Jan. 21, 2005

Results

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Sophomore Lindsay Caldwell set a pool record in winning the 50 freestyle and the Panther diving corps tallied 125 points to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming and diving team to the first-day lead at its Bill Ritter Invitational, Friday evening at the Klotsche Center. UWM finished the day with 334.50 points to hold a slim lead over UW-Green Bay in second with 320.50.

"We had a few people really step up tonight," head coach Dave Clark said. "Lindsay Caldwell really stepped up as always and (Heather) Sawatzki's 200 IM time was one of her best ever."

In the 50 free, Caldwell took first place with a pool-record time of 24.06. Her time eclipsed the former Klotsche Center standard of 24.19 set by Northern Illinois' Sonja Casper in 1998.

Milwaukee dominated the diving events with its depth, placing four athletes among the top five of the one-meter event. Sophomore Crystal Szymanski led the way taking second with 227.85 points, ahead of junior Erin Blember in third with 226.45. Freshman Kayla Szymanski sat fourth with 218.45, while sophomore Emily Duesler took fifth with 216.75.

From the three-meter, it was Blemberg taking second with 393.90 points, as Crystal Szymanski placed third with 387.35 points over 11 dives. The younger Szymanski, Kayla, was seventh in the event with 353.40.

UWM also benefited from top-three finishes in each relay event to bookend the session. In the evening's first event, the Panthers placed third in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:40.00. They ended the night, taking second in the 400 medley relay, completing the distance in 4:01.99.

Sophomore Heather Sawatzki led the way in the 200 individual medley, tying for fourth with her time of 2:13.72. Senior Patricia Frank took eighth in 2:15.94. In the 500 free, sophomore Susan Harmsen edged teammate senior Cathy Honeyager for fifth place in 5:17.06. Honeyager was close behind in sixth with her time of 5:18.27.

Following the Horizon League's Panthers and Phoenix was Illinois State University in third with 316 points, another two League schools in the University of Illinois at Chicago with 276 and Butler University with 36. Marquette University's club team rounded out the field with 14 points.

"As a team, were are swimming as consistantly well as ever for this time of year," Clark said. "We have five weeks to go, I think we are right where we should be."

The Bill Ritter Invitational continues on Saturday (Jan. 22) with two sessions. Action gets underway at 9:30 a.m., with a second session following at 3:30 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.