The Milwaukee men and women powered to a win over Green Bay this weekend. The women were dominant, swimming to a 148.5-93.5 win. The men’s meet was close all the way through, but Milwaukee ended the battle with 129 points to Green Bay’s 114.
Milwaukee:
men-
MILWAUKEE – Five seniors each won at least one event as the Milwaukee men’s swimming and diving team took down Green Bay, 129-114, on senior day Saturday afternoon in front of a packed crowd at the Klotsche Natatorium.
“This was a nice win for our team,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “It’s always an emotional day on senior day and we had great showings from all four of our classes. Now it’s time to turn our attention toward the postseason and get ready for the Horizon League Championships.”
Milwaukee started the day with a dominating win by Max Gatzke. The senior from New Berlin crushed the field in the 1000 free, touching the wall at 9:42.37 – a full 23 seconds ahead of the next finisher.
Panther seniors went 1-2 in the next event – the 200 free. Tim Halverson posted a winning time of 1:43.50. Then, competing in his first swimming event as a collegiate, diver Andres Villa took second overall at 1:45.56.
Villa kept that momentum rolling right onto the diving board, taking the three-meter title with a career-best score of 315.60. Villa also led the way for Milwaukee on one-meter, taking second at 283.42.
Next up was Nic Halverson. The senior notched the 42nd individual win of his Panther career by topping the field in the 400 IM in 4:09.21 – a full four seconds ahead of Green Bay’s top finisher.
The trio of swimmers later went 1-2-3 in the 500 free. T. Halverson (4:41.52) just edged out twin brother N. Halverson (4:41.67) for his second win of the day, with Gatzke (4:45.96) right behind for third.
Finally, it was Erik Wahlgren‘s turn. The senior teamed up with the Halverson twins and Nick Menninga to take the 800 free relay win in a convincing 6:57.62 to clinch the win for Milwaukee.
Menninga also posted a win on the day for UWM, taking the top spot in the 50 free in 21.14. Tanner Nimke (21.86) and Yevgeniy Foster (22.03) were close behind in third and fourth.
Wahlgren also just missed an individual win on the day, taking second in the 100 free in 48.26, with Eli Hoenshel (48.56) and Nimke (48.92) again close behind.
In all, the Panthers won seven of the day’s 13 events and claimed its third win of the season and its sixth win over Green Bay in the last seven years.
Milwaukee now has a few weeks to prepare for the Horizon League Championships, starting Wednesday, Feb. 24 and running until Saturday, Feb. 27. This year’s league meet will be hosted by Oakland in the Detroit area.
women-
MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women’s swimming and diving team put together a solid team performance from start to finish in a 148.5-93.5 win over Green Bay Saturday from the Klotsche Natatorium.
“This was a nice win for our team,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “It’s always an emotional day on senior day and we had great showings from all four of our classes. Now it’s time to turn our attention toward the postseason and get ready for the Horizon League Championships.”
Sara Bentley had the headline of the day by breaking the pool record in the 100 backstroke. The sophomore touched the wall at 56.79 – a full second ahead of the next finisher and just ahead of former Panther Becky Yokosh’s previous pool record of 57.14.
Natalie Johnson won a pair of events Saturday. The junior started her day with a convincing win in the 1000 freestyle, clocking in a 10:29.54 – nearly 20 seconds ahead of the next swimmer. Johnson later won the 500 free in 5:09.24, just ahead of teammate Addison Skogman at 5:10.75.
Skogman won an event of her own with a dominating showing in the 400 IM. The freshman paced the field with a time of 4:34.66 – nearly six seconds ahead of second place.
Milwaukee took the top-two spots in the 100 free. Arica Smith came in first with a solid time of 52.75, just ahead of Shelby Rozeboomat 52.86.
Freshman Danielle Kudis took the top spot in the 200 free, just touching out Green Bay’s top swimmer at the finish in 1:54.01. Nicole Hutchins came in third overall in the event at 1:56.56.
Newcomer Cassidy Pilo notched the first win of her collegiate career Saturday, taking first on the one-meter diving board with a score of 260.25. On three-meter, it was fellow freshman Carley Thomas leading the way in second at 257.10.
UWM also won the opening event on the day – the 200 medley relay. The Panthers got things off on the right foot as Bentley, Jenn Kordik, Kady Ruemmele and Rozeboom teamed up for a meet-opening win in 1:46.46 – nearly two seconds ahead of GB’s top team.
Milwaukee now has a few weeks to prepare for the Horizon League Championships, starting Wednesday, Feb. 24 and running until Saturday, Feb. 27. This year’s league meet will be hosted by Oakland in the Detroit area.
Wisconsin Green Bay:
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Appearing in its final Horizon League dual meet before conference championships, the Green Bay swimming and diving team fell to the Milwaukee Panthers on Saturday afternoon at Klotsche Natatorium.
The Phoenix women, who entered having won six of its last seven competitions, lost by a final score of 148.5- 93.5, while the men’s team dropped its second race in the last two weeks on the final relay, 129-114.
“Competing against our friends in Milwaukee certainly brings out some of the best in our team,” said head coach Reed Robelot. “The list of adjustments we need to make before the championship is getting shorter, but it is still a list nonetheless. Using these final weeks ahead of us will be incredibly important to how we ultimately finish the season.”
Green Bay received its first win of the afternoon in the men’s 200 medley relay, as the quartet of Charlie Warren, Willem Poelmans, Alec Rutkowski and Derick Goodson clocked home first in a time of 1:34.36.
In the men’s 100 butterfly, Rutkowski won his second race of the afternoon in 51.97., while Poelmans continued to look strong as well by winning both the 100 freestyle (46.74) and 100 breaststroke (57.33). A third member of the aforementioned relay team also won an individual event, as Warren took home the 100 yard backstroke in 52.21.
On the diving boards, sophomore Michael Klemm finished on top on the one-meter boards, edging out Andres Villa with a score of 283.50 after Villa topped him in the three-meter, 315.60-303.60.
On the women’s side, senior Racheal Weiland and sophomore Bailey Wagner continued their winning ways on the women’s side in the 50 freestyle and 3 meter boards, respectively, as Weiland came away with yet another victory in 23.97 and Wagner, as well, with a score of 278.62. In the women’s 100 butterfly, junior Haley Lucas placed first with a time of 58.84, before Weiland would win her third event in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.97.
To cap off the day, the 800 freestyle relay team consisting of Roz Stoa, Natalie Neuwirth, Janna Check and Stephanie Garvin finished first in 7:48.68, clocking in five seconds faster than Milwaukee’s lead team.
The Phoenix have one final tune-up before the Horizon League Championships next Friday in Madison, as it takes on the Wisconsin Badgers at 5 p.m. at the UW Natatorium. Green Bay’s final meet will be held from Feb. 24-27 on the campus of Oakland, in Rochester, Mich.
Swimming news courtesy of Milwaukee and Wisconsin Green Bay Swimming & Diving.