UW-L Finishes Thirteenth at NCAA Championships; Freestyle Relay Earns All-America Honors

For Immediate Release: Saturday, March 15, 2008

Oxford, Ohio - The UW-La Crosse women's swimming & diving team finished 13th Saturday at the NCAA Division III Championships being held in Miami University's Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center. The Eagles totaled 75.0 team points. Kenyon College (Ohio) won the team title with 566.5 points while Amherst College (Mass.) was second with 341.0 and Denison University (Ohio) third with 269.5. Emory University (Ga.) placed fourth (288.0) and Williams College (Mass.) was fifth (269.5).

It is UW-L's fifth top-15 finish in school history and ninth in the top-20. The Eagles placed a school-best fifth at the 2004 championships.

In Saturday's action, UW-L's 400 freestyle relay of Chelsea Hoff, Brianna Peyer, Danielle Rux and Clare Hathaway finished 14th overall (3:36.06) to earn NCAA III All-America honors.

With her All-America awards Saturday, Hathaway now has seven in her career, including five this season. She was a member of all five of UW-L's relays at the 2008 championships. The 400 medley relay placed 13th (3:58.72) and the 200 freestyle relay 14th (1:38.54) to earn All-America honors Thursday while the 200 medley relay finished 13th (1:48.23) and the 800 freestyle relay 15th (8:02.92) Friday.

Hoff earned all six of her NCAA III All-America honors this season, including two individually. She placed second in the 100 backstroke (57.09) Friday and ninth in the 50 freestyle (23.96) Thurday. Hoff was also on UW-L's 200 and 400 freestyle and 200 and 400 medley relays.

Peyer was a member of all five relays this weekend for her first career All-America accolades while Rux was on the Eagles' 200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays for her first awards.

In other action Saturday, Kristina Wanous finished 19th in the 3-meter diving (376.95 points) while Amanda Medendorp was 21st (361.70). Medendorp, making her fourth consecutive appearance at the national championships, ends her career with seven NCAA III All-America recognitions, including an eighth-place finish in the 1-meter competition this year. Medendorp placed 16th in the 1-meter in 2005, fifth in 2006 and fourth in 2007. She also has three All-America awards in the 3-meter, placing 10th in 2005 and ninth in 2006 and 2007.

In preliminary action Saturday, Hoff finished 20th in the 100 freestyle (52.81) while Kristi Parker was 24th in the 200 backstroke (2:08.98). Parker finishes her career with seven All-America honors, including four in 2008. She finished 11th in the 100 backstroke (58.56) and was on UW-L's 800 freestyle relay as well as the 200 and 400 medley relays.

The top-eight finishers in each event earn All-America honors while the ninth through 16th-place finishers are named All-America Honorable Mention.

For complete results, click here.