Three UW-Whitewater women swimmers competed at the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships March 21-24 in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Indiana University Natatorium.  

Freshman Jessica Lenhart, junior Erin Hawker and senior Michaela Matthys all competed in three events, collecting six points for the Warhawks. The team finished 42nd  out of the 68-team field.

Lenhart finished 37th in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:16.34, 21st in the 100-yard butterfly at 56.57 and 11th in the 200-yard butterfly at 2:03.82, setting a new program record.

“For me, the 200-yard fly is my event,” Lenhart said. “That’s what I take pride in and that’s what I basically train for the entire season. Going into that event I knew that I wanted to make finals because from the two days prior I hadn’t done as well as I expected. It was my last chance to do something cool.”

The 11th place finish gave Lenhart an honorable mention All-America honor.

“She’s a gamer,” head coach Joel Rollings said. “She swims real aggressive; that really paid off.”

Hawker placed 36th in the 200-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 2:25.70. She also finished 31st in the 400-yard individual medley at 4:42.33 and 42nd in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:09.24.

“Going in I was extremely nervous; I didn’t really know how to deal with that anxiety,” Hawker said. “I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to the first couple days. Our last day, I just said ‘I made it nationals, I want to do the best that I can.’ I think the last day was probably the best one for myself.”

Hawker’s final event was her 36th  finish in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Matthys finished 34th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.69, 30th in the 100-yard butterfly at 57.07 and 48th in the 50-yard freestyle at 24.41.

“It definitely was not my best performance,” Matthys said. “I was hoping to do a little bit better than I did, but I know I went out there and I did everything I could.”

Matthys ends her career with two All-America honors.

“For me I was just trying to represent the Warhawks the best way I could,” Matthys said regarding the end of her career. “I don’t know if I left a legacy, but I just hope I impacted the school in a positive way.”

For the returning the swimmers, the national meet will serve as valuable experience.

“The goal is obviously make nationals next year and be able to swim really well and represent my team,” Hawker said. “Being able to go in knowing what I have to do to make nationals and what I have to do to actually make it and not be an alternate, is going to be really fun.”