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UWM Men Continue Assault On Record Book
Feb. 27, 2009
BROWN DEER - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming team broke five more school and four more freshmen records Friday night at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center. With three days of action in the books at the 2009 Horizon League Championships, the Panthers remain in fourth place with 426 points, but are just 40 behind the leaders, UIC, with 466. Wright State University sits in second place at 456, Cleveland State University third at 441, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay fifth with 383 and Valparaiso University rounds out the list at 132. "I feel really good about where we are at," UWM head coach Erica Janssen said. "We had a great day overall and the records just keep falling. Tomorrow is our best day yet, so I feel good about us continuing to creep up on the leaders. One of the things that sticks out to me is that so many of these records are being broken by our younger athletes - that really speaks volumes about the future of the program." Junior Jeremy Waldhart set a school record in the 400 IM, taking fifth overall in 3:58.20. That eclipsed the former mark of 3:59.32 (Chase Gravengood; 2007). Freshman Nathan Rahe also swam in the championship heat, placing sixth overall with a new UWM freshman record of 4:02.04. The former mark, also held by Chase Gravengood, was 4:03.29. Freshman Brady Huemann won the consolation heat, coming in at a career-best 4:06.39. The 800 freestyle relay team of sophomore Jake Kalinowski, freshman Kyle Trelka, senior Andrew Belton and sophomore Dan Heraly led the team to a record-time in the event of 6:43.16, topping the former mark of 6:45.25 set last season at the championships (McCarty, Gravengood, Yugo, Jefferson).
Freshman Jordan Diel was part of one of the closest finishes of the night, as the top four finishers in the 100 butterfly were within 24-hundredths of a second. After lowering his own UWM freshman record in the event with a time of 49.38 in the morning preliminaries, Diel one-upped that with a new school record in the finals of 48.71 (Gravengood; 49.18; 2006). That earned him a third-place finish, with CSU's Stephen Grove winning in 48.60 and UIC's Andrew Schmitt second in 48.68. Freshman Sky Boggio was seventh, touching the wall in 50.21 after setting a career-best with a time of 49.88 in the prelims. Junior Ed Lichinsky was the winner in the consolation finals in 50.10, with freshman Evan Green 13th in a time of 50.71. Both of those times were career-bests. Trelka broke the school and freshman records in the 100 backstroke on the day, placing third on the night in a time of 50.41 - less than a second off the winner's pace. It was his time in the prelims that was the record-breaker, as he went 50.15 to eclipse the school mark of 50.88 (Bill Kuri; 2001) and the freshman mark of 50.89 (Kuri). Waldhart set his career-best in the prelims (50.96) before placing seventh in the finals in 51.37. Sophomore Matt Kluczinske won the consolation final, topping the field in a time of 51.24. Freshman Sam Keele nearly had the school record in the 100 breaststroke, coming in sixth overall in a time of 57.27 - just missing the school mark of 57.15. His time did lower the UWM freshman record, which he broke in the prelims at 57.34 (Jared Sobczak; 57.42). Freshman Nolan Sinkler won the consolation heat, touching the wall in 58.59 after going a career-low 58.22 in prelims. Huemann was 12th, coming in at 59.10 after a career-low 58.86 in the morning. In the men's 200 freestyle, Kalinowski was UWM's top finisher, placing fourth in a career-best 1:38.46. The time was less then a second off the winner's (Green Bay's Alex Hill) clocking of 1:37.59 - a new Horizon League mark. In the consolation final, two Panthers came up with career-best times on the day. Belton placed 10th in 1:40.91, while Trelka was 12th in 1:42.22, setting a personal-best in the prelims at 1:41.82. The championship concludes Saturday with the 1650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, men's three-meter diving and 400 freestyle relay. Day Three Men's Team Totals: UIC 466 |
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