By: Ryan Hartwig (@RyanHartwig)
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay swimming and diving teams each picked up their first dual meet wins of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating Horizon League opponent Wright State at the Peter F. Dorschel Natatorium. The Phoenix took 15 of the meet's 16 events on the women's side en route to a convincing 177-110 victory, while the men's squad used depth in a variety of events to pull out a 158-140 win. Both teams improved to 1-2 on the young season with the victories.

"I thought we made some strides forward today in certain areas," Green Bay head coach Jim Merner said. "The men got off to a great start, dominating the 1-meter diving and then putting together a great 200 medley relay win to really give us a spark. I'm also very proud of our women's team and I'm pleased with where we are right now. We still have a long way to go on both sides, but overall we saw some good things today."

The Phoenix men set the tone from the start, taking the top three spots in the meet's opening event - the 1-meter dive. Senior Mitchell Spaeth (Fredonia, Wis.) grabbed a first-place finish with a score of 301.50, which met the qualifying standard for the NCAA Zone Diving Regionals in March. It marked the second straight meet that Spaeth posted a Zone qualifying score, as he also qualified on the 3-meter board last weekend against Cleveland State.

"Mitchell had a great day," diving coach Tom Stover said. "His consistency is there, and he got off the board with authority in the 1-meter today. I've very happy with his physical and mental approach right now."

Spaeth also won the 3-meter board on Saturday, posting a score of 287.55. Junior Steven Bothun (Kimberly, Wis.) finished second behind his teammate on both boards, earning a personal best total of 269.55 in the 3-meter competition.

The quartet of Matt Hollub (Appleton, Wis.), Jonathan Lesniak (McHenry, Ill.), Robert Miner (Madison, Wis.) and Cole Hackney (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) built off the strong start by the divers in the 200-yard medley relay, racing to a win in 1:34.91. Miner was a three-time winner on Saturday, as he also took the 100 (52.22) and 200 (1:56.40) butterfly events.

Hackney was part of a group of Phoenix men that went 1-2-3 in the 50 freestyle, finishing second (21.97) behind sophomore Ben Loeffelholz (Dubuque, Iowa) (21.91). Lesniak helped the Phoenix go 1-2 in the men's 100 breaststroke, touching in at 1:00.53 behind teammate Ryan Korslin's (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) winning time of 59.70.

Wright State's men had nine first-place finishes compared to Green Bay's seven, but depth prevailed as the Phoenix had 21 second and third-place finishes in the 18-point victory.

Kendra Rottier (Green Bay, Wis.), fresh off a pair of wins last weekend, won three times on Saturday for the Phoenix women, taking the 1000 and 500 freestyle races, as well as the 200 butterfly. The junior edged out Wright State's Justyna Hampel (10:26.09) in the 1000 with a season-best time of 10:24.66, and then earned a win in the 200 fly with a time of 2:11.07. Rottier capped things off with a win in the 500 free in 5:09.87.

Junior Parker Wolf (Kohler, Wis.), sophomore Dana Iverson (Kenosha, Wis.) and freshman Marlee Kiander (Tomahawk, Wis.) were each two-time individual winners for the Green Bay women, as Wolf took the 50 (24.56) and 100 (54.25) freestyle events, Iverson took the 100 (59.76) and 200 (2:11.17) backstroke races and Kiander claimed the 100 (1:07.91) and 200 (2:29.40) breaststrokes. Wolf and Kiander were also members of Green Bay's winning 200 medley relay team, while Wolf was also on the victories 400 freestyle relay squad.

Senior Megan Burley (Hazelhurst, Wis.) notched her first collegiate win on Saturday, taking the 200 IM in 2:12.12, while other individual winners included Carrie Dinelli (Northbrook, Ill.) in the 3-meter diving event (238.27), Heather Bodin (Maple Grove, Minn.) in the 100 butterfly (58.86) and Racheal Weiland (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) in the 200 freestyle (1:56.95).

After two straight meets at home, the Green Bay swimming and diving squads hit the road for a pair of contests in the state of South Dakota. The Phoenix teams first travel to Brookings, S.D., on Friday to take on South Dakota State at 5 p.m., and then head to Vermillion, S.D., to face South Dakota on Saturday at noon.

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