Feb. 26, 2002

MILWAUKEE - The UWM swimming and diving teams will travel to Chicago this week to compete in the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships on the campus of UIC. The women's team will be looking to repeat as league champions, while the men would like to relcaim the title they last captured in 2000.

UWM is coming off a pair of losses to in-state rivals Wisconsin and UW-Green Bay on Feb. 8. Despite the losses, the Panthers did show well at the annual in-state matchup. Kristin Cefalu won the women's 200 breaststroke in both meets, the only event won by someone other than a Badger. Jen Kedinger took second in the women's 1000 free, and Josh Baseheart finished second in the men's 100 free. Nic Seider also took second in both diving events.

About the Championships: The league championships will be spread out over the course of four days. Each day will begin with the morning session of preliminary heats to determine the evening's finalists. The afternoon session will feature the day's diving events, while the evening wraps up with the finals of the swimming events.

Undefeated: Kristin Cefalu's win in the 200 breaststroke marked the ninth time this year she has won the event. Cefalu finishes the season with a 9-0 mark in the event, and currently has the second-best time in the Horizon League with a 2:23.19. She leads five Panthers in the top 20 of the league in the event.

Continuing to Impress: Jason Procto finished third in the men's 200 back and fourth in the 200 free, finishing ahead of all Green Bay swimmers in both events. Since making his debut at the Bill Ritter Invitational, Procto has took first in the 100 and 200 back at the invitational and took first in the 200 back at NIU. Procto missed the first half of the season while a matter invloving his transfer hours from England was resolved.

Inside the Statistics: At the Bill Ritter Invitational, Andy Davis achieved the rare feat of scoring points for the Panthers in the meet's longest and shortest events. Davis placed 16th in the men's 50 free and added an eighth place finish in the 1650.

Sounding Like a Broken Record: The Panthers have started breaking records on a regular basis since the first part of December. The latest record to fall was the six-year-old school mark in the women's 1m diving, as Krystina Herzog scored 289.65 to break the old mark of 280.25. Josh Baseheart and Julie Olson have each contributed to the rewriting of the record books, as Olson broke the freshman record in the 100 back at the Wheaton Invitational. Baseheart broke his own school record in the 100 free and set meet records in the 50 and 100 free at the Wheaton Invitational. He also set a Chrouser Pool record with his time in the 100 free. David Faust also set a meet record in the men's 1650.

Athlete of the Week: The Panthers have had their share of honorees by the Horizon League as Athlete of the Week in 2001-02. Josh Baseheart earned the honor twice, first for his performances against Northwestern in late October and again in January for his record-breaking times at the Wheaton Invitational. Kelly Goetsch and Nic Seider each were honored by the league in early November, Goetsch on Nov. 6 and Seider on Nov. 13, giving the Panthers three honorees in the first three weeks the award was handed out.

Under the Weather: The Panthers have also had their share of injuries this season, though they are starting to get relatively healthy. Adam Hanson has returned from a broken hand, while Brady Arnold (back) and Jenn Moore (back) are most likely out for the Horizon League Championships.

Nationally Ranked: Josh Baseheart is currently ranked 65th in the country in the 50 free and 47th in the nation in the 100 free. Baseheart is the only Panther to be ranked in the nation.

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 3.201, 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 2001-02. 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: UWM will complete the team part of the season. Several divers have already qualified for the Zone C regionals, which will be held on Mar. 15-16 at Purdue University. The NCAA Championships will be held on Mar. 28-30 in Athens, Ga.