Gravengood Repeats As Horizon League 200 IM ChampionFeb. 22, 2007
CHICAGO, Ill. - Junior Chase Gravengood won a league title in the 200 IM for the second-straight season on Thursday to lead the way for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team at the Horizon League Championships. The Panthers remain firmly in fourth place after half of the meet is in the books with 210 points. Wright State continues to lead with 301, with Cleveland State second at 268.5 and UIC third with 226.5. Gravengood set a school record in the 200 IM at the league championships for the third-straight year, this time touching the wall in 1:50.06 to defend his league title from a season ago. He broke his own mark for the second time this season, lowering the standard from 1:51.70 to 1:51.35 Dec. 2 to 1:50.06 today. Freshman Jeremy Waldhart also swam in the finals, taking eighth in 1:57.65. "Chase just had a fantastic swim tonight," UWM head coach Dave Griffore said. "It's great to see him get a new school record again so he's definitely going the right way. I thought for sure we were going for the league record as well." Sophomore Robby Leibold nearly had a school record in the 500 freestyle, swimming a career-best 4:33.30 to take third in the event, just missing the school standard of 4:32.98. Sophomore David Adams won the consolation final in 4:40.54, eclipsing his former career best of 4:44.85. "Robby and Dave had great swims as well," Griffore said. "We needed them to step up in the 500 and they did." Freshman Patrick Rongitsch was in the finals in the only diving event of the day, taking sixth with a season-best 265.75 points on the one-meter board. Seniors Corey Kupfer (winner of the consolation finals with a career-best 277.60 points) and Kyle Luska (11th with 245.70) also competed for Milwaukee.
Junior Tyler Jefferson was the top finisher for UWM in the 50 freestyle, placing 10th in a career-best 21.34. Freshman Eric Burns also swam in the consolation final, placing 16th while also topping his season-best in 21.98. The 400 medley relay team of Gravengood and juniors Jeremy Seibel, Ross Bittner and Jefferson took third, finishing in a season-best 3:26.36. "We have two more days left and I am very pleased with how we are doing at this point," Griffore said. Day three of the championships takes place Friday, with preliminaries beginning at 10:30 a.m. and finals starting at 6 p.m. |
