

Ellingson won the 200 I.M. with an NCAA Division III "B" qualifying time of 2:06.29. UW-L's Maria Krisch was fifth (2:11.09) in the 200 I.M. while Elisabeth Misener was seventh (2:13.09).

Hoff captured her second consecutive 50 freestyle with a national "A" qualifying mark of 23.10 Thursday night. Teammates Brianna Peyer placed third (23.95) and Clare Hathaway fifth (24.15), earning "B" qualifying times.

LaValley took the 3-meter diving competition Thursday with a score of 397.55 points. UW-L had five divers in the top-seven in the 3-meter, including Shannon Doyle who placed third (392.35), Kelly Schippers fifth (335.75), Samantha Koch sixth (310.25) and Megan Wheeler seventh (292.65).

UW-L's 200 freestyle relay (1:33.47) and 400 medley relay (3:48.97) both came away with WIAC titles and NCAA III "A" qualifying marks Thursday. Both relays also set WIAC Championship records with the 200 freestyle winning its third straight league title overall and the 400 medley relay its second.

Other top finishers Thursday for the Eagles included Katelyn Hartung placing fourth (5:09.07) and Anita Talavera sixth (5:15.47) in the 500 freestyle.

For complete results, click here.

Action continues Friday, Feb. 20 with the second day of competition of the WIAC Championships.