Oct. 30, 2009

Results

DAYTON, Ohio - Senior Jeremy Waldhart and freshman Nathan Welchlin each won two events to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team to a 156.5-143.5 victory over Wright State University Friday night at the Nutter Center Natatorium. The Panthers not only gave the Raiders their first dual loss of the season, but also recorded their first-ever dual victory over tonight's opponent as well.

Milwaukee took on a WSU team that had already beaten league foes Green Bay, UIC and Valparaiso and carried a 5-0 dual mark into tonight's meet. Despite competing in the same league, the two teams had met just three times in dual meets in program history prior to tonight, with the Raiders claiming wins in all previous match-ups.

In addition to the strong efforts from Waldhart and Hastings, the Panthers also got victories from sophomores Jordan Diel and Brady Huemann and freshman Justin Hastings.

"It was nice to get that first win after swimming against some tough competition so far this season," UWM head coach Erica Janssen said. "Wright State has been pretty strong over the past few years and the guys showed up and wanted to win. They really wanted to make a statement to the rest of the Horizon League and kept finding ways to win races."

The first race of the night gave an indication of how close the meet was going to be, as UWM's 200 medley relay team of sophomores Kyle Trelka, Huemann and Diel, and junior Jake Kalinowski won in 1:35.56, touching out the Raiders for first by less than a half-second (1:36.92).

Waldhart won the 200 backstroke in 1:54.76 and also topped the field in the 200 IM in a time of 1:58.48. Welchlin claimed wins in the 100 freestyle in 47.43 and also in the 200 freestyle in 1:43.30. In addition to the pair of first-place finishes, Welchlin was third in the 500 free.

"It's always great when we get freshman to step up so early in the season," Janssen said. "Wins like this really build up the confidence of this team."

Diel was the winner in the 100 butterfly in a time of 51.81, while Huemann won the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.21.

Hastings took the victory in the 100 backstroke in a time of 53.23. He was close to two other wins on the night as well, taking second in the 200 back (1:56.84) and also in the 200 IM (1:59.58), placing behind Waldhart in both.

Junior Dan Heraly had a solid night as well, taking second in both the 1000 free (9:49.57) and the 500 free (4:46.71). Sophomore Jake Koll was the top diver on the night for UWM, taking second on the three-meter (252.60) and third place on the one-meter.

The Panthers are right back at it again tomorrow, swimming in a non-conference meet at Eastern Michigan, starting at 12 p.m. CST.