STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Saturday marked the final day of the regular-season schedule for the Milwaukee men's and women's swimming & diving teams, with the majority of the roster battling Stevens Point in dual action while the divers were at the UIC Diving Invitational.
The Panthers once again split up action today using a modified roster, seeing the women (5-2) earn an impressive 177-88 victory over the Pointers and the men (2-5) falling by a final score of 155-116.
"We closed out our dual meet season on a very high note," head coach
Kyle Clements said. "This weekend had a little bit of everything. We had some seniors swimming their last races. We had freshman putting up times that show that they will be Horizon League scorers for years to come, and everything in between.
The MKE diving contingent was led by an impressive performance by
Julie Rebek, who won both boards in a meet that had a total of eight different schools participating.
"We are proud of our group, and this weekend's roster showed the rest of the team what is possible at the Horizon League Championship meet," Clements said. "It was a great start to our championship season."
The women cruised, taking home both relays as well as 11 of 12 individual events. Leading the charge was
Andrea Bellart and
Erika Thomas, who each won a pair of races.
On the men's side, the Panthers claimed the 400 freestyle relay to close out the afternoon as well as five individual victories.
Bellart was the top finisher in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.03 and the 200 breaststroke in 2:30.20. Thomas continues to pile up wins, taking home the 200 freestyle in 1:55.57 and the 100 butterfly in 58.75.
Other first-place finishes belonged to
Riley Melendy (100 backstroke in 1:00.64 to win by .02),
Bri Zablocki (200 butterfly in 2:13.69),
Natalie Hey (100 freestyle in 55.20 with teammate
Kylee Radigan just behind in 55.47), and
Brianna Vanden Burgt (200 backstroke in 2:07.11).
Milwaukee dominated a few of the events, most notably the 50 freestyle in which it took the top four spots.
Nhia Caras was the quickest in 24.51, with
Jenna Van Hoogstraten (24.94),
Jenna Fistler (25.59), and
Megan Greenley (25.69) rounding out the list.
The 100 butterfly was also a strong event, seeing Thomas grab gold,
Kelen McDaniels (1:08.88) the runner-up spot, and Greenley (1:01.73) third.
Sasha Gesner not only led a 1-2-3 finish in the 500 freestyle for Milwaukee, but did so in season-best fashion when she touched the wall in 5:18.95.
Bella Passamani was second (5:26.47), and Van Hoogstraten was third in 5:26.82.
Radigan added to her strong day with a win in the 200 IM (2:12.12), with Zablocki close behind in 2:15.09.
Travis Hull and
Brady Cawthon highlighted the men's side, each claiming a win and narrowly missing a second victory against the Pointers. Hull was tops in the 200 breaststroke in 2:11.94 and missed a second win by 0.04, taking second in the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:00.81. Cawthon claimed the 200 IM (2:00.45) and came up runner-up in the 200 butterfly (1:59.98).
Other first-place finishers included
Ben Lorenz in the 50 freestyle, finishing in 20.92 to clip teammate
Griffin Hawley's 21.48.
Emery Reszka earned the win in the 200 backstroke (1:53.67) and
Jack Garcia led a 1-2 showing in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:43.43.
Jay Jensen was the runner-up in 4:43.50, a photo-finish of the slimmest of margins for a distance event.
In Chicago, Rebek stole the show. She won both boards, topping the field on 1-meter with a score of 277.25 and the 3-meter with a score of 301.65. Both of her totals were NCAA zone-qualifying scores as well.
Therese Missiaen finished seventh in 1-meter (243.55) and eighth on three (252.65).
On the men's side,
Jared Kleczka paced the squad with a third-place effort on 3-meter (NCAA zone score of 341.70) and fourth on 1-meter (286.50).
The team now prepares for the Horizon League Championships, hosted by IUPUI in Indianapolis. The event runs from February 15-18, 2023.
