Swimming

GRINNELL, Iowa – The Lawrence University swimming and diving team were among the top teams after the opening day of competition Friday at Grinnell College.

The Lawrence men are in second place with 181 points, and the women are third with 152. Grinnell leads the men’s standings with 209 points, and Lake Forest is tops among the women with 290 points.

The top finishers for the Vikings on Friday were Peter Brengel and Hannah Gabriel.

Brengel grabbed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.60 seconds. Gabriel took second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:11.84. The men’s 200 freestyle relay team of Brengel, Patrick Vincent, Charlie Mann and Evan Flack also placed second.

Results

Peter Brengel may be the champ, but he enters this weekend’s Midwest Conference Championships as the underdog.

The junior from Milwaukee is the defending champion in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke, but he enters this weekend’s league championships at Grinnell College with only the third-best time in the league.

“Pete is going to have his work cut out for him, but I feel like he can pull through,” Lawrence coach Drew Fleek said.

Brengel broke the school, meet and Boldt Natatorium records on his way to winning the title in the 200 backstroke at the 2010 MWC Championships at Lawrence. Brengel, the 2009 MWC Swimmer of the Year, also holds the Lawrence record in the 100 backstroke.

Grinnell freshman Michael Brus holds the league’s best times in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, but Fleek believes Brengel has a shot at both titles.

“He’s a tremendous competitor,” Fleek said of Brengel. “When he’s racing, he’s at his best.”

The Vikings are looking to move up from a fourth-place finish at the 2010 MWC Championships. With a deeper team this season, Fleek believes a better finish is a strong possibility.

“I think we have a real strong shot at getting third and if all goes really well, even second,” Fleek said.

The Vikings have several newcomers who could make a big impact at the conference meet. Evan Flack is one of the top sprinters in the conference, and Ted Chritton is one of the league’s best in the 500 freestyle. The Vikings should get contributions from freshmen Cameron Gmehlin, Charlie Mann and Walker Brengel.

Fleek added that both David Dulak and Tom Smith, who were studying abroad the first term, are back and could score points in events from the individual medley to the backstroke and breaststroke.

“We’re going to get good points from a lot of different areas of the roster,” Fleek said.

On the women’s side, freshman Hannah Gabriel leads a women’s team that looks to improve from a seventh-place finish in 2010. That broke a streak of three consecutive second-place finishes for the Vikings.

“I think we can get back up to third, back to where we need to be,” Fleek said of his women’s team.

While Grinnell and Lake Forest College figure to be the top two teams, the Vikings could fight it out for third with like Carroll University and Beloit College.

Leading that charge will be Gabriel, who earned Swimmer of the Week honors during the season, and has top-seven times in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle.

“Hannah is an incredibly hard trainer,” Fleek said. “She’s always pushing herself in the pool and she’s very coachable. That is really what’s allowing her to go so fast. We’re looking for her to drop a ton of time.”

Fleek believes Gabriel, who hails from Elmhurst, Ill., could break the school records in both the 200 freestyle (1:59.89) and 500 freestyle (5:14.50) this weekend.

Very smart Vikings

Lawrence women’s cross country is one of the top academic teams in the nation.

The Vikings were named a NCAA Division III All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The Vikings had a 3.62 team grade point average, which ranks as the 10th-best team GPA in the nation. It is believed this is the highest a Lawrence team has ever placed nationally in terms of GPA. The 2001-02 Lawrence wrestling squad had the 11th-best team GPA in the nation.

To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, the team must have a cumulative team GPA of 3.10 or better and have compiled a score (finished at least five runners) at its NCAA regional championship.

Knapinski wins Wurdinger Award

Dick Knapinski was presented with the Bob Wurdinger Athletic Service Award as part of the Lawrence basketball senior night celebration on Wednesday.

Knapinski, a Neenah resident, was presented the award by Bob Wurdinger. The award is given each year to someone who has shown great support for Lawrence athletics.

Knapinski has been involved with Lawrence athletics for two decades. He started working with the Vikings in 1990 as part of the football broadcast team for WLFM Radio. As a sportswriter for the Appleton Post-Crescent for nearly 20 years, Knapinski covered hundred of Lawrence events.

Knapinski returned to Lawrence broadcasts in 2009 as serves as the voice of the Vikings for football and men’s and women’s basketball video webcasts.

Knapinski also involved his two sons, Dan and Patrick, in Lawrence football. Both have served as ballboys for the Vikings in recent seasons.

The award was established to honor Wurdinger, a Kaukauna native, and long-time Lawrence assistant football coach. Wurdinger, who has been a tireless advocate for Lawrence athletics for more than four decades, received the first award in 2006.

Crisman honored

Men’s basketball standout Tyler Crisman has been named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week.

Crisman earned the honor after pouring in a career-high 30 points in Lawrence’s 72-64 victory at Beloit College this past Saturday.

A junior guard, Crisman was 10-for-17 from the floor and 7-for-8 from the foul line against the Bucs. The 30 points topped his previous career high of 29, which he set against Ripon College earlier this month. Crisman also picked up three rebounds and three against Beloit.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a weekly notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.

CHICAGO, Ill. — Peter Brengel and Hannah Gabriel led the Lawrence University swim teams to fifth-place finishes at the University of Chicago Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

Brengel paced the Lawrence men by placing second in the 200-yard backstroke and third in the 100 backstroke.

Gabriel placed sixth in both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle and she also grabbed eighth in the 1,650 freestyle.

Evan Flack placed in three events for the Lawrence men. Flack took fifth in the 200 freestyle and was sixth in both the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. Ted Chritton grabbed fourth in the 1,650 freestyle and was fifth in the 500 freestyle.

Results

The Lawrence University swimming teams swept a dual meet from UW-River Falls on Saturday at Boldt Natatorium.

The Lawrence men defeated River Falls 141-81, and the Lawrence women topped the Falcons 136-81.

Hannah Gabriel, Evan Flack, Peter Brengel and Cory Greguske all won a pair of events for the Vikings.

Gabriel won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:00.63 and took the 500 freestyle in 5:28.58. Evan Flack won the 100 freestyle (50.17) and the 200 freestyle (1:51.34). Brengel took the top spot in both the 50 freestyle (23.12) and the 100 backstroke (56.55). Greguske swept the 1- and 3-meter diving.

Results

Lawrence University standout Hannah Gabriel has been chosen as the Midwest Conference Swimmer of the Week.

Gabriel (Elmhurst, Ill./York), a freshman, earned the award for her performances in Lawrence’s opening two meets of the season. Gabriel won four individual events and was part of a winning relay team in the first two meets.

In the season opener against Beloit College on Oct. 23, Gabriel won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:02.92 and won the 500 freestyle in 5:33.11. She also swam on Lawrence’s winning 200 freestyle relay team, which posted a time of 1:49.07.

In a dual meet against UW-Whitewater on Nov. 6, Gabriel won the 200 freestyle in 2:01.61 and swam to victory in the 500 freestyle in 5:28.02.

Lawrence returns to action on Saturday when it hosts UW-River Falls in a dual meet at Boldt Natatorium.