Editor’s note: The following information was provided by UW-W.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams begin their first full season in two years this week as they host Illinois Tech for a dual meet at the Williams Center.
The Warhawk men and women competed last spring in an abbreviated 2021 season, facing all four of its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents in duals spaced out over five weeks.
Head coach Elise Knoche returns for her fourth season at the helm of the two programs.
The Warhawks continue their slate with WIAC duals in November at UW-Oshkosh (Nov. 6), home against UW-La Crosse (Nov. 13) and home against UW-Stevens Point (Nov. 20).
UW-Whitewater closes the calendar year Dec. 3-4 at the Wheaton (Ill.) Invitational.
The New Year begins Jan. 22 with a triangular against Lawrence and Lake Forest (Ill.) at the Williams Center. UW-W visits UW-Eau Claire Jan. 29 to finish out the regular season.
The WIAC Championship is set for Feb. 16-19 at Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, Wis. The NCAA Championship is slated for March 16-19 in Indianapolis, Ind.
Seniors Jaclyn Fohlmeister (Lakemoor, Ill./Wauconda), Abby Thompson (De Pere, Wis./De Pere) and Anna Yeazel (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) look to lead the Warhawk women into 2021-22 on the women’s side.
Yeazel, a fifth-year senior, placed sixth in the 400-yard individual medley and seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2020 WIAC Championship. She is among the top 10 in program history in the 400 IM. Last winter, Yeazel led the team in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and the 400 IM, and owned the top split in the 50-yard breaststroke.
Thompson is a two-time WIAC podium finisher in the 200-yard butterfly, and she placed seventh in the conference in the 400-yard individual medley in 2020. She led the team in the 100-yard butterfly last winter.
Fohlmeister was among the team’s top three in the 50-yard freestyle last season. She was also third in the 50- and 100-yard butterfly.
Makenna Clark (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West), Morgan Nabors (Spring Green, Wis./River Valley) and Leanne Stigler (Beloit, Wis./Muskego) enter their third seasons with the program.
Clark competes primarily in the backstroke and freestyle events. She ranked second on the team in the 100 back in 2021. Nabors led the 2021 Warhawks in the 100-yard freestyle.
Stigler is a five-time WIAC medalist, including runner-up finishes in the 200-yard individual medley and 400-yard medley relay in 2020. She holds top-10 UW-W personal bests in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 200 IM. She finished second to Yeazel in the 50- and 100-yard breaststroke events last winter.
Kayleigh Denruiter (Brantwood, Wis./Phillips), Amanda Harper (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly), Ciara Hynes (Eureka, Mo./Eureka), Gabby Sponseller (Goshen, Ind./Concord), Meadow Warren (Lake Geneva, Wis./Badger) and Brianna Zimdars (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) comprise the team’s sophomore class.
Zimdars held the team’s top split in the 50-yard freestyle and led UW-W in the 200- and 1000-yard freestyle and the 100 and 200-yard backstroke in 2021.
Sponseller posted the team’s best time in the 200-yard individual medley. Hynes recorded the team’s best split in the 50-yard freestyle in 2021.
Harper and Denruiter competed as freestyle sprinters during their rookie campaign in 2021. Harper finished fourth on the team in the 50 free.
Warren recorded three season bests in freestyle events at the team’s final meet of the 2021 season.
Newcomers to the program include Emily Connell (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower), Morgan Galloway (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine), Gianna Gnewuch (Madison, Wis./Verona Area) and Gabby Hayes (New Berlin, Wis./West).
The following UW-Whitewater student-athletes from your coverage area are members of the 2021-22 Warhawk women’s swimming and diving team:
Anna Yeazel of Whitewater (Whitewater High School), a senior majoring in physical education.
Brianna Zimdars of Whitewater (Whitewater High School), a sophomore majoring in general business.
