Dec. 4, 2003

MILWAUKEE -

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On The Road Again

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's and women's swimming teams will head to Wheaton, Ill. to compete in the two-day Wheation Invitational. The first session will begin on Friday with the preliminary round set to begin at 9:30 a.m. The day's finals will start at 6:30 p.m. Friday night. The second round of action will commence on Saturday with another preliminary round slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. with finals to finish off the day at 5:30 p.m.

The Panther divers will be taking to the road, but will be headed to even more familiar ground for UWM. They will head off to South Bend, Ind. for the Notre Dame Diving Invitational. Thursday night will kick off the competition with the three-day event to conclude on Saturday, December 6. The diving trials are set to start at 1:00 p.m. each day. The competition for the Panther swimmers and divers is the first since November 8.

Last Time Out - Men

The men came out of the UWM Quad meet with 1-1 record by defeating Evansville 172-122 and falling to UIC 158-141 on November 8. While the men may have finished 1-1 on the day, they had their shining moments. Michael Belting swam away with another victory in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:59.75. His time was 20 seconds better than the second-place competitor. Senior captain Josh Baseheart came away with three victories by winning the 200, 100 50-yard freestyle events. Perhaps the most exciting race for the men came during the 100-yard butterfly. UWM sophomore Rob Vergeer was swimming stroke-for-stroke with Casey Morford of Evansville during the event. With teammates cheering and fans watching steadily, Vergeer pulled out the race for the victory with a finishing time of 52.03. Morford finished just behind with a time of 52.11. Belting, Baseheart and Vergeer would later team up with Tim Watt to take the victory in the men's 400-yard freestyle relay. The men also received a strong diving performance from Jeff Jasinowksi and Corey Kupfer. Jasinowski finished 1st in the 3-meter diving and 2nd in the 1-meter. Kupfer claimed 3rd in the 3-meter and 4th in the 1-meter.

Last Time Out - Women

The women turned in a 3-0 performanceat the UWM Quad meet by defeating Evansville 186-107, Illinois-Chicago 190-109 and attaining the third with a 195-104 victory over Northern Iowa. The women had an array of excellent performances throughout the afternoon. Besides winning the 400-yard medley, the women saw contributions from Heather Sawatzki, Sarah and Lindsay Caldwell, Emily Holcomb and Bridget Fargen. Sawatzki snagged herself two first-place finishes with victories coming the in 200 butterfly with a time of 2:13.44 and in the 100 butterfly with a finishing time of 1:00.76. Consistent performances are starting to be synonymous with the Caldwell sisters, Lindsay and Sarah. Lindsay Caldwell swam away with two wins on the day. Her wins came in the 50 freestyle (24.44) and 100 freestyle (53.21). Her sister Sarah added second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:09.71. Also finishing high on the list of performers was Bridget Fargen. Fargen finished second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.23. The women also got help from Crystal Szymanski and Hannah Burgard in the diving department. Szymanski won the women's 1-meter competition while Burgard placed 2nd and came away with the victory in the women's 3-meter.

Top Performers

Senior Jen Kedinger and Junior Michael Belting were both recognized as Top Performers for the Horizon League for the week of November 4. Kedinger recorded wins in the 500 and 1000 freestyle and was a member of the UWM "B" relay that placed third in the 400 Freestyle relay. Michael Belting mirrored Kedinger's performance by scoring wins in the 500 and 1000 freestyle for the men's team. Belting finished his night off by leading the 400-yard Freestyle relay team to a first place finish.

Making a Big First Impression

Lindsay Caldwell, a freshman sprinter from West Bend, Wisconsin, has been making a big first impression on head coach Dave Clark. Caldwell has already set a school record in the 200 free relay by swimming the first leg with an individual time of 24.39 at Notre Dame. She also added a first place finish in the 50 freestyle on Friday, October 24 against Northwestern with a time of 24.59.

"Lindsay has taken everyone by storm," head coach Dave Clark stated. "She has lost very few individual races. She races like a seasoned veteran and isn't afraid of anyone." The Award Goes To

Senior swimmer Josh Baseheart was named the Horizon League Athlete of the Week for the week of October 26. The Panther senior grabbed a trio of top three finishes last week in the Northwestern Dual meet (10/24) and Relay meet (10/26). Baseheart siezed a first place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (21.19), and second in the 100 freestyle (46.38), and grabbed second place finish on the Panthers' 200 medley relay team (1:36.59). This is the fourth time that Baseheart has won the award during his collegiate career.

MVP ... MVP

Senior Josh Baseheart is back to lead the Panthers in 2003 after being named the men's swimming and diving team most valuable performer last year. Baseheart had one of the best individual seasons in school history this year, as he met three NCAA B Cut times, one each in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, two individual school records, and was a member of two record-setting relay teams. In addition, he won the 50 and 200 freestyle and was second in the 100 freestyle at the Horizon League Championships and was named Horizon League Performer of the Year. Senior Sarah Valley returns to lead the women this season after being named the team's MVP last year. Valley finished sixth in the women's mile at the league championships, and set a record in the 1000 freestyle in the process. Valley also finished seventh in the 200 and 500 freestyle at the league meet. Her record in the 1000 freestyle was later broken at the championship meet by now-senior Jen Kedinger. Those two seniors lead a group of 10 seniors for an experienced Panther women's team.

Diving In

Jeff Jasinowski won the Diver of the Year award after finishing seventh on both 1m and 3m at the league championships, despite missing a good portion of the season due to injury. He is back to lead a strong group of divers in 2003-04. Hannah Burgard was named Diver of the Year for the women after picking up a pair of top-three finishes at the league championships. Burgard was third on 1m and second on 3m, the highest finishes by a Panther diver at the meet.

Last Year At The Championships

The UWM men finished fourth at last year's Horizon League Championships in Cleveland, while the UWM women claimed a 3rd-place finish. At the championships, five school records, two freshman records and one Horizon League record were set by the Panthers. The Panthers lose just seven seniors from the two squads that competed at the championships a year ago.

Smart Kids

Three Panthers were named Academic All-District last season by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Peter Clark, who completed his eligibility last season, was joined by senior Josh Baseheart and Sarah Caldwell on the team. The only other Panther recognized with this distinction is now-assistant coach Heather Czappa, who was academic all-district in 1999.

Academics Are A Team Effort

The UWM men's and women's swimming and diving teams were named Academic All-American by the College Swim Coaches Association of America this past spring. This marks the 29th-consecutive semester the women's team has made the list, while the men's team made the list for the fourth-straight semester. The women's team finished the spring semester with a cumulative grade point average of 3.021, placing them 60th in Division I. UIC and Wright State also made the list out of the Horizon League. The men's team tied with Alabama for 15th among all Division I schools, posting a grade point average of 3.083.