Four Badger swimmers competed in the men's 800-meter freestyle relay and one in the men's 200 IM on Friday as competition continued at the 2011 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships in Palo Alto, Calif.

The team of Michael Weiss, Wes Lagerhausen, Garrett Mulchrone, and Marcus Guttman raced in the 800 free relay and clocked in with a time of 7:32.85 to claim an 11th-place finish. Weiss also competed individually in the 200 IM and touched in with a time of 2:04.78 in the B finals finishing 19th.

Saturday is the final day of competition and concludes with the100 and 800 free, 200 breast, and 400 medley relay on the women's side, while the men will conclude with the 200 back, 200 breast, 1500 free and 400 medley relay.

Two Badgers claimed top finishes in their respective races this past week at the 2011 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships at Stanford University's Avery Aquatic Center in Palo Alto, Calif.

On Tuesday, junior Michael Weiss raced to a sixth-place finish in the men's 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:21.50. Weiss qualified for the finals with a time of 4:21.35 in the preliminaries. He also finished 16th in the 400 free.

After clocking-in with a third-place time of 1:08.57 in the women's 100 breast prelims, senior Ashley Wanland qualified for the finals on Thursday evening. Clocking in at 1:08.33, she claimed a fourth-place finish in the finals.

Senior Beckie Thompson claimed a 20th-place finish in the 50 free C finals touching in at 25.79 seconds.

The team of Thompson, Ruby Martin, Danielle Beckwith and Amie Osten swam to a 20th-place finish in the women's 400 free relay with a time of 3:50.45. Individually, Martin raced in the 50 free, while her partners Beckwith competed in the 400 free and Osten swam in the 100 back.

On the men's side of the 400 free relay, the group of Wes Lagerhausen, Marcus Guttman, Garrett Mulchrone, and incoming freshman Andrew Teduits finished 31st overall. Individually, Teduits and Mulchrone both competed in the 100 back and 100 fly, while Lagerhausen swam in the 50 free, and Guttman competed in the 200 fly.

Other Badgers competing in the championships include current junior Paulina Gralow (women's 100 breast) and former Badger Jesse Stipek (men's 100 back).

The first ever Women's Beantown Summer Classic kicked off today and for a tournament in its infancy, it features some serious talent; including 12 current or former UW women's hockey players. In the mix of players include current U.S. and Canadian Olympians, former and current WCHA players, and other Division I women's hockey players.

The Beantown Classic is normally a series of tournaments designed to showcase the talents of future male hockey prospects. This year they added a women's component for the summer and fielded five divisions: a futures division (birthyears ranging from '91-'97), a 1998 Division ('98 birth years only), a 1996/1997 Division ('96 & '97 birth years only), a college division and a senior division.

The college division fielded 14 teams and, by far, showcases the greatest talent out of the five divisions. A vast majority of the players in the division come from a mix of from Division I Division III programs. Unsurprisingly most of the players come from East Coast universities, as the tournament is in Boston.

Of those 14 teams in the college division, two stand out as heavyweight contenders for winning the whole thing. Two guesses for what teams the 12 Badgers are playing on...

The roster for Cheli's Chili Chicks (not sure if they're sponsored by Chris Chelios' restaurant, considering the only two are both in Michigan) features seven Badgers: Hillary Knight, Madison Packer, Meghan Duggan, Brianna Decker, Geena Prough, Carla Pentimone and Erika Lawler. Also on the roster are Caitlyn Cahow and Kacey Bellamy, both Olympic medalists for Team USA.

Brittany Ammerman, Kelly Nash, Carolyne Prévost, Stefanie McKeough and Brittany Haverstock are the remaining five Badgers and play for Team Sexy Back (aptly named for Justin Timberlake's ever-so-amazing single "SexyBack"). Looking to ride the same success as the triple platinum song, the roster for Team Sexy Back features three-time Olympians Julie Chu (Team USA) and Caroline Ouellette (Team Canada).

All 14 teams will play four games today and tomorrow, leading up to the top six teams making a single-elimination playoff bracket on Sunday. However, Cheli's Chili Chicks and Team Sexy Back cannot both go undefeated as they have to play each other in the preliminary stage in what could be a warm-up for the championship game.

Here are the complete rosters for the two "power-house" teams:

Cheli's Chili Chicks
F - Hillary Knight - Returning for her senior season, 2010 Vancouver Olympics for Team USA
F - Madison Packer - Returning for her sophomore season
F - Meghan Duggan - Just concluded her UW career winning the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Award, 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics
F - Brianna Decker - Returning for her junior season
F - Geena Prough - Just concluded her UW career
F - Carla Pentimone - Just concluded her UW career
F - Erika Lawler - Concluded UW career in 2009, 2010 Vancouver Olympics for Team USA.
F - Ashley Cottrell - Plays for Providence College
D - Caitlyn Cahow - Two-time Olympian for Team USA
D - Kacey Bellamy - 2010 Vancouver Olympics for Team USA
D - Josephine Pucci - Plays for Harvard, 2011 World Championships for Team USA
G - Geneveive LaCasse - Plays for Providence and had the fifth-best save percentage in the nation in 2010-11, 2011 Team Canada U-22.

Team Sexy Back
F - Brittany Ammerman - Returning for her sophomore season
F - Kelly Nash - Just concluded her UW career
F - Carolyne Prévost - Returning for her senior season, 2011 Team Canada U-22
D - Stefanie McKeough - Returning for her junior season , 2011 Team Canada U-22
D - Brittany Haverstock - Returning for her senior season, 2011 Team Canada U-22
F - Jess Koizumi - Assistant coach at Yale, former Minnesota Duluth player
F - Julie Chu - Three-time Olympian for Team USA
F - Emmanuelle Blais - Former Minnesota Duluth player, led Bulldogs in scoring in 2009-10
F - Caroline Ouellette - Three-time Olympian for Team Canada
F - Jess Tyra - Former Bemidji State player, currently at UW-Superior
F - Kelley Steadman - plays for Mercyhurst, 2011 IIHF World Championships for Team USA
F - Abby Gauthier - Plays for Providence
D - Gabie Figuroa - Plays for Princeton
D - Jody Holland - Former North Dakota player, currently at UW-Superior
D - Liz Keady - Plays for Princeton
D - Erica Kromm - Plays for Brown
G - Laura Chamberlain - Plays for RIT

Links
Tournament homepage - Schedule and Results (.xls) - Rosters (.xls)