UWM Men
Five Panthers claimed wins as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team posted strong results in a season-opening loss to Grand Valley State University Saturday afternoon from the Klotsche Natatorium.
The Division-II powerhouse was able to walk away with a 180-120 win against Milwaukee in the season opener for both teams.
"We were a little uneven today," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "We had some guys post really great times, but then our 2-3-4 swimmers weren't the best. Or there would be events where events where everyone was good but no one was great.
"Early in the year with the men's team, fatigue sets in a little bit differently and people bounce back for meets a little differently. We'll become more consistent as the season progresses but we had plenty of positive results to build off of today."
Tim Halverson claimed the first win of the day for UWM. The senior just touched out Grand Valley's top swimmer with an impressive finish, touching the wall at 1:44.50 to win by less than three-tenths of a second.
UWM took the top-two spots in the 200 butterfly. Freshman Ryan Menninga won his first individual race of his collegiate career, just edging out his teammate with the winning time of 1:55.55. Junior Yevgeniy Foster was right behind at 1:55.85 for second overall.
One of the most impressive wins of the day was put together by Nic Halverson. The Kiel native took the top spot in the 400 IM with an outstanding time of 4:09.12 – over a full second ahead of the Lakers' top swimmer.
Andres Villa led the way for the Milwaukee divers on the day. The senior started the meet by winning the three-meter competition with a strong score of 289.80 before narrowly missing the sweep and taking second on one meter at 293.33 – just two points shy of the win. Sophomore Marcel Harris also did well on one meter, taking third at 275.93.
Kyle Gerum also claimed a win for the Panthers. The sophomore beat the field in the 200 backstroke for his second collegiate win, clocking in at 1:55.44. N. Halverson also did well, claiming third overall at 1:56.11.
Milwaukee started the meet narrowly missing a win in the 1000 free. In fact, the Panthers took three of the first four spots in the opening individual event. Max Gatzke just missed the win, taking second with a time of 9:38.71 – less than two-tenths of a second shy of the win. N. Halverson came in third at 9:58.74 and Dane Van Allen was fourth in 10:13.90.
The Panthers also had a host of second-place finishes on the day, including Gerum (100 back), Jacob Barson (100 & 200 breast), J.J. Melville (also the 200 breast), Nick Menninga (50 free), T. Halverson (500 free), Foster (100 fly) and both relays.
"Grand Valley always swims us well and this is always one of their fastest meets of the year," Clements said. "It's a tough loss but we're not going to look at the end of the year how we looked today."
Next up for Milwaukee is the All Wisconsin Invite scheduled for next Saturday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. from the Walter Schroder Aquatic Center just up the road in Brown Deer.
UWM Women
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming and diving team won nine events en route to a season-opening win over Grand Valley State University, 154-146, Saturday afternoon from the Klotsche Natatorium.
Sara Bentley won two events, Rachel Margis won both boards in diving and the Panthers swept the relays for a well-deserved win against the D-II power Lakers.
"This was a good win," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "We got wins in events that we haven't always gotten wins in. We found some new people in new events early in the year and it's working for us. We're really happy with the way the women competed all day long."
Milwaukee opened the meet up with a big win in the 200 medley relay. Bentley, Jenn Kordik, Kady Ruemmele and Mandie Siehs combined to win Saturday's opening event in 1:47.93, half a second ahead of the next team.
Bentley went on to win two more individual events on the day. The sophomore picked up right where she left off in sweeping the backstroke events. She claimed the 100 back in 57.91 – within one second of the pool record. Bentley also showed her early dominance in the 200 back with a winning time of 2:05.77, over two seconds ahead of the next finisher.
The Panthers also swept the butterfly events on the day. In the 100 fly, it was Ruemmele. A backstroke specialist as a freshman, Ruemmele won the 100 fly in 58.96, over half a second ahead of GVSU's top swimmer.
Then, in the 200 fly, junior Natalie Johnson took the top spot with a winning time of 2:12.10, just ahead of teammate Maggie Burns at 2:13.28 for second.
Milwaukee went 1-2-3 in the 50 free, with a freshmen taking the top spot in her first ever individual event. Newcomer Shelby Rozeboom touched the wall first in 24.25, just ahead of Siehs (24:33) and Arica Smith (24.40). Hannah Lucas also did well, taking fifth in 25.11 as UWM loaded up the points in the sprint event.
Rachel Margis kicked off her senior season by continuing her run of dominance by sweeping both boards. Margis first won the three-meter board with an opening score of 265.35. Then, in the one-meter competition, the Racine native posted an NCAA Zone-qualifying score of 287.70 to once again cruise to victory.
The Panthers took spots 2-3-4 in the 1000 free. Johnson led the way, claiming second in 10:37.40, just ahead of newcomer Addison Skogman at 10:39.95 and sophomore Alena Bodnaruk at 10:41.33.
Milwaukee also had a host of other solid finishes on the day, including runner-up showings by Danielle Kudis (200 free), Siehs (100 free), Kordik (200 breast) and Skogman (400 IM).
UWM closed out the day by sealing the win with yet another first-place finish, this time in the 200 free relay. Rozeboom, Smith, Danielle Kudis and Siehs teamed up to take first in 1:36.27, well over a full second ahead of second place.
Next up for Milwaukee is the All Wisconsin Invite scheduled for next Saturday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. from the Walter Schroder Aquatic Center just up the road in Brown Deer.
