Wisconsin-Milwaukee Men
Five different swimmers all recorded wins on the night as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming team notched its first win of the season, a 111-94 victory over Wheaton College Friday afternoon from Chrouser Natatorium.
"I am proud of the effort of the men and women that are here in Chicago with us this weekend," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "We are a little short handed on this trip, so it is imperative to our success that we get an overall good team effort. We were getting some big swims from a variety of swimmers and classes. Tomorrow will be a great test, and we will need to be even better as a group.
"We had a number of great swims out of the men tonight. Max Gatzke and Tim Halverson handled their roles well, but it was Nic Halverson that threw down the most impressive time of the night in the four IM. Evan Kuker was an outstanding performer for us tonight, earning his first dual meet win of his career in the one back, and also had the teams fastest flat start 50 free."
Gatzke started the night off with a win for Milwaukee, taking the top spot in the 1000 free in 9:47.88. Freshman Dane Van Allen came in second overall on the night in 10:18.43.
T. Halverson then made it two-for-two for the Panthers with a win in the 200 free. The senior topped the field in 1:45.67, with freshmen Mathew Jensen (1:48.91) and Eli Hoenshel (1:50.04) in third and fourth.
Then it was N. Halverson's turn. The Kiel, Wis. native took down Wheaton's top swimmer in Will McCauly in the 400 IM with an incredible time of 4:05.74 to touch out McCauly by just over one-tenth of a second. That time is also second fastest in the Horizon League thus far this season.
Kuker notched his first win of the season in his very first swim after missing the first few meets with an injury. The junior touched the wall first in 52.88, half a second ahead of the rest of the field.
Freshman Jacob Barson collected the first win of his young collegiate career. The Arlington Heights, Ill. native won the 100 breaststroke in 58.96 – just over two-tenths ahead of the next finisher.
Milwaukee also closed out the meet securing the team win with one more event win. Kyle Gerum, Kuker, Ryan Menninga and Nick Menninga teamed up to win the 200 free relay in 1:25.45 – a full three seconds ahead of Wheaton's top team.
Other impressive performances on the night included freshman Anthony Kolbus taking second in the 100 fly in 52.98 to lead four Panthers in the top-five, Gatzke (4:48.43) taking second in the 500 free, T. Halverson (48.26) taking second in the 100 free and N. Menninga (21.81) finishing runner-up in the 50 free.
Milwaukee is right back at it tomorrow with a showdown with conference foe UIC at noon from the Flames Natatorium.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee Women
Sophomore Aleena Bodnaruk won a pair of events to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming team to a 133-72 win over Wheaton College Friday afternoon from the Chrouser Natatorium.
The Panthers won eight of the 11 events on the day to improve to 3-0 on the season.
"I am proud of the effort of the men and women that are here in Chicago with us this weekend," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "We are a little short handed on this trip, so it is imperative to our success that we get an overall good team effort. We were getting some big swims from a variety of swimmers and classes. Tomorrow will be a great test, and we will need to be even better as a group.
"Great things were happening across the board for the ladies. I am very proud of Alena Bodnaruk and Kady Ruemmele as they took on more responsibility and put up great swims for themselves. Our sprinters also did very well; Shelby Rozeboom continues to impress and Mandie Siehs put up great swims for herself. Just like in the men's meet, the most impressive time for me was Addison Skogman in the 4 IM. She dropped eight seconds from her last time swimming it."
Bodnaruk started the day off for Milwaukee on the right foot. The sophomore topped the field in the 1000 free with a winning time of 10:43.76, with a pair of teammates right behind in freshman Kira Pless (10:52.41) for second and senior Abby Duke (11:18.11) for third.
Bodnaruk also took the top spot in the 500 free to close out her dominance of the distance events Friday. This time, she won in 5:17.67, nearly a full six seconds ahead of the next finisher.
Next up it was Skogman, who dominated the 400 IM for her second-straight win in the event. The freshman posted an impressive early-season time of 4:31.63 for first, nearly three seconds ahead of the next finisher.
Milwaukee flexed its muscle in the 100 free, led the Mandie Siehs. The senior cruised to a win in 52.60, with freshmen Emma Helgeson (54.81) and Danielle Kudis (54.85) taking second and third to dominate the event. Kudis also won an event of her own, taking the 200 free title on the day in 1:54.46 – a win by a full three seconds.
Ruemmele was very impressive in the 100 backstroke Friday. The sophomore notched her second win of the season with an outstanding time of 59.52, a full second ahead of Wheaton's top swimmer.
The Panthers claimed yet another win in the 50 free. Freshman Shelby Rozeboom turned in a collegiate-best time of 24.02 to take down Wheaton phenom Kirsty Nitz. This marks the third win in the event in four meets for Rozeboom to start her Panther career.
In the 200 free relay, the dominance continued as Milwaukee took the top-three spots overall. The Panthers' A-team claimed the top spot as Rozeboom, Arica Smith, Kudis and Siehs teamed up for a win in 1:37.02 – five seconds ahead of second place.
UWM had countless other strong swims on the night, including sophomore Natalie O'Connell taking second in the 100 butterfly with Milwaukee also taking third, fourth and fifth, and Jenn Kordik taking third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.46 to lead the Black & Gold.
Milwaukee is right back at it tomorrow with a showdown with conference foe UIC at noon from the Flames Natatorium.
