GREEN BAY, Wis. – Welcome to another edition of Phoenix Weekly, brought to you by Capital Credit Union! Let's take a look at what's happening in Green Bay Athletics.
WEEK IN REVIEW
SWIM & DIVE
The Green Bay swimming and diving teams returned from their holiday break to face Northern Michigan earlier Saturday afternoon. NMU's teams outscored the Phoenix on both the men's and women's sides, but GB had plenty of positive performances.
John Burnard placed first in the 1,000-yard freestyle, giving Green Bay nine points after winning the race by a half-second. Sebby Smolecki tallied a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:45.40. His brother Alex, a freshman, took third in the 50-yard breaststroke, finishing with a time of 27.02. Another freshman, Eli Zimmerman, had an efficient outing in the 50-yard backstroke, posting a final time of 24.60. Zimmerman also placed second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 51.66. It was the day of the freshmen, with Max Kasal taking second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.02.
Alexa Kelly started the Phoenix off right with a second-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:54.58. Esther Oswald took second in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 28.22. Later in the meet, she tallied a first-place completion of the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 59.79, winning by nearly two seconds.
Annie Frederickson was phenomenal for the Phoenix, taking first on the three-meter board with one of her top scores of the year (260.39 points), 16 points ahead of the second-place finisher from NMU. She followed that up with a second-place finish on the one-meter, totaling a score of 247.79.
NORDIC SKI
The Green Bay Nordic Skiing team traveled up to Minnesota for the weekend after the NMU CCSA Invite was moved to Mt. Itasca due to weather in the Upper Peninsula. The Phoenix skiers finished in fourth place in the 7.5K Skate on Saturday before finishing fourth in the 15K Classic on Sunday. Ryan Thieme led the Green Bay men on Saturday, finishing the 7.5K skate in 19:15.1, good for 21st place. CJ Young and Declan Rodefeld rounded out the top three for the Phoenix, finishing 36th and 39th in 20:09.2 and 20:20.0 respectively. Silje Busklein led the women with a 43rd place finish, crossing the finish line in 24:50.1. Jenna Johnson and Lilly Franzen were not far behind, finishing in 54th and 65th, respectively.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Green Bay opened the week by beating Wright State on the road. Green Bay knocked down eight shots from deep to account for 24 of its 39 points in the opening half, before expanding the lead with three-point shooting in the second frame, eventually taking a 54-37 lead after a Marcus Hall three with 14:38 to go. Good free throw shooting and a dagger jumper from Reynolds sealed the win for Green Bay, 88-81.
Two days later, GB fell to Northern Kentucky, who currently sits just 0.5 games back of the Phoenix in the standings. Northern Kentucky took control of the game from the jump, getting out to a 13-6 lead to start. NKU didn't slow down in the second half, never allowing the Phoenix to cut the lead to anything lower than eight en route to a 74-52 win.
In non-game related news, Hall cashed in his first Horizon League Freshman of the Week award. David Douglas Jr. earned his second Freshman of the Week honor last week. Hall continues to be a key contributor for the Phoenix. In one of the toughest road trips in the Horizon League, at Wright State and Northern Kentucky, Hall averaged 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 29 minutes per game.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Green Bay extended its winning streak to 10 with a victory over Detroit Mercy last Thursday. Both squads traded baskets to begin the contest, and UDM extended its early lead to 7-4 with 7:15 remaining in the opening frame after Amaya Burch made a mid-range shot. Green Bay answered by ripping off an 11-0 run, capped by a Natalie Andersen triple, giving GB a 15-7 advantage. The Phoenix opened the floodgates out of intermission, opening the third quarter on an 8-3 spurt. Jasmine Kondrakiewicz splashed a three to cap the run with 7:29 left in the stanza, with GB leading by 16. Green Bay took advantage of more UDM turnovers later in the frame, expanding the lead to 25 going into the fourth quarter. GB led by no less than 20 in the final 10 minutes, winning its 10th consecutive game with a 75-48 victory over Detroit Mercy.
