Northwestern University broke a pool record in a 163-128 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming team Friday night at the Klotsche Natatorium.
Milwaukee did win five events against one of the top teams in the Big Ten in preparation for tomorrow's big meet against Green Bay.
"I'm really happy with how tonight went," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "Right out of the gates we were good. We had a lot of season-best times and that was off a full, solid week of training. After the last meet I wasn't the happiest guy, but we were able to put a lot of people back in their regular events tonight and get back on track - including some season-best times.
"Obviously, Northwestern brings in a great contest. We love swimming against them every year. We want to race our fastest and we want to put the fastest people around us so we swim Northwestern every year and they bring the best out of us."
Ryan Finke was the first to take the top spot on the podium for UWM. The junior won the 200 butterfly in a thrilling race, touching the wall first in 1:54.83. Rob Miller was third at 1:57.61.
Next up was Mike Lucchesi in the 100 fly. The junior won the event in 50.84. Finke was second in 53.61 and Evan Kuker was third in 54.35.
Kenny Stelpflug won the 200 IM with an impressive time of 1:56.95. Yevgeniy Foster came in second at 2:01.96 and David Chokran was third at 2:04.05.
Milwaukee's team of Lucchesi, Tim Halverson, Kuker and Nick Menninga won the 200 free relay in 1:25.89, not from a season-best.
In diving, K.J. Heger continued his dominance. The six-time Horizon League Diver of the Week won the one-meter competition with a score of 316.20. He also came in second on the three-meter at 337.20.
A handful of Panthers also just missed the top spots and came in second on the night, including Stelpflug in the 200 free (1:43.21), Nic Halverson) in the 1000 free (9:39.28 and the 500 free (4:41.99), Lucchesi in the 50 free (21.63) and J.J. Melville in the 200 breaststroke (2:10.48).
Milwaukee is right back in the pool tomorrow, taking on Green Bay at the Klotsche Natatorium at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.
"I was happy with the overall effort tonight," Clements said. "What I want to see is how we carry this into tomorrow. The times that we swam today will win events tomorrow and so are we able to swim those same times tomorrow, if not faster? That's what I'm excited to see."
