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Jan. 21, 2003

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's and women's swimming and diving teams return to action this weekend after their second lengthy layoff of the season, by hosting the annual Bill Ritter Invitational. UWM welcomes Butler, UIC and UW-Green Bay, along with Illinois State's women's team, Northern Iowa's women's team and Marquette's club team to the Klotsche Center Pool for three sessions this weekend.

Invitational Format
The meet begins with the diving competition at 11 a.m. on Friday at Schroeder YMCA in Brown Deer, Wis., before swimming finals begin at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Klotsche Center Pool. Finals resume at 10 a.m. Saturday and conclude with the final session at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Both sessions on Saturday will be held at the Klotsche Center. All events will be timed finals with no preliminary heats being held.

Looking Back
Milwaukee's last full intercollegiate action took place on Dec. 6-7, with the swimmers at the Wheaton Invitational in Wheaton, Ill. The men's team took first place with 859 points, while the women finished second, totaling 756 points. Josh Baseheart, Michael Belting and Jason Procto each won two events on the men's side, while Peter Clark added a pair of second-place finishes. For the women, Sarah Caldwell, Amanda Chan and Beth Watt each won an event, with Jen Kedinger finishing second three times.

Last Year's Bill Ritter
UW-Green Bay took first place in both the men's and the women's meet, with the Panthers finishing a distant second. Butler was third for the men, while Illinois State was third in the women's meet.

First Half Recap
The men's team stands at 3-3 on the season in dual meets, with wins coming against Wheaton, UIC and Evansville. The Panther men have dropped three difficult meets against Northwestern, Toledo and Western Kentucky. The women, meanwhile, are 3-5 on the season, with wins over Wheaton, UIC and Evansville and losses to Northwestern, Toledo, Northern Iowa, Illinois State and Western Kentucky. Northern Iowa and Illinois State will both be competing in this weekend's invitational.

Facts From Florida
The Panthers spent nearly two weeks in Florida with some intense training to open the 2003 calendar year. On top of two practices daily, Milwaukee also competed in two competitive meets, with strong results. In a 50-meter pool, UWM was in the Ed Kennedy Relays on Dec. 30, where the men finished second out of three teams. Washington, the 25th-ranked team in the country, took first place by winning every event and every relay. UWM was second 150m backstroke relay, while Peter Clark and Michael Belting were second and third in the 200m freestyle, with Josh Baseheart second in the 50m freestyle. The UWM women finished fourth of four teams, with Jen Kedinger and Nicole Rosinski grabbing the only third-place finishes. On Jan. 6, Milwaukee competed in the Time Trial 100s, with Baseheart winning the 100m freestyle and Belting winning the 400m freestyle. For the women, Sarah Walby was third in the 100m freestyle.

Athlete of the Week
Michael Belting became the latest Panther to be honored by the Horizon League, when he was named league Athlete of the Week on Jan. 14. Belting received the honor after winning the 400m freestyle at the Time Trial 100s in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The Panthers had a pair of athletes honored by the league for their performances on the weekend of Nov. 9-10. Josh Baseheart and Krystina Herzog were named league Athlete of the Week after several strong performances in Milwaukee and Chicago. Baseheart won all seven events he entered on the weekend, while Herzog captured first place on both boards on Nov. 9 against UIC, Evansville and Northern Iowa. She also added a second-place finish on 3m Nov. 10 against Western Kentucky.

Watch For Falling Records
Three school records fell at Wheaton on Dec. 6-7, with Josh Baseheart claiming two of them and the third belonging to Jason Procto. Baseheart won the record in the 50 and 200 freestyles, giving him all three of the sprint freestyle records. Procto, meanwhile, broke his own school mark in the 200 backstroke by nearly half a second.

National Qualifier
For the second straight year, Josh Baseheart has swam a time good enough for an NCAA B Cut for the national championships. Last season, Baseheart picked up a provisional mark at the league championships in the 100 freestyle, though it was not fast enough to qualify him for the NCAA Championships. At the Wheaton Invitational last month, Baseheart picked up two B Cut times, one in the 100 and 200 freestyle.

Getting Noticed
In the latest national top time report, released by CollegeSwimming.com, Josh Baseheart and Jason Procto are both listed among the nation's best, while four men's relays are also included. Baseheart is ranked in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles, with his highest ranking coming in the 200 free, where he has the 22nd-fastest time in the country. Procto, meanwhile, is ranked 72nd in the country in the 200 backstroke. Four of the five men's relays are also ranked, with Procto and Baseheart included on all four of them. The 200 free relay, which also includes Kyle Fyock and Adam Steffes is 42nd in the nation, while the 400 free includes Tim Watt and Steffes. The 800 free relay, with Peter Clark and Michael Belting, is 39th in the country. The fourth relay, the 400 medley relay, with Nick Bowers and Rob Vergeer, is ranked 56th in the country.

