2002-03 WIAC Men's Swimming & Diving
Athletes of the Week

Week of Feb. 3 - 9
Swimming
Steve Fisher, Junior (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View), of UW-Eau Claire
Fisher showed a great performance in a dual meet with conference opponent UW-Oshkosh as he took first place in three different events. With a time of 1:00.42 he finished more than five seconds ahead of the runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke. Fisher also won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.72 and the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 50.35.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Josh Mork, Sophomore, Monticello, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh, Alex Zinoviev, Freshman, Komsomolsk-Na-Amure, Russia (Oshkosh West)
UW-River Falls, Ryan Smaagard, Freshman, White Bear Lake, Minn. and Jon Jarvis, Junior, Hastings, Minn.
UW-Stevens Point, Thad Gunther, Junior, Muscatine, Iowa

Diving
Dan Von Feldt, Senior (Lancaster), of UW-Eau Claire
Von Feldt had another great performance in both diving events as he took two first place finishes in a dual meet against UW-Oshkosh on February 8. For the second-straight week, he finished with a national qualifying score, this time in the one-meter event, while setting a season-high with a mark of 295.40. Von Feldt won the three-meter competition with a score of 263.80.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Hansman, Junior, Neenah

Week of Jan. 27 - Feb. 2
Swimming
Matt Grunwald, Freshman (Madison), of UW-Stevens Point
Grunwald won two individual events in leading the Pointers to a dual meet victory over UW-La Crosse. He claimed the 200-yard butterfly in a time of 1:55.63, more than five seconds faster than his nearest competition. Grunwald also won the 500-yard freestyle, stopping the clock in a time of 4:50.65.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, John Welch, Junior, Marshfield
UW-La Crosse, Shane Ryan, Junior, Cross Plains (Mt. Horeb)
UW-River Falls, Dan Kessenich, Freshman, Oneida (Pulaski)

Diving
Dan Von Feldt, Senior (Lancaster), of UW-Eau Claire
Von Feldt led the Blugold divers in a dual meet against UW-Whitewater as he won both the one and three-meter diving events. His score of 291.25 in the three-meter event was good enough to give him a national qualifying score. Von Feldt tallied a mark of 241.25 in the one-meter diving competition.

Also nominated:
UW-Stevens Point, Chad Pettis, Freshman, Eau Claire

Week of Jan. 20 - 26
Swimming
Mike Carroll, Junior (Green Lake), of UW-Eau Claire
In dual meets against Macalester (Minn.) and UW-River Falls, Carroll took five first-place finishes and one second-place finish. Against Macalester, he captured first place in the 800-meter freestyle (9:19.61) and the 400 individual medley (5:17.78), as well as finishing second in the 400-meter freestyle (4:33.13). Against UW-River Falls, he took first in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:35.16), 200-yard butterfly (2:09.94) and 500-yard freestyle (5:10.84).

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Josh Mork, Sophomore, Monticello, Minn.
UW-River Falls, Brandon VanVleet, Junior, Grandy, Minn. (Cambridge-Isanti)
UW-Stevens Point, Matt Grunwald, Freshman, Madison

Diving
Scott Heatwole, Sophomore (Port Washington), of UW-Eau Claire
Heatwole took two first-place finishes and two second-place finishes in dual meets against Macalester (Minn.) and UW-River Falls. He took first in the one-meter event in both meets, with a mark of 233.00 against Macalester and 228.45 against UW-River Falls. Heatwole finished second in the three-meter diving at both competitions with identical scores of 237.95.

Also nominated:
No other athletes were nominated.

Week of Jan. 13 - 19
Swimming
Alex Anderson, Freshman (La Crosse), of UW-Stevens Point
Anderson won the 200 yard breaststroke at the Wheaton Five-Way dual meet in Wheaton, Illinois. He won the race with a time of 2:09.93. He also placed second in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:59.44, missing first place by just over one-tenth of a second. Anderson was fifth in the 50-yard freestyle and swam on the second-place 400-yard medley relay team.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Ethan Kaercher, Junior, Belleville (Mt. Horeb)
UW-Oshkosh, Yusuke Iimori, Freshman, Saga, Japan
UW-River Falls, Ryan Hawke, Sophomore, Little Canada, Minn. (Roseville)

Diving
Chris Hansman, Junior (Neenah), of UW-Oshkosh
Diving in his own pool on consecutive days, Hansman won both the one and three-meter diving events against UW-La Crosse on January 18 and in the UW-Oshkosh Invitational on January 19. Against UW-La Crosse, he had two of UW-Oshkosh's three event victories, winning the one-meter diving with a score of 262.50 and the three-meter diving with a mark of 235.00. In the UW-Oshkosh Invitational, Hansman outscored seven other contestants in the one-meter diving with a mark of 438.75 and six other foes in the three-meter diving with a figure of 411.75.

Also nominated:
No other athletes were nominated.

Week of Dec. 9 - 15
No award presented.

Week of Dec. 2 - 8
Swimming
Brandon VanVleet, Junior (Grandy, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti), of UW-River Falls
VanVleet won the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard freestyle and 200 yard freestyle events at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational held last weekend. He won the 50 yard freestyle in 22.18, 100 yard freestyle in 49.09 and 200 yard freestyle in 1:49.58.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Shane Ryan, Junior, Cross Plains (Mt. Horeb)
UW-Oshkosh, Yusuke Iimori, Freshman, Saga, Japan
UW-Stevens Point, Matt Grunwald, Freshman, Madison

Diving
No award presented.

