Relay Team Closes Day Three With School-Record Performance
Feb. 22, 2008
AKRON, Ohio - The 800 freestyle relay team closed the evening with a school-record performance to highlight the efforts of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming and diving team at the Horizon League Championships on Friday night in Akron, Ohio. The Panthers remain in the race for the top spot with 444 points at the conclusion of day three, with Cleveland State in second with 447 points and defending champion Wright State leading the way with 535 points. Rounding out the team standings is UIC in fourth with 390.5 points, Green Bay fifth with 346.5 points and Valparaiso sixth at 138. The relay team of freshman Bill McCarty and seniors Chase Gravengood, David Yugo and Tyler Jefferson battled Wright State throughout, taking second in a time of 6:45.25 in the final event of the day. That easily eclipsed the former school mark of 6:47.27, set by Josh Baseheart, Peter Clark, Michael Belting and Jason Procto in 2003. Senior Chase Gravengood took third in the 400 IM in 4:00.06. Sophomore Jeremy Waldhart was just behind, swimming a career-best time of 4:04.26 to take sixth. Senior Jeremy Seibel was also solid in 4:05.99, taking 11 seconds off his season-best (4:16.00) and over two seconds off his career-best (4:08.39) in finishing seventh. Sophomore Dennis Knipfer also scored, taking 15th in a season-best 4:16.75.
In the 100 backstroke, Milwaukee had three of the top eight finishers, with Jefferson leading the way. His career-best time of 51.28 eclipsed his former best of 51.82 and earned him a fifth-place showing. Freshman Matt Kluczinske was seventh in 52.02 and senior Ross Bittner was eighth in 52.33, with both swimmers touching the wall in season-best times. Knipfer also chipped in at 15th place, topping his career-best of 54.30 with a clocking of 53.66. Milwaukee had three swimmers in the 100 butterfly, with Bittner the top finisher in 13th with a time of 51.55. Also swimming in the race was junior Andrew Belton and sophomore Ed Lichinsky. Belton took 14th in 51.78 while Lichinsky was 19th in 52.12. Yugo paced UWM in the 200 freestyle, setting a new career-best in the race. His time of 1:42.37 topped his former best of 1:42.81 and earned him an eighth-place showing. McCarty was right behind in ninth in a season-best 1:42.39. Freshman Jake Kalinowski also scored for the Panthers, taking 14th in 1:43.67, as did freshman Matt Mahoney, who took 17th in 1:45.40. Both of those times were also season-bests. Seibel went a career-best 58.83 in the 100 breaststroke, topping his former best of 59.52 in taking seventh. Belton was right behind, as his season-best clocking of 59.13 gave him eighth place in the event. The league title will be decided back at Ocasek Natatorium in Akron, Ohio, tomorrow due to the situation with the water main break at the Cleveland State pool. Slight adjustments to the schedule have been made, as the two diving events will start at noon EST and the timed finals will start at 4 p.m. EST. |
