MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team competed against UIC in its home opener Saturday, falling 160-140 inside Klotsche Natatorium.
 
Jay Jensen collected a pair of individual victories for the Panthers, placing first in the 1000 freestyle for the second consecutive meet, and first in the 500 free. The Elmhurst, Ill., native posted a time of 9:42.40 to win the 1000 free by over six seconds to go with a time of 4:44.15 in the 500 free.
 
Sophomore Ben Huynh picked up a win in the 100 backstroke, touching the wall at 52:30.
 
"Lot of great swims today," said head coach Kyle Clements. "Overall, we were very happy today. We were able to have our full roster today. Last week when we went on the road, we were missing some people but with everyone here it really rounds out the team. We showed a lot of depth across different races, but the same people that performed well last week performed well against but now we have added more people to that list moving forward."
 
A pair of relay teams produced strong results for Milwaukee, as the 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay each earned victories. 
 
Several Panthers earned runner-up finishes in the meet, with Mason Schoof posting second-place finishes in both the 200 free (1:44.94) and the 200 back (1:55.28). Junior John Ruan finished runner-up in the 50 free, clocking in at 21.49, while Jack Garcia finished second to Jensen with a time of 9:48.74 in the 1000 free.
 
Sophomore Jared Kleczka was second on the 3-meter board (301.95) to lead the diving efforts for Milwaukee.
 
The team will return to action next Friday as they host Wheaton (Ill.) at 5 p.m. inside the Klotsche Natatorium Milwaukee owns a 29-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Thunder.
 
"We are looking forward to next week," Clements commented. "We look to keep improving week over week."