Although Halloween is often seen as a day full of horror, the men’s swimming and diving team quickly realized Saturday they had nothing to be afraid of.
UW-Oshkosh won their opener at home in Albee Hall by a score of 109-95 over Carroll University to start the season off strong.
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” head coach Jon Wilson said. “I knew we had some talent, especially on the guys’ side.”
Carroll won the first three events of the meet, the 400-yard medley relay, 1,000-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle, but the Titans then began to turn things around.
Freshman Dalton Anderson and sophomore Jon Dudzinski took first and third place in the 50-yard freestyle with times of 22.28 seconds and 23.75 seconds, respectively.
Oshkosh took the first two spots of the 400-yard individual medley after freshman Matt Engelhardt finished in 4:53 and senior teammate Kent Ludeman in 5:02.84.
Engelhardt said he was looking forward to seeing the results of his and his teammates efforts to try and get better.
“We have a very young team all around which is exciting,” he said. “Not sure what some of us can do, but we are working hard and hopefully it’ll show at the end of the year.”
The points kept coming for the Titans, who placed first in the next four events when freshman Tim Kuckuk won the one-meter dive over Carroll’s Arthur Thomas.
Kuckuk said he anticipated being much more anxious than he actually was in his Titan debut.
“As for the first meet of my college career, I was a lot less nervous than I expected,” he said. “It felt great to have what sounded like the entire swim team cheer for me after every dive, this just really pumps up your spirits.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Oshkosh claimed the first two spots after Dalton Anderson recorded his second first-place finish of the day in 53.30 seconds and sophomore Brian Markovich’s time of 59.06 seconds was good enough for second place.
Anderson went on to clinch another victory in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.63 followed by fourth-and-fifth place finishes by freshman Ryan Ronayne and junior Jeremy Potter.
Engelhardt won the 100-yard backstroke in 59.14 seconds, and Brian Markovich took third place in the event with a time of 1:05.41.
Wilson said he was pleased the Titans managed to not only get first place in events but also occupy the other top places as well.
“We brought in Engelhardt, and I knew he would do well,” he said. “ I was also really impressed with how the second-and-third place swimmers came in.”
The Titans’ streak of first-place finishes was halted briefly when Carroll’s Brenden Brunner won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:31.40.
But Oshkosh still had a presence in the race after sophomore Jon Streich took second place and sophomore Dan Herber finished in fourth with times of 5:35.37 and 6:01.42, respectively.
The Titans secured their lead in the meet after another victory by Kuckuk, this time in the three-meter dive, and Dudzinski’s first-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.93.
The men’s next competition is against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 14.
Frosh swimmers lead Titans
Published: Thursday, November 5, 2009
Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009
 "Photo: Photo by Josh O'Bright")
Photo by Josh O'Bright
Mens swimming
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