MM
Michaela Matthys
  • Media Arts and Game Development
  • Class of 2018
  • Wonder Lake, IL

Wonder Lake's Matthys Earns All-Conference Honors for UW-Whitewater Swimming and Diving

2018 Feb 19

Michaela Matthys, a native of Wonder Lake, IL, and graduate of McHenry Community High School, is one of seven members of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater swimming and diving programs to earn all-conference honors at the 2018 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships over the weekend at Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, Wis.

The Warhawk women tied their highest-ever finish at the conference meet by placing second, while the men finished fourth.

Following the meet, junior Erin Hawker (Chanhassen, Minn./Hutchinson) was named WIAC Swimmer of the Meet after sweeping the 200- and 400-yard individual medley races, claiming championships as part of three relay teams and posting runner-up finishes in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 800-yard freestyle relay.

Freshman Jessica Lenhart (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) captured six All-WIAC honors, including three individual championships and two relays. Senior Michaela Matthys (Crystal Lake, Ill./McHenry West) tallied five all-conference accolades to bring her career total to 13, and freshman Olivia Theobald (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) picked up five all-conference medals, including four in relay events.

Sophomore Bailey Weston (Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson) was a member of the conference champion 200-yard freestyle relay and the runner-up 800-yard freestyle relay, and sophomore Meredith Gustafson (Brookfield, Wis./East) placed second in the 400-yard individual medley for her second career all-conference medal.

Freshman Zach Noll (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) highlighted the weekend for UW-Whitewater men by winning the title in the 1650-yard freestyle. He posted a career-best 16:25.64, more than six seconds faster than the runner-up.

Noll led a group of the Warhawks' four top-eight placers in the 400-yard individual medley with an All-WIAC finish of second in a career-best 4:04.77.

See below for a day-by-day recap of events.

Thursday

Matthys and Hawker claimed three championships apiece, including two on relay teams, to pace the women.

Matthys claimed first place in the 50-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 23.87 seconds, fewer than two-tenths of a second off NCAA "B" cut pace.

Hawker registered a career-best mark and school record in the 200-yard individual medley with a 2:06.27, good for an NCAA "B" cut.

Lenhart claimed the title in the 500-yard freestyle with a personal best 5:09.55.

UW-Whitewater started the night with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Matthys, Weston, Hawker and Theobald combined for a 1:36.77, just over one second shy of a "B" national qualifying mark.

The team closed the night in the 400-yard medley relay, finishing the race in 3:54.38 behind the championship-winning combination of Matthys, Hawker, Lenhart and Theobald. Matthys increased her career conference title count to eight with the first-place finish.

Friday

The women ran their streak of consecutive championships to start the conference meet to eight by taking the first three events of the night.

Matthys, Hawker, Lenhart and Theobald combined to win the 200-yard medley relay with a team season-best mark of 1:46.45.

Hawker then made it a sweep of the individual medley events, taking the 400 IM with a career-best time of 4:33.64. Gustafson collected All-WIAC honors by placing second with a personal record 4:43.90.

UW-Whitewater finished 1-2 in the 100-yard butterfly as Lenhart out-touched Matthys by two-hundredths of a second. Lenhart's result of 56.32 is a career record and NCAA "B" cut, while Matthys' mark of 56.34 is also an NCAA "B" cut. Matthys posted her top time of the season in the prelims with a 55.97.

Saturday

Theobald garnered all-conference accolades in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:56.30, a personal record.

The Warhawks' 800-yard freestyle relay team of Hawker, Weston, Lenhart and Theobald collected All-WIAC medals with a 7:47.42, only eight-hundredths of a second off the winning pace.

Hawker collected her seventh All-WIAC honor of the meet Saturday, placing second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a season-best mark of 2:22.34, good for an NCAA "B" cut.

Lenhart claimed her third individual championship of the weekend and completed a sweep of the butterfly events with a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, collecting an NCAA "B" cut and personal record time of 2:04.45.