April 29, 2003

MILWAUKEE - Dana Elzea and Matt Howard, both of Savage, Minn., and teammates at Burnsville High School, have signed National Letters of Intent to continue their swimming careers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, head coach Dave Clark announced today. Elzea and Howard are the third and fourth members of the 2003 recruiting class for the Panthers.

Elzea and Howard were teammates at Burnsville High School, which they led to an 11th-place overall finish at the Minnesota Class AA state championships. Elzea finished second in the 500 freestyle and sixth in the 200 individual medley as a senior, while placing third and 10th in the two events, respectively, as a junior. He earned all-state honors and all-conference awards during three years, and was also a sectional champion.

"Dana has progressed consistently as a distance swimmer over the past few years," Clark said. "With continued improvement, he should be one of the best in our league."

Howard qualified for the state championship in his final three seasons at Burnsville, finishing as high as fourth place three times, including twice his senior year. During his final campaign, he was fourth in both the 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly, as well as being a part of two state-qualifying relay teams. He also received All-American consideration during his junior and senior seasons. Howard also helped his club team to a Minnesota state championship, claiming an individual title in the 100 backstroke.

"Matt is a very talented athlete with solid fundamentals," Clark said. "With the addition of college training, I expect him to be a contender for a number of our relays and near the top of the league in his events."

Elzea and Howard combine with Lance Scadden of Sun Prairie, Wis., and Karl Winderl of Hartford, Wis., to give the Panthers four recruits thus far for the 2003-04 season. Scadden and Winderl signed with UWM during the early signing period back in November.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming and diving team finished fourth at the Horizon League Championships, held on Feb. 26-Mar. 1 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Panthers, winners of the 2000 Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) title, also excel in the classroom, having been named Academic All-America as a team for the third consecutive semester by the Collegiate Swim Coaches Association of America after the fall 2002 semester.