By: Ryan Hartwig (@RyanHartwig)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa (GreenBayPhoenix.com) -
The Green Bay men's and women's swimming and diving teams finished up day two
of the three-day Iowa Hawkeye Invitational on Saturday at the Campus Recreation
and Wellness Center Pool, with several Phoenix swimmers and divers turning in
strong performances against stiff competition.
The
Phoenix squads are facing swimmers and divers from Denver, Iowa, Michigan,
Notre Dame, Washington State, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota State.
Both Phoenix teams are sitting in sixth place after the second day of the meet.
Top
women's performances on Friday came from sophomore Kendra Rottier (Green Bay, Wis.) and senior Amber Bartholomew (Alexandria, Minn.), who both earned top-eight
finishes in the finals of their respective events.
Rottier
placed eighth in the 500-yard freestyle race on day one, touching in at
5:02.04. The sophomore qualified for the finals with a blazing time of 4:57.04
in the prelims, which was good enough for second on Green
Bay's all-time list.
Bartholomew
also placed eighth in the 200 IM, finishing in 2:04.78. The senior was just off
her personal best (2:03.44) in the prelims of the event, swimming to a time of
2:03.98.
Junior
Emilee Harry (Sheboygan, Wis.) also
moved into the school's top-five list in the 50 free Friday, recording a time
of 23.82 in the event's swim-off.
A
pair of Phoenix men turned in strong performances Friday in the 3-meter diving
event, as senior Daniel Pogue (Chisholm,
Minn.) and junior Mitchell Spaeth
(Fredonia, Wis.) both finished in the top six. Pogue scored a 307.80 on the
high board, which was good enough for fourth place, while Spaeth was close
behind in sixth with 303.75.
On
Saturday Pogue put up an even bigger score on the 1-meter board, posting a
366.15 in a second-place effort while breaking his own school record of 339.90 from last season. The senior finished behind only Minnesota's
Kristof Jorgensen, who won with 392.15 points.
"The whole field of eight divers was on fire in the final round Saturday evening," Phoenix diving coach Tom Stover said. "Danny's last dive was near perfect, with some of the Big Ten judges awarding him nines. He scored 67 points on that last dive alone, which vaulted him into second place in a very tough and veteran field of divers.
"I have seen Danny perform like this, but not on this big of a stage and under this kind of extreme pressure. He has put in the work necessary for this, so it was doubly satisfying for us to see him enjoy this outcome. It was absolutely a phenomenal performance."
Senior
Amy Burback (Waunakee, Wis.) was the
lone Green Bay swimmer to place in the top eight on day two, rounding out the A
finals heat in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.08). Bartholomew had another strong
performance on Saturday in the 400 IM, as the school's record-holder in the event
finished 11th in 4:27.27.
Green Bay wraps up the third and final day of the Iowa
Hawkeye Invitational on Sunday. For live results, click here.
Men's Team Standings (After Day Two)
1. Michigan - 654
2. Iowa - 476
3. Notre Dame - 352.5
4. Denver - 280.5
5. Milwaukee - 201
6. Green Bay - 149
7. Minnesota - 112
Women's Team Standings (After Day Two)
1. Michigan - 631
2. Iowa - 433
3. Denver - 407
4. Washington State - 258
5. Milwaukee - 222
6. Green Bay - 157
7. Minnesota - 85
8. Nebraska - 43
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For the latest and most up-to-date information on Green
Bay Athletics and Green Bay Swimming and Diving, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.
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