Panther Men Snap Streak With Win Over Green Bay, 169-74
Feb. 2, 2008
MILWAUKEE - Senior Chase Gravengood, sophomore PJ Rongitsch and freshman Jake Kalinowski won two events each to highlight the efforts of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team on Saturday at the Klotsche Natatorium. The Panthers defeated the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 169-74, to snap what was a seven-dual losing streak to the Phoenix dating back to 1999. "We made it a point to let them know what the series has been," UWM head coach Dave Griffore said. "They haven't won in seven years and I think our guys are just tired of losing. They wanted to go out big and they wanted to go out big at home. We swam great and I am excited for them." Gravengood helped lead a one-two-three UWM finish with a win in the 200 IM and the 200 butterfly while also helping the 400 medley relay team a win to open the meet. His time of 1:54.06 led the way in the 200 IM, with senior Jeremy Seibel second in 1:58.16, touching out freshman Matt Kluczinske, who was third in 1:58.50. Gravengood finished the 200 fly in 1:53.22, with junior Robby Leibold second in 1:57.02 and freshman Dan Heraly third in 1:57.69. Rongitsch added to his already impressive season, winning both boards against UWGB, including an NCAA Zone-qualifying total on the one-meter board. His winning totals were 308.48 on the one-meter and 295.80 on the three, giving him eight total wins on the year.
Kalinowski stepped up big in the victory, grabbing two individual wins to go along with a spot on the winning 400 medley relay squad. He won the 50 freestyle in 21.73, the 100 freestyle in 47.49 and teamed with seniors Tyler Jefferson, Seibel and Gravengood for the victory in the 400 medley relay in 3:29.16. "It feels great to get contributions from each class," Griffore said. "When I came here the goal was to get better and the only way that was going to happen was if our guys bought into it and they have. They have proven that, they have shown that and I am just happy that they can finish out the regular season with a big win like this against a very good team." Other winners for UWM included Leibold, sophomore Jeremy Waldhart, Seibel and the 400 free relay team. Leibold paced the top three in the 1,000 freestyle, winning in a time of 9:34.36. Heraly was second in 9:44.06 and junior David Adams third in 9:55.44 to give UWM another one-two-three showing. Leibold also placed second in the 500 free in 4:42.78. Waldhart won his specialty, extending his win streak to eight-straight races with a 1:52.96 clocking in the 200 backstroke. It was also a new Klotsche Natatorium record, eclipsing the old standard of 1:53.06 (UWGB's Joey Weber 1/20/07). Seibel just missed a Klotsche Natatorium record with his win in the 200 breaststroke, as his time of 2:08.27 just missed the standard of 2:08.01 and was also the fastest time in the event for UWM this season. Rounding out the list of winners was the 400 freestyle relay team, which closed out the meet with a win in 3:09.50. Freshman Bill McCarty, junior Andrew Belton, senior David Yugo and Jefferson made up that winning squad. The Panthers won 11 of 13 events on the afternoon to extend their current win streak to five-straight, and six of seven on the season. Milwaukee is off until the Horizon League Championships at the end of the month. It will be in search of its first title since 2000 after posting its best showing (third place) since that campaign at the 2007 event. The meet starts February 20th in Cleveland, Ohio |
