Menninga Leads Panthers To Senior Day Win

Panthers top Maroons in final home meet of the year

MILWAUKEE – Nick Menninga closed out his home career in style.

The senior was a part of four wins and helped the Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team to a 160-138 team win over Chicago Saturday afternoon from the Klotsche Natatorium.

Menninga was one of four men and 11 Panthers in all recognized before the start of the meet on "Senior Day".

The Madison native started things off by helping the 200 medley relay to victory in Saturday's opening event. Kyle Gerum, Jacob Barson, Anthony Kolbus and Menninga combined for a winning time of 1:34.22 – with Menninga's anchor time of 20.47 helping to seal the deal.

In the 50 free, a pair of seniors topped the results for Milwaukee. Menninga led the way in 21.04, with classmate Evan Kuker taking runner-up in 21.61. Then, just one event later, Menninga completed the sprint free sweep by touching the wall first in the 100 free in 46.25 – nearly two full seconds ahead of second place.

Finally, with the meet nearly wrapped up, the Panthers put the finishing touches on the win with another first-place finish in the final event. A trio of freshmen – Sam Salganik, Andrew Kasper and Jacob Fase – swam the first three legs before Menninga brought home the win with a combined time of 3:09.06 – over two seconds ahead of second place.

Fellow senior Yevgeniy Foster took down the field in the 100 butterfly in 51.45 – nearly a full second ahead of second place in the sprint event. Then, in the 200 fly, Foster led a trio of Panthers, taking second in 1:55.95, with Ryan Menninga (1:56.62) third and Ryan Scripp (1:57.15) fourth for vital points.

While it was senior day, a Panther freshman stole the show on the diving boards. Dakota Skenandore started things off by topping the field in the 3-meter competition with a score of 272.85, while classmate Frank Hearn finished second at 255.52. Then, on one-meter, Skenandore score 272.85 for the top spot, with junior Draven Feustel runner-up at 254.40.

Kyle Gerum also claimed on win on the day. The junior touched the wall first in the 100 back in 52.06 – over a full second ahead of the next swimmer.

In other action, Milwaukee scored three swimmers in the 200 free. Fase just missed the win and settled for the silver medal in 1:44.27, while Kasper claimed third in 1:45.26 and Kolbus fourth in 1:45.41 as UWM showed off its depth.
Milwaukee also got runner-up finishes on the day by Dane Van Allen (1000 freestyle) and Jacob Barson (100 breaststroke) in his first action of the season.

The Panthers return to the pool right away next week for the Flames Invite. That meet – held by this year's conference-meet host UIC – starts Friday evening at 5 pm from the Flames Natatorium before wrapping up Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

Jacob Barson: 6' 4"; Sophomore; Breaststroke

Draven Feustel: 6' 3"; Junior; Diving

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

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

Anthony Kolbus: 5' 8"; Sophomore; Butterfly/IM

Evan Kuker: 6' 3"; Senior; Sprints

Nick Menninga: 6' 4"; Senior; Sprints

Ryan Menninga: 6' 2"; Sophomore; Butterfly

Dane Van Allen: 6' 2"; Sophomore; Distance

Jacob Fase: 6' 4"; Freshman; Mid-Distance

Players Mentioned

Jacob Barson
: 6' 4"; Sophomore; Breaststroke

Draven Feustel
: 6' 3"; Junior; Diving

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

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

Anthony Kolbus
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; Butterfly/IM

Evan Kuker
: 6' 3"; Senior; Sprints

Nick Menninga
: 6' 4"; Senior; Sprints

Ryan Menninga
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; Butterfly

Dane Van Allen
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; Distance

Jacob Fase
: 6' 4"; Freshman; Mid-Distance