Feb. 7, 2014

Results

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team broke a pool record and nearly grabbed two more in a tough, 139-93 loss to a very talented University of Wisconsin squad at the Klotsche Natatorium Friday afternoon.

Milwaukee finishes the season 8-1 overall, the best single-season record for the program since 1991-92 season.

"This was a great meet for us," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "The team talked about this and we knew coming in the times Wisconsin was capable of putting up, but at the end of the year here we try to put together a lot of fast meets. Going against one of the top D-III schools in Chicago, Northwestern, Green Bay and now Wisconsin. What we're looking for is, if you surround yourself with someone that will bring the best out of you, that will help set us up heading into our championship meets. We swam great today and now we have a ton of confidence heading into the postseason and we're really excited about that."

Emily McClellan headlined the meet for UWM. The senior, competing at home for the final time, broke her own pool record in the 100 breaststroke with an NCAA `B'-cut time of 1:00.74, nearly three seconds ahead of the rest of the talented field.

McClellan also topped the field in the 200 freestyle, just touching out Wisconsin's top swimmer at 1:52.65 in front of a roaring, packed crowd.

Becky Yokosh also notched a win in her final home meet for UWM. One week after breaking the pool record in the event, the senior topped the field in the 100 backstroke again, just missing her record with a finish of 57.69, nearly two seconds ahead of second place.

In the 500 freestyle, freshman Natalie Johnson's time of 5:00.26 was faster than the previous pool record set back in 2011. Johnson finished second overall, missing the top spot by a mere 13-hundredths of a second. Kaela Ropson was third in the event at 5:16.66.

Johnson also finished runner-up in the 1000 free, touching the wall at 10:19.36, just shy of a pool record.

Milwaukee's 200 medley relay team of Yokosh, McClellan, Diana Diel and Anna Yontz came in second overall with a time of 1:44.47, nearly a full second faster than the previous pool record and a season-best time.

The Panthers had plenty of other notable results on the day. Diel came in second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.55, just shy of her season best. Rachel Margis came in runner-up on both boards with strong scores on both the one-meter and three-meter.

To close out the meet, Milwaukee's 200 free relay of Diel, Sierra Townsend, Yokosh and Anna Yontz came in second at 1:36.73, just shy of their own previous pool record.

The Panthers will now prepare for postseason competition, starting with the Midwest Invitational Feb. 21-22 at Chicago before the majority of the team heads to Cleveland, Ohio for the Horizon League Championships Feb. 26-March 1.