Week of Nov. 25 - Dec. 1
Swimming
Weine Hogberg, Freshman (Amal, Sweden), of UW-La Crosse
Hogberg won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:53.28 in UW-La Crosse's 145-88 dual meet victory over UW-Eau Claire.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Brian Bartlett, Junior, Onalaska

Diving
Dan Von Feldt, Senior (Lancaster), of UW-Eau Claire
Von Feldt finished first on both the one-meter and three-meter diving events in a dual meet against UW-La Crosse. He finished the one-meter event with a score of 215.3 and had a mark of 252.5 in the three-meter dive.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Justin Steele, Senior, Hastings, Minn.

Week of Nov. 18 - 24
Teams competed at WIAC Relays.

Week of Nov. 11 - 17
Swimming
Casey Carlsen, Junior (Waukesha/North), of UW-Oshkosh
Carlsen won two individual events and swam on a first-place relay team as UW-Oshkosh won a triangular with Carroll and Ripon on November 15. The Titans won the meet with 113 points as Carlsen won the 50- yard freestyle in 22.32 and the 100-yard backstroke in 1:08.01. He also swam on the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team that posted a time of 1:34.49.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Josh Mork, Sophomore, Monticello, Minn.
UW-Stevens Point, Alex Anderson, Freshman, La Crosse

Diving
Justin Steele, Senior (Hastings, Minn.), of UW-La Crosse
Steele helped UW-La Crosse defeat Lawrence, 138.50 to 89.50 on Saturday. He was second in the one-meter (185.70) and three-meter (186.60) competitions.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Hansman, Junior, Neenah

Week of Nov. 4 - 10
Swimming
Chad Goetsch, Sophomore (Plymouth), of UW-River Falls
Goetsch had two second-place finishes in a dual meet against Macalester (Minn.). He finished the 1,650-yard freestyle in 19:23.18 and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:28.40. He was less than one second behind the first-place finisher in the 500 freestyle.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Casey Carlson, Junior, Waukesha (North)

Diving
No award presented.

Week of Oct. 28 - Nov. 3
Swimming
Erik Johnson, Junior (Albert Lea, Minn.), of UW-Stevens Point
Johnson won four events and swam on two winning relays in a pair of dual meets last week. He won the 100 freestyle in 48.98 and the 200 freestyle in 1:49.26 against UW-Eau Claire on Friday. The following day, he claimed the 100 in 49.26 and the 200 in 1:49.50 against UW-Whitewater. He anchored the 400 medley relay against the Warhawks and led off the 200 freestyle relay against UW-Eau Claire.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Mike Carroll, Junior, Green Lake
UW-La Crosse, Trevor Rowlands, Junior, Sheboygan (North)
UW-Oshkosh, Aaron Burg, Freshman, New London
UW-River Falls, Brandon Van Vleet, Junior, Grandy, Minn. (Cambridge-Isanti)

Diving
Dan Von Feldt, Senior (Lancaster), of UW-Eau Claire
Von Feldt had a first-place finish in the three-meter dive (225.95) and a third-place finish (184.80) in the one-meter dive in a dual meet with UW-Stevens Point. He was also the first leg on the third-place 200-yard medley relay in the same dual meet. Von Feldt also brought home a third-place finish in the one-meter diving event at the St. Cloud State (Minn.) Invitational.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Justin Steele, Senior, Hastings, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Hansman, Junior, Nennah

Week of Oct. 21 - 27
Swimming
Matt Grunwald, Freshman (Madison), of UW-Stevens Point
Grunwald picked up two first place finishes and a second in the Pointers WIAC dual meet opener with UW-Oshkosh. He won the 200-yard butterfly in 2:01.40 and the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:03.72. Grunwald added a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:50.55 to help the Pointers down the Titans 123-78.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Casey Carlsen, Junior, Waukesha (North)

Diving
Chris Hansman, Junior (Neenah), of UW-Oshkosh
Hansman won the one and three-meter diving events in UW-Oshkosh's 123-78 dual loss to UW-Stevens Point on Saturday, October 26. He dove to first-place scores of 266.85 in the one-meter diving and 295.90 in the three-meter diving.

Also nominated:
No other athletes were nominated.

Week of Oct. 14 - 20
Swimming
Alex Anderson, Freshman (La Crosse), of UW-Stevens Point
Anderson had a strong performance in a dual meet against Wisconsin. He placed second in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:02.09. Earlier in the meet, Anderson narrowly missed a top three finish in the 50-yard freestyle, placing fourth in 22.00.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Alex Zinoviev, Freshman, Oshkosh (West)
UW-River Falls, Ryan Smaagard, Freshman, White Bear Lake, Minn.

Diving
Chad Pettis, Freshman (Eau Claire), of UW-Stevens Point
Pettis had an outstanding debut meet for the Pointers. He claimed the three-meter event in a dual meet against Wisconsin, scoring 234.6 points. He also placed second in the one-meter dive with a score of 223.2. Pettis’ win was the Pointers only event win of the meet.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Hansman, Junior, Neenah

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