Wisconsin-Milwaukee Men
Nic Halverson put on a show, winning an incredible four individual events to lead the way for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team Saturday at the All Wisconsin Showcase from the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center.
In all, the Panthers won seven of the 16 events against some of the best teams in the state, finishing no worse than third in all but one event on the day.
"This is a great meet," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "To get to swim against this many schools from our state is a wonderful opportunity. We had a lot of good performances today and we'll keep using that going forward in practice and next week in Ohio."
Milwaukee started the day with a bang. The Panthers topped the field in the opening 200 medley relay as Kyle Gerum, Jacob Barson, Anthony Kolbus and Nick Menninga combined to win the event in 1:35.29 – over a full second ahead of the next closest team.
The next two events belonged to Halverson. The senior started his day by winning the 200 freestyle in 1:44.15 to just edge out Green Bay's top swimmer. Then, in the very next event, Halverson again took first with a winning 200 IM time of 1:57.52 – over a full second ahead of second place.
Next up, Halverson just edged out a teammate for another win. In the 500 free, he claimed first in 4:42.60, just ahead of senior Max Gatzke at 4:42.70.
The Kiel native then wrapped up his by touching the wall first in the 400 IM in 4:12.60, again touching out Green Bay's top swimmer for the win.
Senior Yevgeniy Foster also claimed a win on the day. The Eden Prairie, Minn. native was the clear best on the day in the 100 fly, topping the field of 32 in 52.07. Kolbus came in second overall in 53.31.
N. Menninga posted Milwaukee's final win on the day. The league champ in the 200 free as a sophomore, Menninga won the 50 free in 21.65, just ahead of Gerum (21.77) in second. Menninga later came in second in the 100 free (47.67), with brother Ryan Menninga also claiming a second-place finish on the day in the 200 fly (1:55.59).
In diving, Milwaukee just missed a pair of wins on the day. Senior Andres Villa came in second on the three-meter with a solid score of 315.10, with sophomore Marcel Harris taking third on the one-meter at 297.90 to lead the way.
Other runner-up finishes on the day for UWM included Gerum (53.03) in the 100 back, Barson (59.17) in the 100 breast and the 400 free relay team (3:12.75) of Gerum, Foster, Tim Halverson and N. Menninga.
The Panthers have their first true road meet of the season next week, taking on conference foe Wright State Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. from Dayton.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee Women
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team won an outstanding 13 of 16 events to lead the way at the All Wisconsin Showcase at Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center Saturday.
Sophomore Sara Bentley won four individual events, freshmen Danielle Kudis and Jenn Kordik each won two events and the Panthers flexed their muscle against some of the best in the state in just their second meet of the season.
"This is a great meet," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "To get to swim against this many schools from our state is a wonderful opportunity. We had a lot of good performances today and we'll keep using that going forward in practice and next week in Ohio."
UWM started the day with a win in the 200 medley relay. Bentley, Kordik, Kady Ruemmele and Shelby Rozeboom teamed up to top the field of 32 teams with a winning time of 1:47.31.
That was just the start of an incredible day for Bentley. The sophomore from Ames, Iowa won her first individual event in the 200 IM. She dominated the field, winning in 2:08.24. Freshman Addison Skogman was not far behind, taking second in 2:10.84.
Bentley then won the very next event, topping the field of 54 in the 100 back in 56.94, nearly two seconds ahead of the next finisher. The sophomore closed out her day with two more wins in the 200 back (2:05.59) and the 100 butterfly (58.26).
Kudis started her day with a big win in the 200 free. The freshman dominated the field, touching the wall in 1:53.22 – nearly two full seconds ahead of the next swimmer. Kudis also claimed a win in the 500 free in 5:02.79, with junior Natalie Johnson right behind at 5:11.20 for second.
Milwaukee could not be beat in the breaststroke events on the day, with Kordik leading the way. The freshman first won the 100 breast in 1:07.64, with Adrienne DiFoggio (1:08.47) second, Johnson (1:08.51) third and Hannah Lucas (1:09.21) fourth.
Then, the Panthers took the top-six spots in the 200 breast. Kordik again led the way in 2:27.03, with DiFoggio, Natalie O'Connell, Maggie Burns, Johnson and Lucas rounding out the podium.
Rachel Margis again swept the diving competition for the second-straight week to start the season. The senior won the 1-meter competition with a score of 282.20 before posting a 3-meter winning score of 277.45.
Other wins on the day for Milwaukee included Rozeboom (24.08) in the 50 free and Skogman (4:40.94) in the 400 IM.
The Panthers have their first true road meet of the season next week, taking on conference foe Wright State Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. from Dayton.
