Dec. 6, 2003

Complete Results

WHEATON, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Swimming teams came back for the second day of the Wheaton Invitational and drove home a point that they will settle for nothing less than success. The women sustained a strong first day by finishing the competition off on Saturday, while the men's team rebounded from a second-place standing Friday night to storm back and capture the title on Saturday. The victories marked the first time in school history that the Panthers have won the Wheaton Invitational for men and women. Both teams also tallied eight top-3 finishes during the finals.

While the women entered Saturday ahead of the pack, the men's team found themselves behind and with a full day ahead of them. Seeking a big turn-around from Friday, the men geared up to take the lead in the team standings and close the competition out on top by notching a final team score of 761.50. The formula on the men's side was consistency and taking it one event at a time.

"We gave up nearly 100 points due to disqualifications on our part and our guys knew that they were going to be focused if they wanted to win this meet," noted Clark.

Right out of the gates, the men came out with intensity and a renewed sense of vigor. Opening with the 200 medley relay, the combination of Matt Howard, Kyle Fyock, Rob Vergeer and Josh Baseheart set the tone for the Panthers. Needing a good opening performance would be key and the relay team answered by finishing second with a time of 1:33.99. From there, the men's team seemed to have new life breathed into them.

Team captains Justin O'Keefe and Josh Baseheart sparked a team effort. O'Keefe came up after the relay to score a second-place finish in the 400 IM. Josh Baseheart followed O'Keefe up with a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle. Baseheart would later add a second-place finish in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.61. UWM's Michael Belting contributed a first-place finish in the mile by swimming a time of 16:15.12.

Not only did the Panther veterans help pave the way to victory, but the underclassmen joined in the action too. Sophomores Rob Vergeer, Kyle Fyock and Ryan Frohmader came through in the clutch for UWM. Vergeer notched a first-place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.74, Fyock scored a second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:08.99 and Frohmader added a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke. Fyock and Frohmader would later joing up with team captains Adam Steffes and Josh Baseheart in the 400 freestyle relay, finishing first with a time of 3:05.90.

The effort by the men resulted in a come-from-behind victory and a sense of team unity.

"Our guys really did a great job by focusing and working together to score the victory," Clark added. "They really worked hard throughout the day to earn the win."

The women returned, after breaking several school and freshman records on Friday, to win the meet title for the first time since the 1996-97 season and did it with dominant swimming and more record-breaking performances. Pacing the way for the UWM women were Lindsay Caldwell, Sarah Caldwell, Bridget Fargen, Jen Kedinger, Kari Kinney, Julie Olson and Heather Sawatzki.

Julie Olson and Lindsay Caldwell both added their names to the record books again on Saturday. Julie Olson entered Saturday's competition with the 200 backstroke record in her back pocket and was looking to best her record time in the 100 backstroke (58.29) that she set in 2002. Olson did exactly that by swimming a school, pool and meet record time in the 100 backstroke of 57.83. Olson added another school record with her time of 58.49 in the 100 butterfly, breaking the old time of 58.5 set in 1985 by Connie Wright. Lindsay Caldwell set three records on Friday and returned to be a part of three more records on Saturday. Caldwell swam to a first-place finish in the 50 freestyle with a UWM freshman and school record time of 24.12. Her time was also good for a pool and meet record at Wheaton College. Caldwell also teamed up with Julie Olson, Bridget Fargen and Jen Kedinger to break the school record in the 400 freestyle relay. The relay team swam a school-record best time of 3:33.83, breaking the old time of 3:35.18.

Records are huge to attain, but athletes like Sarah Caldwell, Bridget Fargen, Jen Kedinger, Kari Kinney and Heather Sawatzki made sure the great moments didn't stop there. Caldwell joined the 200 medley relay, along with her sister Lindsay, Julie Olson and Sawatzki to place second with a time of 1:49.69. Sarah also contributed a fifth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke. Jen Kedinger added a victory in the mile and a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle, Bridget Fargen finished fourth in the 100 freestyle and Kari Kinney tallied a third-place finish in the 400 IM.

"The women were dominating in the finals," an extremely pleased Dave Clark stated. "They gave a big effort and really came away with some awesome performances. You can't ask for much more from a squad that broke as many records as they did in the last two days."

The day didn't end in Wheaton, Illinois though. The Panthers also had divers finishing off competion at the Notre Dame Diving Invitational. Today's events featured the women's 1-meter board. After a strong two days, the Panthers had four athletes finish in the top-10. Becky Rubel, of Grafton, Wis., finished the highest of the divers by placing fourth with a score of 237.60. Erin Blemberg came in sixth (213.95 pts.), Crystal Szymanski finished eighth (195.55 pts.) and Hannah Burgard came in ninth (193.85). Emily Duesler rounded out the Panthers finishing 19th.

Up next, the Panthers will head to Fort Lauderdale, Florida over the holiday break to compete in the Ed Kennedy Relays on December 31, 2003.