Men's Swimming & Diving October 30, 2014

Milwaukee Welcomes Raiders For Friday Meet

Panthers start three-meet home stand

MILWAUKEE – After a solid week in the pool against some of the state's best swimmers, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee swimming & diving teams are back in action Friday, hosting Wright State University at 5 p.m. at the Klotsche Natatorium.

Scouting The Meet
Friday's meet will mark the ninth-straight year UWM and WSU will go head-to-head with one another, with plenty of great meets in the two teams' history. Last year, the Panther women posted a solid victory in Dayton, while the men's team dropped a tough one to the host Raiders. The Milwaukee women boast a five-meet winning streak against Wright State heading into this one with a 6-2 edge in the overall series, while the men's squad is knotted up at 4-4 in the series history.

Last Time In The Pool
The UWM men's swimming & diving team won seven events Saturday – including two each by sophomore Max Ward and senior K.J. Heger – in a solid day of action at the Wisconsin College Championship at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center Saturday, hosted by UW-Oshkosh.

Meanwhile, five different newcomers won events on the women's side as Milwaukee won 12 events in all in an impressive showing at Saturday's meet.

"I was much happier with our effort and results this weekend," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "This meet was a great opportunity to swim a lot of events in the pool that will be hosting this years Horizon League meet. With so many events and so much competition, we were able to find some new possible events and show off our team depth."

League Notice
Just three weeks into the season and UWM has already had two individuals honored as tops in the Horizon League, four different times. This past week, K.J. Heger and Rachel Margis swept the league's top diving honors after sweeping both boards at last weekend's meet. That marks the third-straight time Heger has won the award to start the young season. Here's a breakdown of the complete week-by-week winners for Milwaukee.

Oct. 14 – K.J. Heger
Oct. 22 – K.J. Heger
Oct. 28 – K.J. Heger, Rachel Margis

Fresh Faces
Milwaukee has one of its largest incoming classes in recent memory with 24 newcomers added to the UWM roster this season. Six men and 13 women come to Milwaukee to kick off their college careers this year, while an additional four swimmers (one men's, three women's) join the Black & Gold after transfer.

A Look Back At Last Year
The 2013-14 season certainly was one to remember for Milwaukee. The women's team finished 8-1 in the regular season and were a mere 34 points behind Oakland at the Horizon League Championships to finish runner-up. Individually, Emily McClellan closed out her remarkable Panther career by twice earning First-Team All-American honors after finishing second in the nation in the 100 breaststroke and seventh in the 200 breaststroke at the NCAA Championships.

On the men's side, it was a little more of a learning year for UWM. After four-straight seasons of finishing either first or second at the league meet, Milwaukee finished fourth last season with one of its youngest squads in recent memory. K.J. Heger repeated as league diver of the year as the team finished the year 5-5 in dual meet competition.

A Near National Champion
Emily McClellan capped her remarkable Panther career last season with an unbelievable finish at the NCAA Championships. The breaststroker from Delevan, Wis. came in second in the nation in the 100 breaststroke with the third-fastest time ever recorded in world history. McClellan also earned First-Team All-American honors in the 200 breaststroke, taking seventh in the nation.

Up Next
The Panthers continue their three-meet home stand next Saturday when they welcome conference foe UIC for a noon meet at the Klotsche Natatorium.

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Players Mentioned

Emily McClellan: 5' 10"; Senior; Breaststroke/IM

K.J. Heger: 5' 9"; Senior; Diving

Max Ward: 5' 10"; Sophomore; Butterfly

Rachel Margis: 5' 7"; Junior; Diving

Players Mentioned

Emily McClellan
: 5' 10"; Senior; Breaststroke/IM

K.J. Heger
: 5' 9"; Senior; Diving

Max Ward
: 5' 10"; Sophomore; Butterfly

Rachel Margis
: 5' 7"; Junior; Diving