Phil McDade, curator of Wisca.net, contributed to this report.
Shortly removed from some struggles in their sprint group, the Texas A&M women are already looking much, much healthier. Their young sprint group turned a corner at NCAA’s last year, and are already looking much more elite this year, and the addition of Kristin Malone should ensure that the trend continues for the next four years.
The Wisconsin-based freestyler has yards bests of 23.2, 49.7, and 1:47.7 in the 50, 100, and 200 yard freestyles. She’ll walk into what will be a veteran Texas A&M freestyle group in the 2014-2015 season, and could be a finishing touch for them.
Malone is the two-time defending Wisconsin 2A State Champion (small schools) in the 100 free, and also the one-time defending champion in the 100 free.
She swims for Shorewood High School and the Shorewood Swim Club just north of Milwaukee. Though it’s not the biggest squad in Wisconsin, the club and high school recently raised enough funds to purchase new track-start blocks: an impressive luxury for a high school club.
Malone is basically 1A or 1B for the top recruit in the class of 2014 out of the state of Wisconsin. She has nearly identical times as Stanford commit Alexandra Meyers, also from the Milwaukee area. Meyers, who is a Junior National Teamer, is a bit better in the 200, and a bit better in long course, but Malone has an incredibly efficient stroke and is on a steeper improvement-slope than Meyers is during their respective three years of high school (Meyers was 50.3 as a freshman, Malone was only 53.0).
At any rate, both are great swimmers, and both Stanford and Texas A&M got big pickups out of the burgeoning Wisconsin women’s sprint scene.
I am sure the coaching staff at the UW are scratching their heads but ask anyone familiar with the program and you will have your answer. The word is out and the fallout from it is obvious!!
Perhaps the issue is more a women’s team than a men’s team issue? They picked up a bunch of WI HS grads over the last 2 years – correct?
Exactly with Meitz and Jagdfeld going out of state to Purdue as well.
The Badgers lose another top female in-state recruit…not surprised
What is going on with UW inability to sign top in state recruits?
If there were ever two words that encapsulated the essence of the Shorewood Swim Club, those words are “impressive luxury.”