From The M.A.S.H. Unit
Coach Dave Clark is almost halfway to filling out a championship roster from the list of women's team members who have missed a meet already this season due to various injuries and illnesses. Kim Bach, Danielle Bradley, Kristin Cefalu, Amanda Chan, Emily Holcomb, Megan Linville and Nicole Rosinski have all missed at least one meet so far this season. Combined, the seven have missed the equivalent of 24 meets, with Bradley and Holcomb missing six meets apiece. Holcomb will become the final member of that group to return to action, as she is expected to compete at this weekend's Bill Ritter Invitational.

A Welcome Return
The return of freshman Emily Holcomb is a welcome one to the women's team. Holcomb competed in just the Notre Dame Relays at the beginning of the season before suffering a leg injury and sitting out the entire first half of the season. Holcomb has been cleared to compete by the Panther training staff. Despite only competing once, Holcomb still holds the third-best time in the 100 backstroke in the Horizon League., after holding the lead in the event for much of the first half of the season.

Perfection!
Josh Baseheart won all seven events he entered during the weekend of Nov. 9-10 against UIC, Evansville and Western Kentucky. On Nov. 9 in Chicago, he won the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles, along with anchoring the winning 200 freestyle relay team. He followed that up on the next day with a pair of individual wins in the 50 and 100 freestyle and the anchor leg of the winning 400 freestyle relay team.

Miss Consistency
Senior Jenny Behr has been nothing if not consistent during the first part of the 2002-03 season. In the 50 freestyle, Behr has finished the event on eight occasions, with all eight of her times coming within .25 seconds of each other. Behr's best time in the event is 26.75, coming as the leadoff leg of the 200 free relay Nov. 9 at UIC, while her slowest time in the event is 26.97, which she swam on the same day in the 50 freestyle.

A Pair of Streakers
An impressive streak of victories came to an end Oct. 25 at Northwestern. Entering the dual meet, Milwaukee had claimed victory in the 200 breaststroke at 15 consecutive meets, including the Horizon League Championships in 2001 and 2002. Amanda Chan was the top UWM finisher in the event at Northwestern, placing fourth in 2:26.94. Chan had taken the first four victories in the streak, while Kristin Cefalu grabbed 10-straight last season. The other victory in the event was taken by former Panther Erin Pollyea against Butler last January. Cefalu picked up her first win of the season in the event Friday against Wheaton, winning in 2:28.15.

Sharing the Records
Amanda Chan and Kristin Cefalu have had a stranglehold on the school's record book when it comes to the 200 breaststroke. Chan holds the school and league marks in the event, setting both at the 2001 league championships, while Cefalu holds the UWM Freshman and Klotsche Center Pool marks in the event.

It's a Family Affair
This year's edition of the UWM men's and women's swimming and diving teams have a distinct family flavor to them. Two sets of siblings grace the current roster, as senior Beth Watt is joined by her freshman brother, Tim, and junior David Faust welcomes his sister, Erin, a freshman, to the squad. Siblings on the Panther roster haven't been rare, as Claire and Leslie Brock and Andrew and Daniel Babcock were the last siblings to swim together, in 1999-2000. But, having a brother-sister pairing has been a far less common occurrence. The last set of brother-sister teammates was Mike and Tammie Burmeister in the 1992-93 season. The 1988-89 season saw three sibling teammates, with sisters Karen and Lisa Ragland teaming with their brother John.

Home Is Where The School Is
This year's team also features a pair of student-athletes who were primarily home-schooled throughout high school. Johannan Raatz and Patricia Frank, who both made their debuts this weekend at Notre Dame, are both home-school students. Though home-schooled, Frank did compete for Milwaukee Washington last year, and, despite competing on the boy's team, was named City Conference Most Valuable Swimmer last year, winning two events.

A Distinct Local Flavor
Of the 23 swimmers on the men's roster, 17 make their home in the state of Wisconsin, while 23 of the 29 swimmers on the roster are from within Wisconsin's borders. Of the 11 student-athletes from outside the state, seven are from Minnesota, and two are from Illinois. Danielle Bradley is from Fishers, Ind., while Jason Procto has the longest trip to the UWM campus from Cambridge, England.

Excelling In The Classroom
The UWM swimming and diving teams also excel in the classroom in addition to the pool. The women's team was named Academic All-American by the collegiate Swim Coaches of America after the spring semester, making Spring 2002 the 27th- consecutive semester the team has been named to the list. The men's team, meanwhile, was named to the list in the spring of 2002 for their second-straight semester.

More Academic Honors
Sarah Caldwell was the recipient of the Athletic Director's Award at last spring's Scholar-Athlete Awards reception. The Athletic Director's Award is given to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average among all athletic teams. In addition, Josh Baseheart earned Academic All-America honors by having attained the minimum grade point average and reaching a NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Baseheart is the first swimmer in UWM history to earn Academic All-America honors. Also, nine swimmers were named to the Academic All-League team after last season. The nine were departed Panthers Leslie Brock, Kelly Goetsch, Adam Hanson and Erin McCauley, seniors Peter Clark, Rachel Smith and Beth Watt, and juniors Josh Basheart and Sarah Caldwell.

Up Next
The Panthers will host Western Illinois on Sat., Feb. 1, at 1 p.m. at the Klotsche Center Pool. The meet will also be Senior Day for the Panther swimmers and divers.