GB's run of dominance was halted by Oakland on Saturday in an 81-83 loss. Natalie McNeal was spectacular for the Phoenix (15-4, 8-1 HL), racking up a new career-high 24 points. Maddy Schreiber added 16 more, while Bailey Butler tallied a dozen before fouling out with 5:50 left in the fourth quarter. Brooke Quarles-Daniels, who drilled the game-winner, paced all scorers with 27 points for Oakland (8-9, 4-5 HL), while Kennedie Montue had 23 points.
Earlier today, Head Coach Kevin Borseth was named to the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award midseason watch list. This is the inaugural season of the award, and the award is named after the legendary former Harvard head coach. This year's watch list includes coaches from eight conferences. The five finalists for the award will be announced in March, with the winner named around the Final Four.
A LOOK AHEAD
SWIM & DIVE
It'll be a busy weekend for the teams, visiting Wisconsin on Friday before hosting Milwaukee at the Peter F. Dorschel Natatorium on Saturday.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Green Bay men's basketball team is returning home for a pair of games at the Resch Center, starting with Oakland on Thursday at 6 p.m. Oakland currently sits a half-game ahead of the Phoenix for first place in the HL.
Alumni Day will follow on Saturday when GB hosts Detroit Mercy at noon. Included in the Alumni Day festivities are jersey retirement ceremonies for Phoenix legends Tom Anderson, Ron Ripley, and Dennis Woelffer. Fans can purchase tickets for the games HERE.
NORDIC SKI
The Phoenix will host a 7.5K Skate and Classic Team Sprint at the Ariens Nordic CCSA Invite in Brillion, Wisconsin on Saturday and Sunday.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Green Bay women's basketball team will look to get back on track against IUPUI tonight when GB faces the Jaguars. IUPUI enters Wednesday night with a 4-13 record overall and a 2-6 record in conference play. Head Coach Kate Bruce is in her 2nd season after taking over for Austin Parkinson, Butler's current head coach, last season. The Jaguars boast four different players who lead the team among notable statistical categories. Katie Davidson paces IUPUI in points (18.7 PPG), steals (1.3 SPG), and minutes (33.7 MPG). Jasmyn Turner is the team's leading rebounder at 7.3 RPG, while Jaela Johnson averages 2.3 assists per contest and Tahlia Walton tallies 1.2 blocks per game.
The Phoenix will return home for a Sunday tilt against Wright State, which also marks Alumni Day, and Chari Nordgaard's jersey will be retired. The Raiders currently sit in third place.
OTHER HAPPENINGS
Green Bay student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom, continuing a long-standing streak of semesters with a 3.0 or better GPA that dates back to 2000. Under the watch of Assistant AD for Academic Services Mike Kline, GB student-athletes have extended the streak to 48 consecutive semesters after the Fall of 2023. Phoenix student-athletes have also had a 3.3 GPA in 18 straight semesters. As a whole, Phoenix student-athletes attained a semester GPA of 3.54, with eight of GB's 14 varsity programs boasting a 3.65 or higher GPA. Each of the 14 programs achieved at least a 3.25 GPA. The 3.54 GPA is the second-highest mark for the entire department since the streak began in the Spring of 2000. Over 86.5 percent of Green Bay student-athletes recorded at least a 3.0 GPA, while 24.5 percent tallied a 4.0 GPA. Men's golf led the way with an impressive 3.74 GPA.
Hey, Phoenix youth! Students in kindergarten through 8th grade are encouraged to sign up for Phlash's Phriends, the Official Kid's Club of the Green Bay Phoenix. At just $25 per child, each member receives numerous benefits, including a free ticket to all home volleyball and basketball games, postgame court access, Phoenix apparel, and personalized Kid's Club Day activities.
Fly With the Phoenix was named the official NIL collective of the Green Bay Phoenix last week Tuesday. Started in 2022, 'Fly with the Phoenix' was established by dedicated former student-athletes, alumni, and local business professionals to provide Green Bay student-athletes with name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities. This partnership will bring a collaboration between the Green Bay Athletic Department and 'Fly with the Phoenix'. Fans attending home athletic events will notice additional marketing efforts to help promote the relationship and how fans can get involved. View the different tiers of membership opportunities here and learn more about the Fly with the Phoenix collective here.
###
Follow the Phoenix on social media: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
To receive Green Bay Athletics news via email, please fill out this form.
---GreenBayPhoenix.com---
