Jan. 15, 2002

MILWAUKEE - The UWM swimming and diving team returns to action this weekend when they host Butler in a Horizon League dual meet at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Butler comes into this weekend's meet without having competed in just over two months. The Bulldogs took on Bradley and IUPUI on Nov. 16 and picked up a pair of wins on both the men's and women's sides. For each team, it was their first and second wins on the season.

LAST TIME OUT: The Panthers competed twice in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., during the winter break. The Panthers swam in the Ed Kennedy Relays on Dec. 31, with the women coming in third of five teams and the men placing fourth out of four. The Panthers also competed in a time trial meet in Florida, with Nick Bowers and Kari Kinney each taking home a first place finish.

WHAT ABOUT WHEATON?: UWM wrapped up the fall schedule with the Wheaton Invitational on Dec. 7 and 8. The Panther women took second place in the invitational, finishing with 808.5 points, while the men placed third with 671 points.

BROKEN RECORD: Sophomore Josh Baseheart broke two meet records and one UWM record at the Wheaton Invitational on Dec. 7 and 8. Baseheart broke the meet record in both the 50 and 100 free while breaking his own school record in the 100 free. Julie Olson also broke a record at the Wheaton Invitational, this one the freshmen record in the 100 back. Her time of 59.41 was just .4 off the school record, held by current Panther assistant coach Heather Czappa.

IN THE RANKINGS: The Panthers are well-represented on the Horizon League's top times list as of Dec. 4. On the men's side, UWM has at least one representative in the top eight of every event except the 200 back and 100 breast and the two individual medley events. In the 200 back, Justin O'Keefe's time is ninth in the league. On the women's side, the Panthers have at least one person in the top eight in every event except the 50, 100 and 200 back and the 200 IM.

NATIONALLY RANKED: Josh Baseheart is currently ranked 59th in the nation in the 50 free and 46th in the nation in the 100 free. Baseheart is the only Panther to be ranked in the nation.

UNDER THE WEATHER: The Panthers have had a hard time staying healthy this season. Injuries and illnesses have limited the amount of training and competition time for many of the athletes. Adam Hanson and Josh Baseheart (each has a broken hand) and Jenn Moore (back) are out for the meet with Butler.

GETTING HONORS: The Panthers have had three athletes named Horizon League Athlete of the Week during the fall season. Josh Baseheart was named on Oct. 30 for his efforts agianst Northwestern, while Kelly Goetsch was named the following week for her performances against Western Illinois and Wheaton. Nic Seider was named on Nov. 13 for his performances against UIC and Northern Iowa. The Panthers return four athletes who were named Athlete of the Week by the league last year. Jen Kedinger, Peter Clark, Amanda Chan and Beth Watt were all honored by the league last year, with Kedinger and Clark being named twice.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE: The women's team was named Academic All-American for the 26th consecutive semester during the spring of 2001. The women had a cumulative grade point average of 3.021, ranking them 24th in the country among Division I schools. In addition, seniors Kelly Goetsch, Leslie Brock and Adam Hanson, along with junior Peter Clark, were named to the academic all-conference team last spring. Thirteen Panthers were named to the league's Honor Roll for having a grade point average of above 3.25. Ten of those Panthers return in 2001. The ten are seniors Adam Hanson, Kelly Goetsch, Jessica Hoffmann and Erin McCauley, and juniors Peter Clark, Jenny Behr, Erin Hallen, Rachel Smith and Beth Watt.

UP NEXT: The Panthers host the Bill Ritter Invitational on Jan. 25 and 26. The diving competition will be held at 11 a.m. on Fri., Jan. 25. Three sessions of swimming finals will be held, one at 5:30 on Friday evening and the other two on Saturday. Butler, UIC, UW-Green Bay will compete, along with Illinois State's women and Marquette's club team.