Dec. 10, 2001

Milwaukee - The UWM men's and women's swim teams completed their fall schedule of meets over the weekend with the Notre Dame Invitational for diving and the Wheaton Invitational for swimmers. The women's swimmers placed second at Wheaton, finishing just 24 points behind Wheaton for first. UWM scored 808.5 points at the meet. The men finished third, scoring 671 points and placing behind Wheaton College and Hope College.

Words on Wheaton: Milwaukee had a fairly successful trip to Wheaton, with several records being broken at the meet. Josh Baseheart and Julie Olson each broke at least one mark during the meet. UWM also picked up several other strong finishes, as David Faust and Kristin Cefalu each picked up a win for Milwaukee. Faust won the 1650 free, outdistancing the rest of the field by nearly a minute. Faust's time of 16:17.32 broke the meet record of 16:18.64. Michael Belting also chipped in with a strong performance in the 1650, finishing second behind Faust. Cefalu finished first in the 200 breaststroke after qualifying second in the event.

Record Breakers: Josh Baseheart was the most frequent record-breaker, setting several meet records and one UWM mark. Baseheart set the meet record in prelims of the 50 free, finishing in 20.82 seconds, beating the previous mark of 20.85. Baseheart would later win the event in the finals. He also set a meet, pool and school record in the 100 free. He broke all three marks in the preliminaries with a 45.49 time. That broke the previous school record, of 45.64, which he set last year. He then swam a 45.29 in the finals, again breaking his mark in the meet, pool and UWM records. Olson contributed with a second place finish in the 100 backstroke, setting a new UWM freshman record with a time of 59.41. Her time broke the old mark, held by Crystal Varadi, of 1:00.00.

Notre Dame Notes: The Panthers sent only their diving teams to Notre Dame, though the event was more than just divers. UWM still managed to fare well at the event, with the men finishing in sixth place out of seven teams, beating Hillsdale College. The Panther women scored 115 points in just two diving events in finishing eighth. Nic Seider had the highest UWM finish, placing third in the 3m. Krystina Herzog finished fifth in the women's 3m and added an eighth place finish in the 1m. Hannah Burgard was eighth and Becky Rubel was 12th in the 3m.

The Season So Far: The Panthers made their return to the pool after a lengthy layoff. The women's team last competed on Nov. 18 against Illinois State, while men's team hasn't competed since the triangular meet with UIC and Northern Iowa on Nov. 10. The men's team is 2-3 in dual meet competition in 2001, while the Panther women have gotten off to a slow start with a 1-4 mark. Injuries have hurt the Panthers, especially the women's team, as numerous athletes have been forced to sit out several meets. UWM is now off for finals. The Panthers will resume competition on Dec. 31 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., at the Ed Kennedy Relays. Milwaukee will then compete on Jan. 4, 2002, at the Time Trial 100s in Ft. Lauderdale.

The Injury Bug: UWM has been nearly crippled by injuries in 2001. The Panther women have had to compete at various times without sprinter Stacy Jereczek, backstroker Julie Olson, individual medalist Danielle Bradley and reigning League Athlete of the Year, Amanda Chan. The men's team has also had several injuries, as divers Nic Seider and Brady Arnold have each missed competition due to injury. Sprinter John Batty has also missed time with an ankle sprain. The injury list also got longer over the weekend, as Josh Baseheart broke his hand during the final of the 50 free on Saturday.

Getting Honors: The Panthers have taken three of the Horizon League's top weekly honors in 2001. Josh Baseheart was the first to be honored, being named Athlete of the Week on Oct. 30 for his efforts against Northwestern. Kelly Goetsch received the honor the following week. She was honored on Nov. 6 for her performances against Wheaton and Western Illinois. Nic Seider was the third Panther to be honored, receiving the award on Nov. 13 for his performances against UIC and Northern Iowa.

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 during the year.

Baseheart Near Nation's Best: Sprinter Josh Baseheart has already had a strong season for UWM. Baseheart, who has the top time for Milwaukee in the 50, 100 and 200 free and 100 fly, has had his times very close to the top swimmers in the nation. Baseheart was honored by the Horizon League as Athlete of the Week on Oct. 30 for his performances against Northwestern. Baseheart was fourth in the 100 freestyle a year ago at the MCC Championships. He also captured a pair of sixth place finishes, one in the 50 freestyle and one in the 100 butterfly.

Watt A Swimmer: Junior Beth Watt has currently holds three of the top times on the women's team in 2001. Watt has the top time in the 100 freestyle and the 100 and 200 butterfly. Watt's times have also been good enough to place her in the top 15 in the Horizon League in each of those events this year. She currently holds the top 200 fly time in the league and the second-best 100 fly time. Watt placed second last year in the 100 butterfly and third in the 200 butterfly at the MCC Championships. She also took ninth in the 50 freestyle at the league meet. Watt also received the Faculty Representative's award last year for the highest grade point average on the team.

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 24th 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 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: UWM has a training trip to Florida scheduled for over the winter break. The Panthers will compete in the Ed Kennedy Relays on Dec. 31 and the Time Trial 100s on Jan. 4 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Milwaukee returns to the Klotsche Center Pool on Jan. 19, when Horizon League rival Butler comes to Milwaukee.