Junior K.J. Heger broke another school record and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team won its second meet in as many days, taking down the University of Chicago, 149.5-148.5, Saturday afternoon at the Myers-McLoraine Pool.
Milwaukee won nine of the 16 events on the day, including four of the last five to secure the win.
Heger now owns all three UWM diving records, all three of which he has broken this season.
"We had a number of highlights and a lot of great performances today, but we were lucky to walk away with some wins this afternoon," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "As a team and staff, we need to work on maintaining our initial energy in a multi-day meet. The Horizon League Championships and the Midwest Classic are both multi-day meets and we will be asked to perform at a high level on back-to-back days. When that time comes, we will need to do a better job.
"This is what we talked about yesterday. We need to get better at racing and be more consist with our times, and that will come in the next couple of weeks."
Heger continued his outstanding junior season with two more wins, his ninth and 10th victories on the year. He started his day with a new UWM record one the one-meter board, posting an incredible score of 358.80 to best Dave Arvai's previous school record of 348.83 set back in 1996. Heger also won the three-meter board at 366.75.
Milwaukee dominated the distance events on the day. In the 500 freestyle, the Panthers nearly swept the scoring, taking the top-four spots in the event. Tim Halverson won the race at 4:46.23, just beating out Kenny Stelpflug at 4:46.40. Ryan Finke was third at 4:48.13 and Jeff Maxwell was fourth in 4:48.99.
In the 1000 free, Chris Jenkyns took the top spot in 9:49.68. T. Halverson was right behind at 9:49.85 and Stelpflug was third in 10:04.77 to again show the UWM depth.
Jenkyns also topped the field in the 200 backstroke. The senior posted a winning time of 1:54.97 to win his fourth event in less than 24 hours. Nic Halverson was right behind in second at 1:56.03.
N. Halverson also won an event on the busy weekend, touching the wall first in the 200 freestyle in 1:43.50, besting the rest of the field by two full seconds. The sophomore posted his second win of the day in the 400 IM, cruising to victory in 4:07.25, a full four seconds ahead of second place.
Junior Mike Lucchesi won the 50 free for the second-straight day, this time taking first with a time of 21.58. Lucchesi also led the way in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.99.
Milwaukee returns to the pool next week when the diving team heads to the UIC Diving Invitational Saturday, Jan. 25. The swimming team returns to action Jan. 31 when it hosts Northwestern at the Klotsche Natatorium.
Rachel Margis won both of her events and broke a pool record to help lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team to a 165-128 win over the University of Chicago Saturday afternoon at the Myers-McLoraine Pool.
UWM won nine of the 16 events on the day and improved to 7-0 in dual meets on the season.
"We had a number of highlights and a lot of great performances today, but we were lucky to walk away with some wins this afternoon," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "As a team and staff, we need to work on maintaining our initial energy in a multi-day meet. The Horizon League Championships and the Midwest Classic are both multi-day meets and we will be asked to perform at a high level on back-to-back days. When that time comes, we will need to do a better job.
"This is what we talked about yesterday. We need to get better at racing and be more consist with our times, and that will come in the next couple of weeks."
Margis had arguably her best performance of the season Saturday, winning both boards for the second-straight day. The sophomore broke a pool record on the three-meter board with a score of 315.75, a season-best and NCAA Zone-qualifying score. She also won the one-meter with a score of 256.05.
Milwaukee's 200 medley relay team set a pool record for the second-straight day. Becky Yokosh, Emily McClellan, Diana Diel and Sierra Townsend combined to win the opening event in 1:45.88, a full three seconds ahead of second place.
Also for the second-consecutive day, McClellan broke a pool record in the 100 breaststroke. The senior took first with a winning time of 1:03.04, one and a half seconds faster than the previous pool record and five seconds ahead of second place.
UWM went 1-2 in the 50 freestyle for the second day in a row. Diel won the event in 24.42 seconds, just edging out teammate Anna Yontz, who was second at 24.55. Diel also won the 100 butterfly, touching the wall first at 57.66 for her fourth win in two days.
Yokosh won a pair of individual events on the day. The senior first topped the field in the 100 backstroke in 58.47 seconds, three seconds ahead of the next-closest finisher. She also took first in the 200 backstroke in 2:06.79, a full five seconds ahead of second place.
Kristin Zablocki also took first for the second-straight day. The freshman won the 400 IM in 4:39.28, just beating out Chicago's top swimmer by a second and a half.
Milwaukee returns to the pool next week when the diving team heads to the UIC Diving Invitational Saturday, Jan. 25. The swimming team returns to action Feb. 1 when the Panthers host Green Bay for Senior Day.
