Men's Swimming & Diving January 29, 2015

Panthers Head North To Take On Phoenix

UWM wraps up conference season against in-state rival Green Bay

MILWAUKEE – The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's and women's swimming & diving teams are set for their final conference meet of the season this weekend, taking on in-state rival Green Bay Saturday at 1 p.m. from the Dorschel Natatorium.

About The Opponents
This meet has been an exciting one every year and this time around figures to be no different. The GB men are 2-4 in dual meets on the year, while the women's squad is 4-2 on the year.

A peak at the all-time series shows the men's matchup has been incredibly close over the years. Milwaukee has taken an 11-9 edge in the all-time record after wins each of the past five seasons to swing the ledger in their favor. On the women's side, Green Bay is 18-6 against UWM, but the Panthers have claimed each of the last three outings in convincing fashion.

Horizon League Championships
The Panthers will host the 2014-15 Horizon League Championships again this February from the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center just up the road in Brown Deer. The meet kicks off Wednesday, Feb. 25 with the champions being crowned Saturday Feb. 28.

For complete information for this year's league meet, including schedule, order of events, maps, ticket information and more, visit the championships homepage on either Milwaukee swimming page or click on this link.

Fun In The Sun
The Panthers recently returned to campus after nearly 10 days down in sunny Florida. The teams headed south to escape the cold for their annual training trip from a local academy in the Sunshine State.

Last Time In The Pool
Milwaukee kicked off its season-ending three-meet road swing by winning eight events on the men's side and seven more on the women's to go 3-1 against a pair of out-of-state foes.

UWM knocked off both IUPUI and host Ball State this past Friday. The Milwaukee women took down IUPUI before falling just short to Ball State.

"We had some very good performances tonight," head coach Kyle Clements said. "It's nice to see the team come back from our training trip and continue to swim that much faster. We're starting to turn that corner and become a really fast team. It's exciting to see."

League Notice
With just a few weeks left in the regular season, UWM has been honored with the top weekly Horizon League honor 10 different times on the season. Most recently, Rachel Margis and K.J. Heger swept the league's diving awards for the second-straight week. 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
Nov. 4 – K.J. Heger
Nov. 11 – K.J. Heger
Nov. 18 – Nic Halverson
Dec. 9 – K.J. Heger
Jan. 20 – K.J. Heger, Rachel Margis
Jan. 27 – K.J. Heger, Rachel Margis

Diving For Gold
UWM has always boasted some of the best divers in the conference, but this season seems to be even better.

Senior K.J. Heger is the two-time Horizon League Diver of the Year and is trying to close out his career with a bang. Heger has won a ridiculous 15 of the boards he has competed on this season, including posting a whopping 18 NCAA Zone Diving qualifying scores. He has all three school records to his name already and has been named the league diver of the week an unprecedented 21 times in his career.

Meanwhile, Margis has been on a tear the second half of the year and has also won 15 boards this season, including every time out so far this semester. The junior has been named league diver of the week three times this season and appears to be in prime position for a run at the top at the league meet.

Fresh Faces
Milwaukee has one of its largest freshmen classes in recent memory with 23 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.

Future Panthers
Nine high school standouts have signed their paperwork and are all set to compete in the Black & Gold next year.

Anthony Blome of Macomb, Ill.; Eli Hoenshel of Kline, Texas; Adriel Huerta of San Tan Valley, Ariz.; Zach Kishpaugh of Sarasota, Fla.; Jen Kordik of Mundelein, Ill.; Danielle Kudis of Oconomowoc, Wis.; Ryan Menninga of Madison, Wis.; Addison Skogman of Waukesha, Wis.; and Carley Thomas of Racine, Wis. are currently wrapping up their impressive high school careers and will join Milwaukee next season.

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 wrap up their regular season with one last road trip, heading to Madison, Wis. to take on Big Ten foe Wisconsin next Friday at 3 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

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

Nic Halverson: 5' 11"; Junior; Distance

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

Rachel Margis: 5' 7"; Junior; Diving

Players Mentioned

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

Nic Halverson
: 5' 11"; Junior; Distance

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

Rachel Margis
: 5' 7"; Junior; Diving