Halverson Brothers Shine In Narrow Loss

Brothers combined for three individual wins on the day

CHICAGO – Tim Halverson and Nic Halverson combined for three wins but the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team came up just short to UIC Saturday, 134-108 from the Flames Natatorium.

"We had mixed results today," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. "We are a capable enough team to have won two meets today, but we are not physically or mentally ready to do so. Swimming is one of those sports that those two things need to be in perfect balance. As a program we understand the importance of our training model and what it takes to be fast in February.

"I am very happy with my sophomore group of women and men. Year two into our training, you are seeing them start to take off and come into their own.

"We had a number of other highlights and wins from freshman through seniors, but we are looking forward to taking the next big step together as a group. Iowa should be a great meet for us."

N. Halverson started things off for Milwaukee with a win in the 200 IM. The senior touched out UIC's top swimmer with a time of 1:54.35.

The Kiel native later topped the field in the 200 backstroke with a winning time of 1:55.72, taking down UIC's top swimmer by just over one-tenth of a second. Mathew Jansen took third for Milwaukee, while Kyle Gerum was fourth.

Later, it was T. Halverson's turn. Nic's twin brother took down the top UIC swimmer in the 500 free with an impressive time of 4:44.26, winning by just under half a second.

Tim also had a strong showing in the 200 freestyle, taking second overall in 1:44.30.

Senior Andres Villa nearly swept both boards in diving. Villa took the top spot on three meter with a score of 263.25, with sophomore Draven Feustel coming in third at 222.08. Villa later just missed a win on one meter with a strong score of 274.13.

Milwaukee also claimed a win in the 200 free relay. The teamwork of Kyle Gerum, T. Halverson, Evan Kuker and Nick Menninga combined for a winning time of 1:26.05, touching out the Flame's top team by less than two-tenths.

UWM also had numerous second-place finishes on the day, including Max Gatzke (9:46.27) in the 1000 free, Nick Menninga (21.82) in the 50 free, Ryan Menninga (1:55.30) in the 200 fly and Max Ward (48.84) in the 100 free.

Next up for Milwaukee is the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational. The three-day meet starts Friday, Dec. 4 and runs until Sunday, Dec. 6.

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Players Mentioned

Draven Feustel: 6' 3"; Sophomore; Diving

Max Gatzke: 5' 9"; Senior; Distance

Kyle Gerum: 6' 3"; Sophomore; Backstroke/Free

Nic Halverson: 5' 11"; Senior; Distance

Tim Halverson: 5' 11"; Senior; Distance

Evan Kuker: 6' 3"; Junior; Sprints

Nick Menninga: 6' 4"; Junior; Sprints

Andres Villa: 5' 8"; Senior; Diving

Max Ward: 5' 10"; Junior; Butterfly

Mathew Jansen: 5' 10"; Freshman; Backstroke

Players Mentioned

Draven Feustel
: 6' 3"; Sophomore; Diving

Max Gatzke
: 5' 9"; Senior; Distance

Kyle Gerum
: 6' 3"; Sophomore; Backstroke/Free

Nic Halverson
: 5' 11"; Senior; Distance

Tim Halverson
: 5' 11"; Senior; Distance

Evan Kuker
: 6' 3"; Junior; Sprints

Nick Menninga
: 6' 4"; Junior; Sprints

Andres Villa
: 5' 8"; Senior; Diving

Max Ward
: 5' 10"; Junior; Butterfly

Mathew Jansen
: 5' 10"; Freshman; Backstroke