Kate Wheeler

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2006-07 Season Outlook

Kate Wheeler’s hard work paid off as a junior by qualifying for the NCAA Championships in three distance freestyle events. One of the top five distance freestylers in school history, Wheeler will aim to qualify for the national event again this season as a team leader for the Huskers. Along with her success in the pool, the Issaquah, <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Wash., native is a standout in the classroom, earning first-team academic All-Big 12 honors in 2006.

 

2005-06 (Junior)

Wheeler qualified for the 2006 NCAA Championships, giving Nebraska a second swimming qualifier in the meet for the first time in five years. Despite her 34th-place qualifying time in the 1,650-yard freestyle, Wheeler turned in an impressive 21st-place performance in a career-best 16:33.18, the fourth-fastest time in school history, while also placing 29th in the 500-free and 46th in the 200-free. At the Big 12 Championships, Wheeler added her name to the all-time top-five chart in the 200-yard free with a preliminary time of 1:49.14 that followed with a fifth-place finish in the finals. She was also third in both the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle races. During the regular season, Wheeler won 12 races. Four came in the 100-yard freestyle, where she set a career-best time of 51.77 as the leadoff leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay at the Big 12 Championships.

 

2004-05 (Sophomore)

Wheeler rattled off 10 straight individual victories in dual competition to begin the season, and ended the year with a team-high 18 wins.  Wheeler competed in every freestyle event during the year, and set NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the 200-, 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle races, just missing out on the NCAA Championships.  During the season, the Issaquah, Wash., native set career bests in the 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyles, and ended the year with success at the Big 12 Championships, placing fifth in the 1,650-free (16:40.18), eighth in the 500-free (4:54.00) and 14th in the 200-free (1:50.55).  Wheeler's time in the 1,650 placed her fifth on Nebraska's all-time list.

 

2003-04 (Freshman)

Wheeler performed like a veteran as a freshman in the distance freestyle events, as she opened the year with a pair of wins against SouthwestMissouriState, taking titles in both the 500-yard freestyle (5:05.01) and 1,000-yard freestyle (10:15.80).  Wheeler also earned a pair of wins against No. 23 Missouri in the same events, dropping her time in the 500-yard freestyle to 5:01.91 and her time in the 1,000-yard freestyle to 10:11.49.  She also set a pool record at Pershing Natatorium in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:14.11) against TrumanState.  Wheeler was NU's lone winner in the distance contest at the Irvine Invitational, finishing the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:16.16.  She had a strong finish on the season, earning more wins against IowaState, and picking up a fifth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships in the 500-free in a season-best time of 4:52.81.

 

Previous

Wheeler was a high school All-American in the 500-yard freestyle and a scholastic All-American.  She finished third in the state of Washington in the 500-yard freestyle.  She also qualified for the U.S. Open in the 800-meter freestyle in 2003.

 

Personal

Kate was born on Dec. 12, 1984, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is the daughter of Donny Wheeler and Nola Van Vugt.  Kate has one sister, Anna.  Kate is a physics major.