Joshua Abel, a native of Mt. Pleasant, WI, and graduate of Washington Park High School, will compete for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men’s swimming and diving team during the 2021-22 season, which begins this Saturday.
Abel, a freshman at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in elementary education.
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 on 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 Zach Miller (Saukville, Wis./Port Washington) and Tyler Popke (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) lead the Warhawk men into the 2021-22 campaign.
Miller is a two-year point scorer at the WIAC Championship, including seventh-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke in 2020. He ranks among the top 10 personal bests in program history in the 100 back. Miller led the 2021 Warhawks in the 500-yard freestyle.
Popke scored at the conference meet in 2020 with a podium finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, an event in which he ranks among the top 10 all-time in program history. He is the team’s top returner in the event from 2021.
Ryan Corfield (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North), Jamey Hines (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley), and Joe Wenszell (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Virtual Learning) form the team’s junior class.
Wenszell led the team in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke and the 200- and 400-yard individual medley in 2021. He is also the team’s top returner in the 100-yard butterfly from last winter. Wenszell finished as the WIAC runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke and was a podium finisher in the 100 fly and 200 fly. He ranks among the top 10 personal bests in program history in five events.
Corfield, a freestyler, posted all of his top times at the 2020 WIAC Championship. Hines, also a freestyle, set personal bests in the 200-, 1000- and 1650-yard freestyle at the 2020 conference meet.
Ethan Coons (Neenah, Wis./Neenah), Dan Emary (Barrington, Ill./Barrington), Hunter Hayberger (Sandusky, Ohio/Sandusky), Anthony Mrozowski (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North), and Jalen Stimes (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah) all enter their second year with the program.
Mrozowski is the team’s top returner in the 100-yard freestyle from last season, while Hayberger led the team in the 200- and 1000-yard freestyle races a year ago.
Stimes led the 2021 Warhawks in the 200-yard butterfly. Coons competed in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly, and Emary swam three different strokes as a freshman last season.
Newcomers to the team include Joshua Abel (Mt. Pleasant, Wis./Racine Park), Kevin Chang (Madison, Wis./Madison Memorial), and Donny Gramer (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore).
About UW-Whitewater
For more than 150 years, UW-Whitewater has provided students with the education and training to begin their careers with a solid foundation behind them. The UW-Whitewater is committed to the development of the individual, the growth of personal and professional integrity, and respect for diversity and global perspectives. These are met by providing academic and co-curricular programs that emphasize the pursuit of knowledge and understanding and a commitment to service within a safe and secure environment.