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Kalinowski's League Title In The 50 Free Paces Panther Men On Day Two
Feb. 26, 2009
BROWN DEER - Sophomore Jake Kalinowski won a league championship in the 50 freestyle to lead the way for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team Thursday night at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center. With two of the four days of the 2009 Horizon League Championships in the books, the Panthers held steady and remain in fourth place with 225 points. UIC had a big day and took over the lead with 297 points, followed by Cleveland State University with 258 and Wright State University in third with 243. Milwaukee (225) and Green Bay (219) remain close behind, while Valparaiso University rounds out the field with 97 points. "We are definitely in the mix for a title and right about where I thought we would be," UWM head coach Erica Janssen said. "Tomorrow is a huge day for our men. They hung on very well today and moved up a ton of spots and we needed that kind of effort. That really set us up well. We are feeling really good about where we are at and knowing that we will get better." Kalinowski won his first-ever Horizon League title in the 50 free, winning the race in a school-record time of 20.12. It was a close sprint in the finals, as the top three were within 23-hundredths of a second. Kalinowski had set the league record at 20.17 Wednesday, only to see Cleveland State's Stephen Grove top that effort with a time of 20.09 in the morning preliminaries. The title was the first for Milwaukee in the 50 free since Josh Baseheart in 2003. Junior Ed Lichinsky scored for UWM in the consolation finals, placing 15th in a time of 21.01, a career-best (21.70). "We knew he was capable of that all year," Janssen said. "Anything can happen in the 50. He is talented and the best sprinter in this league and it showed right there."
Milwaukee closed out the night with yet another school record, taking third in the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:20.78. That topped the former mark of 3:22.33, set in 2003 (Procto, Fyock, Vergeer, Baseheart). The record-breaking team consisted of junior Jeremy Waldhart and freshmen Sam Keele, Jordan Diel and Kyle Trelka. It was a team effort for the Panthers in the 200 IM, as they had two swimmers in the championship heat and three more in the consolation. Freshman Nathan Rahe was the top finisher, placing fifth with a season-best time of 1:51.89 that broke the UWM freshman record of 1:53.32 (Chase Gravengood) in the event. In addition, junior Matt Kluczinske was eighth and Keele 10th, Evan Green 12th and Greg Wise 14th. Kluczinske touched the wall in 1:55.13 after setting a new career-best of 1:54.36 in prelims. Keele had a time of 1:52.90, Green in 1:54.96 and Wise in 1:56.62 - all season-best times. "The effort from our freshmen in the 200 IM was fantastic," Janssen said. "Two of them broke the freshman mark. These were guys that we recruited to play a large role and they are already doing it their first season and scoring points at the conference meet." Sophomore Dan Heraly was the top finisher for Milwaukee in the 500 freestyle, placing seventh in a time of 4:35.79. That was a career-best for him, topping the 4:36.08 he had as a freshman. Two others were in the consolation finals, with freshman Nolan Sinkler in 10th - less than a second from winning the heat - in a time of 4:36.43 and senior David Adams placing 14th in 4:42.18. Freshman Jake Koll helped out with a fifth-place finish in one-meter diving, recording a season-high 272.25 points in the finals. Fellow freshman Shane Conner and sophomore Nick DeWitt finished in consolations with Conner at 230.15 points and DeWitt at 222.35. The championship continues Friday morning with the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, the 800 freestyle relay and the women's one-meter diving board. Day Two Men's Team Totals: UIC 297 |
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