Feb. 7, 2014

Results

MILWAUKEE - Nic Halverson and K.J. Heger both won events as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team continued to post impressive times to wrap up the season in a 143-92 loss to a deep University of Wisconsin team Friday afternoon at the Klotsche Natatorium.

"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."

Halverson had his second-straight impressive weekend, winning the 500 freestyle by over a full second with an outstanding time of 4:40.97, just shy of the season-best time he posted one week ago. Kenny Stelpflug was right behind in the event for third at 4:42.57, while Tim Halverson was fourth at 4:45.67.

N. Halverson also had an incredible swim in the 400 IM. The sophomore touched the wall at 4:03.94, faster than the previous pool record by nearly two seconds, taking second overall on the day.

Heger continued his impressive season, winning the three-meter competition with a score of 358.42. Andres Villa came in third at 275.70. Heger also just missed the top spot on one meter, taking second with a score of 291.90, just edging out Villa at 291.75.

Milwaukee posted four of the top-five finishes in the 100 breaststroke. Taylor Wisdorf came in second at 1:00.62, just ahead of classmate J.J. Melville at 1:00.81. David Chokran was fourth in 1:01.82 and Teddy Stackman was fifth at 1:02.00.

T. Halverson came on strong at the end but just missed the top spot in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:44.15. Senior Chris Jenkyns was third at 9:47.74. Jenkyns later came in second in the 100 backstroke, posting a time of 52.90 in the final home meet of his career.

Freshman Nick Menninga was narrowly beaten in the 50 freestyle, posting an impressive time of 21.68 for second overall. Menninga also took third in the 100 free at 47.53.

Mike Lucchesi also had a runner-up finish on the day, taking second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 51.40.

Milwaukee also narrowly missed a season-best time in the 200 medley relay to kick off the day. John Kangas, Stackman, Evan Kuker and Menninga posted a fast time of 1:35.95, just over one second shy of the team's fastest this year.

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.