Men's Swimming & Diving Team Opens Season Friday
Oct. 8, 2008
Oct. 10 • at Wisconsin Badgers The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team will open the 2007-08 season on the road Friday against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Panthers start the year with a dual against their Big Ten foe Friday at 5 p.m. in Madison. LAST YEAR Leibold won the 1000 handily, touching the wall in 9:41.69 to beat Wisconsin's Mike Swanson (9:53.30) by over eight seconds. He also took second in the 500 free in a time of 4:44.31. Milwaukee also received second-place efforts from senior Chase Gravengood (100 butterfly), Jeremy Waldhart (100 backstroke) and Cody Smith (100 breaststroke). ON TAP 2008-09 UWM Men's Season Preview The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team will have youth on its side this season. With 19 of the 27 student-athletes on the roster being either a freshman or sophomore, head coach Erica Janssen will be leaning heavily on the potential of her underclassmen to combine with the experience of a small group of juniors and seniors to improve on last season's third-place finish at the Horizon League Championships.
The team has made strides in recent years, finishing third at the championships for the second-straight season. That comes on the heels of three-consecutive fifth-place finishes. "The team's goals were very high last season," Janssen said. "And, more importantly, we were much closer to second place than we were the year before. If we have holes, we cannot win the championship and we feel we filled those." The newcomers jumped right in last season, scoring points in numerous individual events at the league championships and playing key roles on several relay teams and in the diving events, as well. "As a group, our freshmen really excelled last season," Janssen said. "We needed them to step up and they did. Coming into this season, we did have a lot of holes, but filled them with our recruiting. We are very strong across the board and have no real holes. We added depth in diving and picked up good sprinters and breaststrokers to give us the depth and versatility we needed." The squad lost five seniors a year ago, including team captain and five-time Horizon League champion Chase Gravengood. He concluded a brilliant career with 10 different school records to his credit. "Chase is someone you cannot replace," Janssen said. "He was a leader and we will need someone to step into that role. We will miss Chase, but as athletes move on, we need others to step up." Despite the losses, Janssen brings quite a bit of optimism into the season, based on the talent returning and the 11-member recruiting class that was brought in. "I think we have a real good chance, especially after signing one of our best recruiting classes," Janssen said. "Our freshmen have to improve and get better. But, coming in where they already are time-wise, they are pretty talented and should contend to win." Sprints "We do have Jake (Kalinowski) returning and he really developed as the season went on," Janssen said. "We are looking for him to do some big things this season. Nolan Sinkler will be looked at in this group, as will Ed (Lichinsky) after a great season last year. Sam Parent came off an injury as a freshman, and hopefully with another year under his belt will develop. Lastly, Andrew Belton is a great leader who will mold that group. Middle Distance/Distance "We have Robby (Leibold) coming back for his senior year and he is our `big-time' guy," Janssen said. "David Adams is the other senior in this group and has had a couple of successful seasons under his belt and is always looking to improve. Dan Heraly had a phenomenal year and can be the real deal in these events." Butterfly "We brought in a tremendous group," Janssen said. "Greg Wise, Sky Boggio, Jordan Diel and Evan Green will all contribute, as will Ed Lichinsky. It will be a very young group, but it was a hole we needed to fix. This group will become a big strength for us this year. They are young and inexperienced but have plenty of potential to develop into great college swimmers." Backstroke "Backstroke is really strong for us and we didn't really need to bring much in," Janssen said. "Adding Kyle Trelka to that mix will help them flourish. Jeremy Waldhart has done a great job. He is one of the hardest-working kids on the team and deserves everything he gets." Breaststroke "This was one of our weakest areas last year, so we brought in some solid additions in Huemann and Keele," Janssen said. "Andrew Belton will swim some, too. They will be young and Belton will help lead them, but we need them to be successful for us to be successful and we will be counting on freshmen to do just that." Individual Medley Diving "We needed to develop our diving team, so we brought in Jake Koll and Shane Conner - two of the top divers in the state," Janssen said. "Nick (DeWitt) and Josh (Lindquist) have a year under their belts and really needed that. Now that they have it, they can build and develop." As the team continues to progress, it also knows that the other league schools continue to improve as well. The team will also have `home-pool' advantage going for it at the league championships this winter. "The Horizon League will be full of tough competition once again," Janssen said. "Having the championships here will be great ... our kids love Schroeder [pool] and a lot of them grew up swimming there. It will be a great way to close out the season." |
