Oct. 9, 2009

Results

MADISON, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin used a strong effort in diving and victories in nine swimming events to hand the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team a 177.5-64.5 loss in Friday's meet, the season opener for both teams.

Junior Dan Heraly led the way for the Panthers with a victory in the 1000 freestyle. Senior Jeremy Waldhart, junior Jake Kalinowski, sophomore Jordan Diel and freshman Nathan Welchlin all added second-place efforts on the night.

"I thought that, overall, we still swam pretty well," Milwaukee head coach Erica Janssen said. "We have been training very hard and competed really well and never gave up. We were right in there on every race and the guys really stepped up to the challenge of facing such stiff competition the first time we step into the pool this year."

Heraly led off the meet with a high note for UWM, going 9:53.81 in the 1000 for the win. Freshman Cris Smith was fourth in the race in 10:09.37. Heraly also took fourth in the 500 free later in the meet.

Waldhart placed second in the 100 backstroke in 52.85, while Kalinowski nearly had the win in the 50 free. His time of 21.75 tied for second, just three-hundredths of a second behind the winning time of 21.72.

Diel started his campaign with a solid showing in the 100 butterfly, taking second in 51.13. Welchlin made a nice impression, taking second in the 200 free and third in the 100 free, a race he nearly won. First place was 47.61, while his third-place clocking was 47.72.

The Badgers took first through fourth on both diving boards to help lead the way, with Caleb Percevecz breaking school records on each.

The UWM men's team will take a small break but jump right back into competition against the Big Ten. Milwaukee will head to Iowa City, Iowa, Oct. 23 to take on both Iowa and Michigan State in a meet starting at 4 p.m.