INDIANAPOLIS – The Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team finished in second place at the conclusion of the 2024 Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships, as
Kyle Clements was named the women's coach of the year by the conference. The Milwaukee men finished in fifth.
Clements earned the award after coaching the women to a record of 8-1 and a second place finish at the conference championships. The women finished second with 690.5 team points, second only to Oakland.
"That was a lot of fun," Clements said. "After such a long season of training and racing, that meet seems to fly by. With every championship meet there are ups and downs, but as coaches we are always looking for progress, and we saw our program move forward this week. For our women we turned a new page and turned to a lot of new faces while relying on our returners to guide us through. For the men we've started to move beyond chasing records and starting to set them. Now moving forward, we must build upon them."
This group of men and women have the ability to be great and our staff is looking forward to helping them along that journey."
Skylar Ruggles and
Mara Freeman finished second and third in the championship final of the women's 200 Back, touching the wall in 2:02.52 and 2:02.88 respectively. In the consolation final, Katherine Hacket finished sixth, or 14
th overall, and
Antoni Haupt finished eighth, or 16
th overall.
Janelle Schulz finished third in the championship final of the women's 100 Free with a time of 50.74 seconds. Also competing in the championship final was
Carly Plate, who placed sixth with a time of 51.44.
Hanna Degrace earned a third-place finish in the women's 200 Breast championship final, touching the wall in 2:19.62.
Lucy Borlase placed fifth, just two seconds behind Degrace with a time of 2:21.89.
Erika Thomas took fourth in the women's 200 Fly championship heat, finishing with a time of 2:06.96.
Johanna Edgren joined Thomas in the championship final, placing sixth with a time of 2:07.98.
The women's 400 Free Relay squad of Plate, Thomas, Schulz, and
Grace Mayes took second with a time of 3:24.76.
The Milwaukee men put together a strong team performance in the 1650 Free, as
Jay Jensen finished fifth (15:40.67),
Jackson Hodek finished ninth (15:58.89),
Konnor Pilger placed 12
th, and
Vince Chiappetta touched the wall in 14
th.
Adam St. John and
Ben Stitgen placed fifth and sixth in the championship final of the men's 3-meter diving competition, scoring 299.45 and 280.80.
Hunter Johnson finished 14
th overall with a score of 85.45.
Lilly Nesson and Haupt finished sixth and eighth in the women's 1650 Free, recording times of 17:15.30 and 17:18.06.
Nik Wheeler won the consolation final of the men's 200 Fly, placing ninth overall with a time of 1:49.74. Benjamin Witt joined him in the race, placing seventh (15
th overall) with a time of 1:55.79.
In the consolation final of the women's 100 Free,
Grace Mayes led five participating Panthers by finishing first (9
th) in 51.99 seconds.
Audrey Dixon grabbed third (11
th) in 52.34, and
Noelle Bryan,
Brielle Laube, and
Grace Hudson finished fifth (13
th), sixth (14
th), and seventh (15
th).
Nicholas Klenner and
Victor Kostov placed fifth and sixth in the consolation final of the men's 200 Back, recording times of 1:49.67 and 1:50.01 for 13
th and 14
th overall.
Hayden Christiansen placed eighth in the consolation final, coming in at 1:53.15 for 16
th overall.
Charlie House grabbed fourth in the consolation final of the men's 100 Free, earning 12
th overall with a time of 45.11 seconds.
The men's 400 Free Relay team of House, Jensen, Witt, and
Jackson Ahrens finished sixth with a time of 3:02.12.
Milwaukee's men's team finished fifth in the conference, scoring 365 points.
Oakland has now won the last eleven Horizon League Championships on both the men's and women's side, undefeated since they joined the Horizon League.
The conference championship meet marks the end of the season for the team, but NCAA Zone Diving Regionals will take place March 11-13 in Houston, Texas.
