MILWAUKEE – After a week off of racing, the Milwaukee men's and women's swimming and diving teams head to the state of Illinois for a pair of dual meets. Milwaukee will first take on Wheaton on Friday, Nov. 8, at 4:30 p.m. in Wheaton, Ill. followed by UIC on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 11 a.m. in Chicago, Ill.
 
SCOUTING THE THUNDER & FLAMES
The Panthers kick off the weekend racing the Thunder on Friday evening. Both the Wheaton men's and women's teams have dropped a pair of duals against the University of Chicago and Calvin University so far this season but have had many top showings.
 
In the past two weeks, Wheaton's Abby Rutledge, Maggie Franke, and Dawson Bremner were named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's (CCIW) swimmers of the week. 
 
Milwaukee then looks at league foe UIC on Saturday. The Flames have dropped three dual meets in their season's tough schedule, which included a pair of duals against Big Ten's Northwestern and Michigan State and a dual against Oakland—the reigning Horizon League Champions.
 
In the preseason poll, the Panther women were ranked third just above UIC's fourth place ranking while the UIC men were ranked fourth over the Panther men's fifth place ranking.
 
The Flames men's team won five events against the Golden Grizzlies last week with the help of Andrew Lewarchick's sweep of both the one-meter and three-meter diving events. Hunter Cook grabbed a win in the 1000 free while Luke Hutchinson won the 200 fly and Danny Sivak won the 100 back.
 
For the women, the Flames are led by diving standout Cydney Liebenberg. The junior is the two-time defending Horizon League champion on both the one-meter and three-meter. 
 
WE'VE GOT HISTORY
The Panthers have a long history with the Thunder and Flames, racing both teams every season since 1990.  
 
On the men's side, Milwaukee leads the all-time series, 28-1, over Wheaton with the only loss back in 2001. The Panthers also lead the all-time series against UIC, 16-13-1, but MKE has not won since 2012 as the Flames have claimed the last six dual meets.
 
Milwaukee also leads both series on the women's side. The Panthers lead the all-time series, 26-3, over Wheaton and, 24-5, over UIC.
 
HOME STREAK STAYS ALIVE
Last time out, the Milwaukee women's team kept their home streak alive after holding off Cleveland State in the season home opener. The Panthers won 10 events to outscore the Vikings 165.5-132.5. The win extended the home winning streak to 16 after not losing at home since 2014.
 
ALL THE WAY TO THE END
In the season home opener, the Panther men inched their way ahead to end the dual with a thrilling five-thousandth of a second win over the Vikings in the 200 free relay. The Panthers also grabbed three other wins on the day but fell to the Vikings 171-129. 
 
THREE-PEAT SANCHEZ
Freshman standout McKenzie Sanchez was named the Horizon League Diver of the Week for the third-straight week after claiming all three so far this season.
 
Sanchez has already qualified for NCAA Zones and has the fifth-best one-meter score and the seventh best three-meter score on the Panther All-Time Top-10 list.
 
ON TAP
The Milwaukee diving team will see action next on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 23-24, at the IUPUI House of Champions Diving Invitational.