Feb. 1, 2014

Results

MILWAUKEE - Five pool records fell as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team handily took down Green Bay, 158-79, on senior day Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Natatorium.

UWM is now 8-0 in dual meets this season with one meet left on the schedule. Green Bay was undefeated coming into the day.

"Green Bay came in an undefeated team and they are a good opponent," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "I think it helped, they saw the guys swim really fast last night and they just really came out strong. These two teams like to swim against each other. You see their best performances against each other and the women really brought it today. That was awesome.

Milwaukee started the day with a bang. Becky Yokosh, Emily McClellan, Kristin Zablocki and Sierra Townsend broke the Klotsche pool record in the 400 medley relay by a full two seconds in the meet's first event, touching the wall at 3:48.13, winning by a full eight seconds.

Yokosh then broke her own pool record in the 100 backstroke. The senior won going away, finishing with a time of 57.14 to break her own record set last season.

McClellan also topped one of her own pool records. The senior won the 200 IM in 2:03.10 to break her own previous pool best. Milwaukee's Sierra Townsend came in second at 2:08.47 and Zablocki was third at 2:11.13.

The records didn't stop there though. Anna Yontz broke a record that has stood for seven years in the 50 free, taking first with a blazing time of 23.89, besting former Panther standout Lindsay Caldwell's previous record.

Putting an exclamation on the meet, UWM closed things out with another pool record, this time in the 800 freestyle relay. Yontz, Natalie Johnson, Nicole Hutchins and Diana Diel teamed up to post a time of 7:39.78, seven seconds faster than the previous pool record set back in 2007.

Overshadowed by all the records, Milwaukee completely dominated the meet from start to finish on the day. In the 200 free, Diel took first with an impressive time of 1:52.14, just shy of a pool record and well in front of the rest of the field. Hutchins was second at 1:55.34. Both times were season bests.

Diel also topped the field in the 100 butterfly, posting a winning time of 57.71.

In the 100 free, Yontz took the top spot in 52.32, just ahead of Townsend at 53.02.

Johnson continued her outstanding freshman campaign with a pair of wins on the day. The newcomer first won the 1000 free in 10:26.40, nearly 16 seconds ahead of the next finisher. In the 500 free, Johnson also won convincingly with a time of 5:06.17.

In the 100 breaststroke, McClellan again took first with a time of 1:01.77, just shy of her own pool record. Senior Lindsey Verhulst was second at 1:06.70.

In diving, Rachel Margis continued to be a one-person show for the Panthers, winning the one-meter board with a score of 247.20. She also had a good score of 266.40 on the three-meter, taking third.

"Everyone was really fast today, which was great to see. You start to see these times build up through this month. We have one more meet to go and then it's time for the final product here in about three weeks. It's going to be an exciting week, swimming against Madison and then we get to start preparing for the Horizon League Championships."

The Panthers return to the pool next Friday, taking on Wisconsin in the season finale. The action is set to get underway at 3 p.m. from the Klotsche Natatorium.