Milwaukee, Green Bay Claim Horizon Titles

The 2010 Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships officially ended with Milwaukee men and Green Bay women earning its respective conference titles.  

The Milwaukee men's program picked up its second all-time trophy and first since 2000.  The Panthers racked up 733 points as freshman Zac Kraii earned Newcomer of the Year honors and Head Coach Erica Janssen takes home Coach of the Year accolades.  Cleveland State garnered runner up awards with 675 points as host UIC placed third with 671.5 points.

On the women's side, Green Bay takes home its sixth consecutive conference crown and eighth overall.  The Phoenix posted 804 team points as Lauren McGraw collected Diver of the Year honors and Jim Merner and Tom Stover pick up swimming and diving coach of the year laurels, respectively.  Milwaukee totaled 713 points for second place while Wright State gained 694.5 points for third.

Below are the individual award winners

Newcomer of the Year
Women- Emily Gniatczyk (UIC)
Men- Zac Kraii, (UWM)
 
Swimmers of the Meet
Women- Danielle Wenger (UWM)
Men- Brian Anderson (UIC)
 
Divers of the Meet
Women- Lauren McGraw (UWGB)
Men- Josh Gonzalez (CSU)
 
Athlete of the Year
Women- Danielle Wenger (UWM) and Molly Pipkorn (WSU)
Men- Brian Anderson (UIC)
 
Diving Coach of the Year
Women- Tom Stover (UWGB)
Men- Tom Stover (UWGB)
 
Swimming Coach of the Year
Women- Jim Merner (UWGB)
Men- Erica Janssen (UWM)

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team held on to its first-place position heading into the final day and brought home the team title at the 2010 Horizon League Championships Saturday at the UIC Natatorium. The Panthers, despite not winning an individual title all meet, led from the second day of the championship and claimed their first league crown since 2000 in scoring 733 points. Sophomore Brady Huemann broke the 200 breaststroke record and Nathan Welchlin and Zachary Kraai both added freshmen records on the day, but it was the depth of the team that led the way to the league crown. Rounding out the field was Cleveland State in second with 675 points, UIC in third with 671.5, Wright State fourth with 646.5, Green Bay fifth with 551 and Valparaiso sixth with 141.

Senior Kerry Rossow and junior Danielle Wenger each won a league title to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team to a second place finish Saturday night at the 2010 Horizon League Championships at the UIC Natatorium. The Panthers finished in second-place for the third time in the past four years, with Green Bay capturing its sixth-consecutive Horizon League title. Wenger was named Swimmer of the Meet and Swimming & Diving Co-Athlete of the Year for her record-setting performance this week. It marks the second-straight season she has been the league athlete of the year.


Valparaiso Men

The 2009-2010 swimming and diving season came to a close for Valparaiso on Saturday at the Horizon League Championships held at Flames Natatorium in Chicago, Ill.
 
Valpo finished the championships in sixth place with 141 points while Milwaukee was crowned team champion with 733 points.  Cleveland State was second (675) followed by UIC (671.5), Wright State (646.5), and Green Bay (551).
 
The 200 breaststroke saw three Crusaders in the B Final on Saturday night.  Trevor Trimpe (New Palestine, Ind./Connersville H.S.) finished 14th overall with the fifth fastest mark in school history in the event, touching the wall in 2:14.66.  Ryan Burling (Morris, Ill./Morris Community H.S.) was 15th with a time of 2:24.98 while Toshko Ganzorigt (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/Orchlon H.S.) also scored for Valpo with a 16th place effort.
 
David Sivak (Hobart, Ind./Hobart H.S.) added the second fastest time ever for the 200 butterfly in school history in the morning preliminaries.  He finished with a time of 1:55.75, just 0.22 seconds shy of the school record.
 
Kevin Fedde (Fort Collins, Colo./Heritage Christian H.S.) and Steve Booth (Saint Josseph, Mich./Saint Joseph H.S.) both found the scoreboard in the mile for the Brown and Gold.  Fedde finished 15th with a time of 16:59.77 fourth quickest ever at Valpo while Booth was one place behind him.
 
Blake Edwards (Orange, Calif./Lutheran H.S. of Orange County) posted the top Crusader time in the morning prelims in the 100 free with a mark of 48.58 seconds, but was not able to qualify for finals.
 
Valpo concluded the meet with a sixth place finish in the 400 free relay.  The team of Edwards, Austin Hunter (La Crescent, Minn./La Crescent H.S.), Fedde, and Sivak touched the wall in 3:11.42.


Valparaiso Women

Valparaiso wrapped up the 2009-2010 season on Saturday with the final day of competition at the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships held at Flames Natatorium in Chicago, Ill.
 
The Crusaders finished the meet in eight place with 109 points, just seven points behind Butler.  Green Bay was crowned team champion with 804 points with Milwaukee the runner-up with 713 points.  Wright State (694.5) finished third followed by UIC (574), Cleveland State (368), and Youngstown State (259.5).
 
Shaunna Dangramond (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino H.S.) posted Valpo’s highest finish of the meet in the 200 backstroke, finishing with a time of 2:12.26 to place 10th in the event.  Karen Berg (Glendale, Ariz./Deer Valley H.S.) also scored in the 200 back, finishing 15th with a time of 2:19.01.
 
Justine Barnes (Rochester Hills, Mich./Adams H.S.) posted the second best 200 butterfly time in school history on Saturday, finishing 13th with a time of 2:11.63.  She was 2.60 seconds shy of the Valpo school record.
 
Rachel Majercik (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant H.S.) scored a 16th place finish for the Brown and Gold in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.86 second after posting a time of 53.77 in the morning preliminary heats.
 
Valpo closed the meet with an eighth place finish in the 400 free relay.  Kristy Shew (Terre Haute, Ind./North Vigo H.S.), Jenny Nam (Orange, Calif./Lutheran H.S. of Orange County), Berg, and Amy Young (Blue Bell, Pa./LaPorte H.S. [Ind.]) posted a time of 3:51.63.
 
The final day began with the mile, and Stephanie Ferschl (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago H.S.) turned in the team’s best time with a mark of 19:04.65.  Amy Andracki (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.) added the team’s top time in the 200 breaststroke in the prelims as well, touching the wall in 2:32.67.