ROCHESTER, MICH. – The Milwaukee women's swim & dive team opened the 2019-20 season with a strong showing on the road in a tri-meet against league foe Oakland and Vanderbilt on Friday evening in Rochester, Mich.
Freshman
McKenzie Sanchez highlighted the night for the Panthers after taking home the gold on the one-meter in her first collegiate meet ever. Her score of 273.45 also qualified her for NCAA Zones and cracked the Panther top-10 list.
Sanchez also grabbed a second-place finish on the three-meter with a score of 240.98.
"For our first dual and travel meet, things went extremely well," head coach
Kyle Clements said, "on the women's side, we had a lot of great performances, but
McKenzie Sanchez was the overall highlight. In her first collegiate meet, she won the one-meter and qualified for NCAA Zones with that score."
Fellow freshman
Molly Meland also kicked off her collegiate career with four standout performances. The freshman led the Panthers in both her individual events. Meland touched the wall in 58.45 in the 100 back to finish third and swam a time of 57.51 in the 100 fly to take fourth in a tight race. She was also a key member in both top relays for MKE.
Sophomore
Giulia Guerra-Montes is back doing what she does best: backstroke. Guerra-Montes came home with a fourth-place finish in the 200 back, clocking in at 2:06.61.
The young Panther relay of Meland, sophomore
Andrea Bellart, freshman
Hannah Pozezinski, and sophomore
Cassandra Hutchins touched the wall first for MKE in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.53, which was good enough for fifth-place.
Meland, Hutchins and teammates freshman
Kelen McDaniels and sophomore
Bella Passamani led the Panthers in the 400 free relay to a fourth-place finish with a time of 3:38.47.
"Overall, we are very happy with the first performance of the year," Clements continued, "there is a starting point for everything and that is a great way to start."
UP NEXT
The Panthers are back in action tomorrow at Grand Valley State in Allendale, Mich. Racing is set to start at 12 p.m.
TEAM SCORES
1. Vanderbilt - 207
2. Milwaukee - 81
1.Oakland - 232
2. Milwaukee - 68
