Nov. 21, 2001

Milwaukee - The UWM swimming and diving teams will take a short break for the Thanksgiving holiday this week and will resume competition in two weeks, when they compete at the Wheaton Invitational. The Panther divers will also compete that weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational.

Last Week's Action: The women's team dropped a close match to Illinois State on Sunday, falling 157-143. The Panthers picked up a pair of wins from freshman Julie Olson in the 100 and 200 backstroke. UWM also swept most of the top spots in the two diving events, having three of the top four divers in each event. The Panther men did not compete this past week.

More Wins: UWM also got victories from Kristin Cefalu and Beth Watt against the Redbirds. Cefalu led the way as the Panthers took the top three places in the 200 breaststroke, while Watt took first place in the 200 butterfly. For Cefalu, it is the fourth straight meet that she has taken first in the 200 breast, while Watt has won the 200 fly twice, the only two times she's competed in the event.

Divers Show Their Worth: The Panther divers had their first competeition at the Klotsche Center Pool in 2001 and came through with three of the top four finishes in each event. UWM had five of the top divers in last year's MCC Championships, and three of those divers, Krystina Herzog, Erin Hallen and Becky Rubel, return on the women's side in 2001. Hannah Burgard also returns for the Panthers, having missed last year's MCC Championships due to injury.

Everyone in the Pool: Depth is a strength of the Panther swimming and diving teams. Last year, the women's team had five of the top nine swimmers in both breaststroke events at the MCC Championships, as well as five of the top seven divers in both diving events from a year ago. The men also have excellent depth, as UWM had five of the top 16 swimmers in the 200 freestyle from a year ago. The men's team had at least three athletes place in the top 16 in all but four events.

Academic Excellence: The women's team was named Academic All-American as a team for the 26th consecutive semester during the spring of 2001. The women had a cumulative grade point average of 3.203, ranking them in 24th place in the country among Division I schools. In addition, seniors Leslie Brock, Kelly Goetsch and Adam Hanson, along with junior Peter Clark, were named to the Academic All-Conference team last spring. Thirteen Panthers were also 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 senior Adam Hanson (Verona, Wis./Verona), junior Peter Clark, junior Jenny Behr (Wauwatosa, Wis./West), senior Kelly Goetsch, junior Erin Hallen (Middleton, Wis./Middleton), senior Jessica Hoffmann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower), senior Erin McCauley (Genoa City, Wis./Lake Geneva Badger), junior Rachel Smith (Superior, Wis./Superior) and junior Beth Watt.

League Honors: Last year's Panthers had several athletes honored by the league as Athlete of the Week. Four of them return in 2001. They are sophomore Jen Kedinger, Peter Clark, Amanda Chan and Beth Watt. Clark and Kedinger were each named Athlete of the Week twice on the year.

Up Next: The Panthers swimmers will wrap up their competition in the fall semester with the Wheaton Invitational on Dec. 7-8, while the Panther divers will compete at the Notre Dame Invitational on Dec. 6-8.