Swimming had an incredible showing in the pool Wednesday, securing two gold medals in the 50 Freestyle races. Danny Chafetz (Madison, Wis.) surged to gold in Division 2 with a time of 40.20—more than three seconds off his preliminary time. Logan Gdowski (Slinger, Wis.) echoed that effort, shaving two seconds off his preliminary time with a 32.01 mark—winning Division 5. Team Wisconsin’s 4×50 Medley Relay also improved in its final—five seconds faster in fact—finishing fifth in Division 2 with a time of 3:05.54. Three preliminary events highlight Thursday’s slate with finals taking place Friday.
Cornhole added its own haul of hardware Wednesday, finishing up singles competition with the medal rounds. In Division F, Jeff Johnson (Mount Pleasant, Wis.) defeated teammate Will Hautamaki (La Crosse, Wis.) in the opening round, then beat West Virginia to take home gold. Will would finish with bronze. Joe Neumann (West Salem, Wis.) also defeated teammate Jacob Decker (Green Bay, Wis.) in the opening round of Division D, and both won their next round matchups to secure gold and bronze respectively. Jennifer Fuerstenau (Beaver Dam, Wis.) knocked off Kansas in the consolation match to bring home silver medal in Division G. Scott Prairie (Onalaska, Wis.) and Dominick Mack (Racine, Wis.) dropped both matches Wednesday, brining home bronze in Division C and A respectively.
Powerlifting returned to the program Wednesday for Team Wisconsin with Katelynn Robinson (Ashland, Wis.) taking the stage at Northrop Auditorium. Consistency was key—her squat of 87.5 kg, her bench press of 52.5 kg, and her deadlift of 95 kg were second-best in her weight class across the board. All three events, plus the combination total of 235 kg, meant four silver medals added to the trophy case for Robinson and Team Wisconsin Powerlifting.
Bocce featured the women’s singles competition Wednesday with a pair of Team Wisconsin athletes taking to the pitch. Norma Ryan (Janesville, Wis.) went 2-1 in Division 4 pool play, securing an important head-to-head tiebreaker victory to leap into the championship matchup. In the gold medal game, she would fall for the second time to a very strong New Mexico opponent, but still earned a silver medal. Christina Wren (Madison, Wis.) went 1-2 in Division 11, winning a thrilling fifth place match over Wyoming, 7-6. The gents take center stage Thursday with more singles play.
Track & Field saw a singular final for Team Wisconsin Wednesday, and it was quite a successful one! Logan Peterson (Milton, Wis.) posted a Running Long Jump mark of 3.40 meters—up from a 3.13 effort in the preliminaries—and finishing in silver medal position. Prelims in the 4×100 Relay and the 200-meter also took place Wednesday. Finals for Team Wisconsin Thursday include the women’s Running Long Jump, men’s Mini Javelin, and the 100-meter and 200-meter runs.
Volleyball picked up a big playoff victory Wednesday, defeating Pennsylvania in straight sets 25-15, 25-19. Seven players recorded a service ace in the victory, including one from serving specialist Cindy Bentley (Milwaukee, Wis.). Dustin Scott (Grafton, Wis.) led the offense with eight kills, with Luke Smith (Manitowoc, Wis.) adding two. Team Wisconsin (3-2 overall) advances to the Division 2 championship match Thursday morning against Virginia (3-1-1).
Bowling at USA Games seems to operate a day behind, with doubles competition taking place Wednesday. However, Tuesday’s singles results were finalized overnight and awarded Wednesday evening. On the women’s side, Julia MacArthur (Hudson, Wis.) took home bronze in Division 5 with a 379 series, edging teammate Grace Keller’s (Oshkosh, Wis.) 357 fifth place finish. In Division 10, Missy Baldwin (Minocqua, Wis.) used a strike on her final ball in the 10th frame to leapfrog into a third place bronze by a single pin. Tabitha Hyde (Eau Claire, Wis.) also finished eighth place against a tough Division 3 field. All four men finished in the top four of respective singled divisions Tuesday. Nathan Stygar (Eau Claire, Wis.) posted a series of 493 in Division 5—just three pins away from gold. Dalton Schulz (Appleton, Wis.) bowled among the best in the field, finishing bronze with an impressive 595 series. Travis Doire (Lancaster, Wis.) also earned bronze in Division 7 with a 426 series, and Preston Bjarnarson (Manitowoc, Wis.) finished fourth with a score of 459 in Division 4. Team competition is on deck Thursday.
Basketball finished off Group B play Wednesday with a second consecutive decisive victory, knocking off District of Columbia, 41-20. Josh Sprosty (Milwaukee, Wis.) led the team with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Seven players scored in the game, including first tournament points by Danny Cox (Menomonie, Wis.). Team Wisconsin (2-1) will move into Division 2 for tournament play beginning Thursday, matching up with New Mexico (1-2) in the semifinal round.
Golf hit the links for its final divisioning round Wednesday, with all four golfers finally getting in a full nine. The unified pair of Alison Mushett (Madison, Wis.) and Kari Knowles (Madison, Wis.) also posted a score of 66 Wednesday, up three strokes from Monday’s round. Jeff Jenks (Sun Prairie, Wis.) and Jake Zydowsky (Pardeeville, Wis.) shot mirroring rounds of 53 Wednesday, and both will enter the medal round Thursday.
MEDAL COUNT: Team Wisconsin added four gold, eight silvers, and eight bronze medals in Day 3, leaping up the medal standings into ninth place overall. Leader and host Minnesota doubled its overall medal count to 78 after Day 3, already with more gold medals (33) than 47 other states’ medal totals.
Day 3 Recap Video (Viewable on Mobile – Coming Soon!)
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