Heger Breaks School Record Against Badgers

Senior wins both boards in final meet

Results

Madison, Wis. – K.J. Heger broke his own school record to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team in a narrow, 145-93 loss to Wisconsin Friday afternoon from the UW Natatorium.

"This was a good meet for us, ending our season with another fast performance," head coach Kyle Clements said. "It was good to start off with some great diving performances and we carried on from there. Everything was solid. We're right at that point where we're starting to get tired from training and we're getting ready to start resting for post season. We had a nice dual meet season and now we're ready to show what we've been working for all year during the championship season."

In the final regular-season meet of his college career, Heger stole the show. The senior dominated all competition with a resounding score of 379.65 on three-meter to break his own school record set last season, also resetting the Badger pool record. He has now broken the school three-meter record an incredible five times thus far in his Panther career.

Just behind Heger, Andy LaFleur came in third overall at 288.34, with Andres Villa fourth at 287.55.

Heger also posted an emphatic win in the one-meter competition, topping the field with a score of 328.27. LaFleur posted a season-best score, actually tying with Villa for third at 289.05.

Rob Miller also notched a big win for Milwaukee on the day. The senior posted an in-season best time of 1:56.21, over a full second ahead of the next swimmer. Fellow senior Ryan Finke was third at 1:58.12 and Yevgeniy Foster was fourth overall.

In the 400 IM, Nic Halverson and J.J. Melville finished 2-3 overall. Halverson posted his fasted in-season time of the year at 4:11.57 for second with Melville not far behind for third.

Max Gatzke led a trio of Panthers in the 500 free. The junior came in second overall at 4:45.89, just ahead to Tim Halverson (4:50.44) and Finke (5:06.38).

Gatzke posted one other second-place showing on the day, battling hard in the mile and touching the wall at 16:02.11 in his first time competing in the event this season.

UWM also had a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay. Mike Lucchesi, Tanner Nimke, Erik Wahlgren and Nick Menninga teamed up to post a time of 1:24.51 for second to close out the meet.

The Panthers now get ready to host the Horizon League Championships from Feb. 25-28 just up the road at Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, Wis.

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Players Mentioned

Ryan Finke: 5' 9"; Senior; Butterfly

Yevgeniy Foster: 5' 9"; Sophomore; Butterfly/IM

Nic Halverson: 5' 11"; Junior; Distance

Tim Halverson: 5' 11"; Junior; Distance

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

Mike Lucchesi: 6' 0"; Senior; Sprints/Fly

J.J. Melville: 6' 3"; Junior; Breaststroke/IM

Nick Menninga: 6' 4"; Sophomore; Sprints

Rob Miller: 5' 11"; Senior; Butterfly

Tanner Nimke: 6' 0"; Junior; Sprints

Players Mentioned

Ryan Finke
: 5' 9"; Senior; Butterfly

Yevgeniy Foster
: 5' 9"; Sophomore; Butterfly/IM

Nic Halverson
: 5' 11"; Junior; Distance

Tim Halverson
: 5' 11"; Junior; Distance

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

Mike Lucchesi
: 6' 0"; Senior; Sprints/Fly

J.J. Melville
: 6' 3"; Junior; Breaststroke/IM

Nick Menninga
: 6' 4"; Sophomore; Sprints

Rob Miller
: 5' 11"; Senior; Butterfly

Tanner Nimke
: 6' 0"; Junior; Sprints