2008 Woodie Awards
Depleted 'Hawks fall to Blugolds
Chris Kuhagen
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: Sports
A shorthanded men's swimming and diving team left McPhee Pool Saturday hoping its 150-91 loss to the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds will give them enough motivation to finish its season on a positive note.
"We squeaked past [UW-Eau Claire] earlier this season, but being undermanned hurt today," Head Coach Joel Rollings said. "We have to figure out how to grind out wins but are in no position to make excuses for the way we performed today."
The Warhawks (6-2) have edged the Blugolds (3-4) on two different occasions this season, but were competing without senior captain Kyle Boers, juniors Mike Huffman and A.J. Fuller, and freshman Matt Wiswell. were also unavailable for this meet. However, all four are expected to compete in the team's last dual meet of the season, a Feb. 9 showdown at UW-La Crosse.
The fact that the 'Hawks were missing almost one-fifth of its roster did not prevent a pair of freshmen from having their best performances of the season. The efforts by Matt Mintz and Andy Hanney provided some of the highlights for the 'Hawks, placing at or near the top of four events.
Mintz has been dominating his opponents in the distance swims all season, and Saturday proved to be much of the same for the Hinsdale, Ill., product. He posted first place finishes in the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle competitions.
Hanney set a personal best in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:00.42, and nailed a second place finish in the 400-yard individual medley.
"This is the time of the season where everyone has to be focused, because we want to go strong into the conference meet," Hanney said. "We need to grow from this meet and realize we need to take each practice seriously, because this is the time when it really counts."
Junior John Sedgwick also contributed a first place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing with a time of 2:03.45.
Junior captain Alex Kultgen identifies the loss as tough to come to terms with, but understands the team can not let the loss lower its confidence or morale.
"It's a little disappointing, since one of the goals at the start of the season was to sweep the Blugolds, but we have to become mentally stronger in the coming weeks," Kultgen said.
"We squeaked past [UW-Eau Claire] earlier this season, but being undermanned hurt today," Head Coach Joel Rollings said. "We have to figure out how to grind out wins but are in no position to make excuses for the way we performed today."
The Warhawks (6-2) have edged the Blugolds (3-4) on two different occasions this season, but were competing without senior captain Kyle Boers, juniors Mike Huffman and A.J. Fuller, and freshman Matt Wiswell. were also unavailable for this meet. However, all four are expected to compete in the team's last dual meet of the season, a Feb. 9 showdown at UW-La Crosse.
The fact that the 'Hawks were missing almost one-fifth of its roster did not prevent a pair of freshmen from having their best performances of the season. The efforts by Matt Mintz and Andy Hanney provided some of the highlights for the 'Hawks, placing at or near the top of four events.
Mintz has been dominating his opponents in the distance swims all season, and Saturday proved to be much of the same for the Hinsdale, Ill., product. He posted first place finishes in the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle competitions.
Hanney set a personal best in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:00.42, and nailed a second place finish in the 400-yard individual medley.
"This is the time of the season where everyone has to be focused, because we want to go strong into the conference meet," Hanney said. "We need to grow from this meet and realize we need to take each practice seriously, because this is the time when it really counts."
Junior John Sedgwick also contributed a first place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing with a time of 2:03.45.
Junior captain Alex Kultgen identifies the loss as tough to come to terms with, but understands the team can not let the loss lower its confidence or morale.
"It's a little disappointing, since one of the goals at the start of the season was to sweep the Blugolds, but we have to become mentally stronger in the coming weeks," Kultgen said.
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