CHICAGO, Ill. – The Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team wrapped up the regular season with a meet at Flames Natatorium Saturday, falling to UIC by a final score of 174-106.
"Today was an important day for our program," head coach
Kyle Clements said. "As we round out this season, there was still a lot of boxes we needed to check. We needed to finalize our Horizon League roster, we needed to see one last swim to help us decide final events, and we needed to celebrate those that were finishing their season."
Carson Niemiec highlighted the MKE efforts, taking home individual event victories in both the 200 and 100 breaststroke events.
Jacob Weber also claimed top honors in the afternoon dual, winning the 200 IM.
Numerous close-calls just missed it making it a better day for the squad, with
Robert Petersen and
Mason Schoof coming in second place in their events in split-second finishes.
"We checked all the boxes," Clements continued. "Tomorrow we will turn all the attention to Horizon League, but today is all about those that finished their seasons. I am so proud of everyone one of them. They have persevered through so much this year and have handled themselves so well. I am so thankful to be able to get to work with them on a daily basis."
Niemiec crushed season top times for the Panthers in both of his wins, taking top honors in the 100 breast at 57.76 (winning by over two seconds) and in the 200 breast in 2:09.50 (winning by over five seconds).
Petersen took runner-up honors in the 200 butterfly by under a second at 1:56.27 and Schoof was in a similar situation in the 200 backstroke, taking second in 1:53.98. Both student-athletes again established season-best times in the process.
Weber's clocking in the 200 IM came in a victorious 1:56.17 to record another season-best, with McClellan just behind at 1:56.27 to knock nearly three seconds off his prior season-best.
Jared Kleczka paced the Panther diving efforts, taking second on both the 1-meter (302.40) and 3-meter (306.60) boards.
Up next, the team will head to Indianapolis for the Horizon league Championships April 5-10.
