CHICAGO, Ill. – The Milwaukee men's and women's swimming & diving teams returned to action Saturday afternoon, battling the University of Chicago in their first dual meet of 2023 from Myers-McLoraine Pool.
The Panthers, who have been off since competing at the IUPUI House of Champions Invitational in late November, came up short on both sides despite several strong performances.
The MKE women fell to the Maroons by a final score of 194-106, while the men were defeated by a final score of 182-116. The very strong opponents (women ranked No. 3 in the CSCAA Top 25/men ranked No. 4) both kept their season records unbeaten with the victories.
Jay Jensen led the way for Milwaukee, coming up as the only double winner on the afternoon. Jensen claimed the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:43.79 and the 1,000 freestyle in 9:44.62.
The men's team also had a great day in the diving events, topping each board (
Adam St. John/1M and
Jared Kleczka/3M).
The women saw four individual victories and one relay champ, as well as a strong effort from
Julie Rebek on the diving boards, who finished second in each (269.25/1M and 269.70/3M).
Mara Freeman,
Giulia Guerra-Montes,
Makaila Scheiblein, and
Erika Thomas all claimed first-place showings, as did the 200 medley relay team of Freeman, Scheiblein, Thomas, and
Kelen McDaniels.
On the men's side,
Nik Wheeler also won the 200 butterfly.
Freeman topped the field in the 100 backstroke in a time of 57.97, with
Skylar Ruggles third in 1:00.28. Guerra Montes added a second-place finish in the 1,000 freestyle (10:49.62) and led the charge in a 1-2-3 finish for the Panthers in the 200 backstroke.
Guerra-Montes out-touched Ruggles, 2:08.19 to 2:08.69, while Freeman placed third in a time of 2:10.08.
Scheiblein claimed the title in the 200 breaststroke in 2:23.82 and was second in the 100 breast in 1:06.77.
Lucy Borlase helped out with a third-place effort in the 200 breast in 2:28.40.
Thomas led the way in the 100 butterfly in 58.61 and also took third place in the 200 fly in 2:09.57. McDaniels was also a top finisher for MKE, taking second in the 50 freestyle in 24.37.
St. John topped the 1-2-3 showing for the Panthers on the one-meter board with 298.43 points, finishing ahead of second-place Kleczka (289.35), and third-place
Ben Stitgen (267.98). Kleczka earned the three-meter title with a 285.75 total.
Other top finishers for Milwaukee included
Ben Lorenz in the 50 freestyle (second in 21.10) and
Jack Garcia in the 500 freestyle (third in 4:45.69).
Up next, the Panthers will be off until Jan. 28, hosting Green Bay. Scheduled start time is 1 p.m. from the Klotsche Natatorium.
