Oct. 30, 2004

Results

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Junior Erin Blemberg won the one-meter diving event with a lifetime-best score as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team defeated Wayne State University, 161-82, but fell to Oakland University, 170-73, and the University of Akron, 162-81, at a triangular hosted by Oakland Saturday afternoon in Rochester. With the 1-2 mark, the Panthers moved to 2-3 in dual meets this season.

"All of our divers did great today," diving coach Todd Hill said. "Erin got her zone cut in the one-meter, just missed out on a school record and posted her best score ever. It was an excellent performance."

The story of the evening was Blemberg's performance in the one-meter diving, where she posted a score of 281.40, setting a new personal record and missing the school standard by just 8.25 points. In the same event, sophomore Crystal Szymanski took fifth with 206.45 points. From the three-meter board, Szymanski led the way, taking third with 235.90 points. Blemberg finished fourth in three-meter, scoring 227.15 points.

"There was definitely some good competition here, both teams are deep and talented," head coach Dave Clark said. "Considering the travel (after competing in Milwaukee last night) we responded well and got better as the meet went on."

Sophomore Lindsay Caldwell led the swimming contingent, taking second in both the 50 freestyle and 200 breaststroke. In the 50 free she touched the wall in 24.74, while her time of 2:24.62 in the 200 breast was a personal best, and just 0.57 off the lead time. Caldwell also swam with the third-place 400 medley relay, joining junior Emily Holcomb and sophomores Heather Sawatzki and Bridget Fargen to post a time of 4:05.39.

Fargen swam well in the 100 free, taking fourth in 54.89 in addition to swimming with the 400 free relay. In the evening's final event, Fargen, Sawatzki and freshmen Kristin Skiba and Michal Hawker took third in 3:41.47.

A pair of freshmen posted some solid swims in Emma McKeith and Kaite Caucutt. McKeith continued to lead the Panther distance swimmers, taking fourth in the 1000 free and fifth in the 500 free with times of 11:01.08 and 5:24.43, respectively. In the 200 butterfly, Caucutt reset her best time for the second meet in a row, completing the event in 2:12.65 for a fourth-place finish.

"Emma looked a little tired tonight, but continued to swim well," Clark said. "Kaite posted a season-best time in the 200 fly, a second faster than her lifetime-best last night."

Milwaukee returns to action with a dual meet next Saturday (Nov. 6) at UIC. The Panthers and Flames hit the pool at 2 p.m.