The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's and women's swimming & diving teams combined to win six of the day's 10 events and appear poised for another run at defending their titles after another strong showing in day one of action at the Stevens Point Border Battle Friday evening.
Despite competing in its fifth meet in just the fourth week of the season, Milwaukee posted near season-best times in numerous events en route to leading on both sides after the first of two days in the pool.
The Panthers swept the 500 freestyles on the day. On the men's side, UWM took four of the top six spots. Kenny Stelpflug won in 4:41.28, followed by Nic Halverson (2nd, 4:45.44), Chris Jenkyns (4th, 4:47.05) and Tim Halverson (6th, 4:51.98). Freshman Natalie Johnson led the way on the women's side, touching the wall first at 5:05.99. Kelsey Abbas was right behind at 5:13.07 for fourth.
Emily McClellan posted the fastest 200 IM time in the Horizon League this year with a winning time of 2:05.81, winning by nearly nine full seconds. Freshman Kristin Zablocki was second in 2:14.00 and Hannah Lucas was third at 2:14.95.
J.J. Melville came in just second for the men, touching the wall at 1:59.57, less than half a second from first place.
In the 50 free, Mike Lucchesi won on the men's side in an impressive 21.71 seconds. Freshman Nick Menninga was third in 21.99 and Evan Kuker was fourth in 22.21. On the women's side, Anna Yontz just missed a win with a time of 24.29. Sierra Townsend was third in 24.61 and Diana Diel was fifth at 25.05.
The Panther women swept both relays on the day. The 200 free relay of Yontz, McClellan, Diel and Townsend won by nearly three seconds, touching the wall at 1:36.98. Then, in the 400 medley relay, Becky Yokosh, McClellan, Diel and Yontz teamed up to post a blistering time of 3:55.82, winning by nearly seven full seconds.
Milwaukee's men's relays came in just second in both swims on the day. Jenkyns, David Chokran, Max Ward and T. Halverson finished the 400 medley relay in 3:33.87, just shy of the winning mark. In the 200 free relay, Menninga, Erik Wahlgren, Kuker and Lucchesi just missed a win in 1:26.56.
The Panthers are right back at it Saturday morning as the second session is set to start at 10 a.m. with the third and final session scheduled for 4 p.m.
