Swim and Dive goes for third and fifth place at Gene Davis

Colan Treml, Sports Writer

The UW Oshkosh men and women’s swim and dive team captured third- and fifth-place finishes at the Lawrence University Gene Davis invitational on Nov. 17.

The women totaled 479 points throughout the meet, and the men collected 338 points as the Titans topped off another successful night in the water.

UWO junior Sydney Challoner secured the only first-place finish for the Titans as she powered to a 2:20.34 time in the women’s 200-yard individual medley. Challoner also finished second in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke and the women’s 200-yard fly posting times of 1:10.90 and 2:17.12, respectively.

The Titans collected a total of eight other second-place finishes throughout the night including sophomore Jennifer Lutz in the women’s 100-yard backstroke and freshman Alex Schuster in the 50-yard freestyle posting times of 1:06.10 and 26.35, respectively.

The other second-place finishes for the Titans included the men and women’s 200-yard free relay teams as Case Geidl, Ian Sewell, Jarrett lieder and Michael Gerondale propelled the men’s team. Schuster, Rachel Jaworski, Hannah Cunningham and Tessa Shorten helped command the women’s.

Second-place finishes were also secured by freshmen Alex Jernberg in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke, Lieder in the men’s 1650-yard free and sophomore Matt Wilke in the men’s one- and three-meter diving.

Cunningham said she’s happy to be able to help the team out in whatever way possible.

“As a freshman, I still have a lot to learn and I am glad I can contribute to my teammates in the best possible way,” Cunningham said. “The last thing I would want to do is let the people I work with every day down, so I will continue to give it my all during both meets and practices.”

After a tough meet against UW-Whitewater on Nov. 9, Challoner said she’s extremely pleased with how the team performed at the Gene Davis Invitational.

“I believe that the team did very well on Saturday,” Challoner said. “This was our first time competing against multiple teams and we were able to really race against their swimmers.”

With the season just beginning, Sewell said he thinks that the friendship between his teammates is something incredible and that the sky is the limit for the Titans.

“The one thing this team really thrives on is how close we are,” Sewell said. “We are a family and care about each other. I’ve been so impressed with how many people are cheering for one another, even in those long events.”