Oct. 15, 2011

Results

MILWAUKEE - Sophomore Emily McClellan broke one record on her own and teamed up to smash another as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team knocked off Grand Valley State University Saturday afternoon, 144-99, at the Klotsche Natatorium.

The 200 medley relay team comprised of sophomores Becky Yokosh, McClellan, Diana Diel and freshman Sierra Townsend broke a six-year-old record by completing the race in 1:47.05, crushing the old record by over a full second.

McClellan then went on to break the pool record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:18.55, breaking her own record set last season.

In all, UWM collected eight first-place finishes and eight second-place finishes to take the meet.

"Up and down, this was a great performance," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "Our problem in years past has always been depth. We've always had the top talent. We're really trying to round this team out and as I told the team after the race, I can see it shaping up in front of me and it's really good to see. It's all going in the right direction. We still have the top talent and we always will, we're just starting to really add some depth now and get some big production out of our role swimmers."

Diel, McClellan, and junior Maggie Beck took the top three spots in the 200 IM, with Diel taking first at 2:07.74.

That trend continued when seniors Sarah Wardecke and Heidi Niespodzany, along with freshman Anna Yontz went one-two-three in the 100 free.

Also, sophomore Becky Yokosh (2:05.38), senior Danielle Chapman (2:09.31) and sophomore Erika Pliner (2:10.15) finished with the top three times in the 200 backstroke.

Wardecke and freshman Sierra Townsend finished one-two in the 50 freestyle finishing just .46 seconds apart.

Niespodzany also had an impressive showing in the 200 free, taking first with a time of 1:55.91. Yontz (1:58.12) and junior Karmyn Van Dewettering (1:59.65) also placed in the event.

In the distance events, sophomore Brittany Walsh and freshman Kelly Theis finished second and third in both the 500 and 1000 free.

In the day's final event, Niespodzany, Wardecke, Diel and Townsend combined to take first in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:32.61, over six seconds in front of the next finishers.

The Panthers have a two-week break before returning to the pool Friday, Oct. 28 when they travel to Ball State.