The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's and women's swimming & diving team extended its win streak on Saturday, topping Western Illinois on Senior Day.

On the women's side, the team won 143-76. The Panthers extended their dual win streak to six-straight, not having lost since the season-opener Oct. 14. Milwaukee won 11 of 13 events on the day, getting wins from eight different athletes and two relay teams.

"The women's team is swimming well, but we have to be better," UWM head coach Dave Griffore said. "And if we are going to win next week [the Panthers travel to UW-Green Bay], we have to be better. It's going to be exciting to go up to Green Bay and swim on the road. As defending Horizon League champions, they are definitely the team to beat in the conference."

Senior Lindsay Caldwell was the only repeat winner for UWM, taking top honors in both the 100 and 200 freestyles. She won the 200 in 1:54.27 before extending her win streak on the season in the 100 to eight in a time of 52.36.

Two other seniors helped out on Senior Day with victories, with Susan Harmsen winning the 1000 free in a season-best time of 10:48.25. Emily Duesler also added another win, topping the field on the one-meter diving board with 266.50 points. That point total also gave Duesler an NCAA Zone qualifying score on the one-meter, topping the required 265 points needed.

Junior Jess Kelly won the 50 free in 25.15, sophomore Molly Finn took the 100 fly in 1:02.10 and three freshman added to their impressive first seasons at UWM. 
 

Shannon Berndt won for the 11th time this year, touching the wall in 1:06.25 to edge freshman Kerry Rossow (1:06.56) for the victory in the 100 breaststroke. Megan Skiba took top honors in the 100 backstroke in 1:02.25, while Ali Winius won the 500 freestyle in a season-best 5:17.43.

"We had good swims from a lot of people, but I just think across the board we were a little flat and a little average," Griffore said. "We have to continue to go back and work hard and finish the year off."

Both relay teams also won, with Skiba, Berndt, Finn and Kelly placing first in 1:51.70 in the 200 medley and Caldwell, senior Heather Sawatzki, sophomore Kristina Hansen and freshman Jamilla Edwards winning the 200 free relay in 1:41.94.

The win not only extended the dual streak on the season to six, but also the head-to-head win streak over Western Illinois to five. The only other time UWM has won six-straight duals in its NCAA Division I history was the 1997-98 season.

The men won 10 out of 13 events on Saturday in cruising to a 142-84 victory over Western Illinois. The team has now won five-straight duals on the year for the first time since 1999-2000.

"It was a good day, but I felt we swam pretty average," UWM head coach Dave Griffore said. "I think any time you win you have to be happy, no matter how you do it. We're still building things here and there are still things we need to fix. But, I am excited to get healthy and get everyone back and finish with one more meet on the road at Green Bay."

Junior Chase Gravengood and sophomore Robby Leibold paced the day with two wins each, as UWM got victories from six different people and two relay teams to extend its head-to-head win streak over Western Illinois to five-straight.

Gravengood won the 400 IM in a time of 4:05.76, breaking the Klotsche Natatorium record of 4:07.45 in the process. He also won the 100 butterfly by nearly three seconds, touching the wall in 51.88.

Leibold pulled off the distance event sweep, taking top honors in the 500 and 1000 freestyles. He opened the meet with a dominating effort, topping the field by over 20 seconds with a time of 9:40.92. He finished in 4:43.43 in the 500 to earn the win.

Both Milwaukee relays were victorious, with the team of juniors Ross Bittner, Jeremy Seibel, Gravengood and freshman Lucas Tanel winning the 200 medley relay in 1:39.05. In the 200 freestyle relay, it was juniors Tyler Jefferson and David Yugo and freshmen Tanel and Eric Burns who won in a time of 1:28.14. 

Other individual winners for the Panthers included sophomore David Adams, Burns, Yugo and Seibel.

Adams won the 200 free in 1:47.10, edging out Jefferson (1:47.13) for the win. Burns recorded the first win of his UWM career, claiming the 50 free in 22.48. Yugo won the 100 free in 48.57, while Seibel took the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.18.

"We got some good swims from Chase today and Robby had another good meet," Griffore said. "Jeremy Waldhart's 1000 was very impressive [he set a personal-best] and Dave Yugo had a very solid swim in the 100 for this time of the year."

Milwaukee wraps up the dual season next weekend, taking on UW-Green Bay Saturday, Feb. 3, at 1 p.m.