MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's and women's swimming and diving teams will host Wheaton (Ill.) on Friday evening inside the Klotsche Natatorium. The dual is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
 
Scouting the Thunder
Wheaton (Ill.) opened its season two weeks ago with a dual against the University of Chicago. Both genders fell to the Maroons but produced three individual victories and one runner-up finish in the meet.
 
Milwaukee leads the all-time series against Wheaton 27-3 on the women's side and 29-1 on the men's side.
 
Relay Record
Behind eight individual victories and a pool record in the 400 freestyle relay, the women's team improved to 2-0 to start the season with the win over UIC.
 
The 400 free relay team of Kelen McDaniels, Cassandra Hutchins, Bella Passamani, and Nhia Caras set a new Klotsche Natatorium record, finishing first in the event with a time of 3:30.50. The time bested the previous pool record set in 2017.
 
Caras put together another impressive performance, collecting a pair of wins in the 50 free and 100 free for the second consecutive week. Junior Makaila Scheiblein also picked up a pair of individual victories, claiming the top spot in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breast.
 
Starting the Season Strong
After picking up an individual victory a week ago to open the season, Jay Jensen built upon his strong start to the season with two more wins in the 500 free and 1000 free against UIC. Ben Huynh was the other Panther to collect a win, taking the top spot in the 100 back in his season debut.
 
Mason Schoof was among several to earn runner-up finishes in the meet, placing second in both the 200 free and the 200 back.
 
A Decade With Clements
Entering his 12th season as Milwaukee's head men's and women's swimming and diving coach, Kyle Clements has led the Panthers to unprecedented heights. In his first ten years at the helm, Clements has completely reshaped Milwaukee's history, bringing home an unprecedented 12 team trophies – four Horizon League Championships and eight runner-up finishes – over that span.
 
MKE has also had a lot of individual success, breaking all but two of the combined 72 school and freshman records during Clements' time at Milwaukee, including one freshman record in the abbreviated 2021 season.
 
Clements' highlights also include four NCAA appearances, an NCAA individual runner-up finish (Emily McClellan), three-time coach of the year honoree, four athletes of the year, three newcomers of the year, and 55 individual league titles.
 
Diving Duo
McKenzie Sanchez and Jared Kleczka came up big for the Panthers in their second seasons. Sanchez earned a pair of podium finishes at the Horizon League Championships, placing first in the one-meter (290.30) for the second consecutive season and third on the three-meter board (248.60).
 
Prior to the championships, Sanchez established a new career-best on the one-meter (302.78) against Green Bay on March 7. Her score placed her second in program history and the sophomore also claimed victory in the three-meter at the same meet. The Racine, Wis., native collected second place finishes on both boards in two meetings with UIC.
 
Kleczka also earned a pair of podium finishes at the Horizon League meet, placing second in the one-meter (302.95) and fourth in the three-meter (280.35). Prior to the championships, the Franklin, Wis., native posted a career-best in the one-meter (317.85) in the season-opener against UIC, which ranks fifth in program history.
 
Both divers qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships but did not compete due to COVID-19.
 
Breaking Into the Record Books
On the final day of the Horizon League Championships last spring, freshmen Robert Petersen and Zach McClellan each broke the former MKE freshman record in the 200 butterfly. Petersen placed second (1:49.41) while McClellan finished third (1:50.35) in the B-finals of the 200 fly, surpassing the previous freshman standard in the event set in 2016.
 
The times also placed the freshmen on the Panther top-10 list, with Petersen checking in at eighth and McClellan right behind at ninth.
 
Petersen also posted season-best times in a pair of other events at the championships. The Oswego, Ill., native placed 18th in the 100 butterfly (50.40) and 23rd in the 500 freestyle (4:48.31) to cap a productive first season.
 
McClellan closed his first season with a pair of season-best times in the 200 IM (1:52.35) and 400 IM (4:10.09) at the championships. The Sylvania, Ohio, native placed 16th and 17th, respectively, in the two events.
 
Mighty Meland
After a strong freshman campaign, sophomore Molly Meland continued to post impressive marks in the pool, especially at the Horizon League Championships. The Golden Valley, Minn., native recorded a fourth-place finish in the 100 fly (55.85), a mark that cracked the program top-10 list. She added two more podium finishes with a fifth-place finish in the 50 free (23.70) and eighth in the 100 backstroke (57.71). The sophomore also competed in the 200 medley and the 400 medley relays, assisting the team to a pair of fourth-place finishes.
 
Alongside her performance at the championships, Meland picked up pair of individual victories to help lead the Panthers to a win over Green Bay last March, topping the field in the 100 fly and the 100 back.
 
Up Next
Milwaukee will have a week off before traveling for the House of Champions Invitational, hosted by IUPUI. The four-day meet begins on Wednesday, November 17 in Indianapolis, Ind.