Jan. 23, 2004

Results

MILWAUKEE - Returning home to host a meet for the first time since November 8, 2003, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men and women's swimming and diving team poised themselves for a strong showing in their home pool. Hosting the eighth annual Bill Ritter Memorial Invitational, the Panther men and women ended the first day of competition both in second-place and both barely outside of the lead. Currently the Panther women have 275 team points and the men have 263 points. UW-Green Bay leads on the women's side with 280 points while Illinois-Chicago leads the men's competition with 267 points. However, steady finishes have the Panther men and women ready to enter Saturday with their eyes on the top spot.

The Panther women claimed two victories on the day with freshman Lindsay Caldwell winning the 50-yard freestyle event with a time of 24.61 and senior Jen Kedinger winning the 500-meter freestyle with a time of 5:12.84. The Panthers used the victories and a steady dose of high finishes to put themselves just outside of first-place. UWM achieved 14 top-10 finishes on the day and were led by many contributors.

The women started the first session of the two-day event by placing third in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The group of Heather Sawatzki, Bridget Fargen, Samantha Skorlinski and Caldwell got the ball rolling by placing third in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:41.63. Emily Holcomb was a part of the seventh-place relay team, but swam the third fastest lead off time of the day (25.94). While Kedinger won the 500-freestyle, seniors Amanda Schmitt and Sarah Valley finished sixth and ninth while Sawatzki, Kari Kinney, Sarah Caldwell, Danielle Bradley and Patricia Frank all claimed top-10 finishes in the 200-yard individual medley. Sawatzki, Kinney, Sarah Caldwell and Bradley finished fourth through seventh-place while Bradley claimed ninth. To add to the mix, freshman Bridget Fargen finished eighth in the 50-yard freestyle and UWM's 400-yard medley relay team, consisting of Holcomb, Lindsay Caldwell, Kinney and Fargen, closed out the day by swimming to a second-place finish with a time of 4:01.55. The Panther's also added a fifth-place finish in the event.

Following suit, the Panther men claimed two victories on the day and 13 top-10 finishes. Junior Michael Belting, not only claimed a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle, but his time of 4:39.32 broke a Klotsche Center Pool record time of 4:41.01 set in 2001 by Northwestern's Mark Hamming. Senior Josh Baseheart was his consistent self and claimed the victory in the 50-yard freestyle with a winning time of 21.27.

Keeping along the lines of high finishes, the men had outstanding performances by many individuals. Sophomore Kyle Fyock's swam the second fastest lead off time (22.09) in the 200-yard freestyle relay and lead UWM to a third-place finish while the Panthers second relay team claimed sixth. While Michael Belting was swimming his way to a new pool record in the 500-yard freestyle, freshmen Dana Elzea and Karl Winderl were aiming for team points with their fifth and seventh-place finishes. Ryan Frohmader laid claim to a third-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley and Fyock added a fifth-place finish. Rounding out the day for the men, Adam Steffes and John Batty placed eighth and ninth in the 50-yard freestyle and UWM's 400-yard medley relay team captured third-place with a time of 3:34.56.

"Today was pretty exciting," Panther head coach Dave Clark said. "Ending the day with both teams being within five points of first-place is really encouraging. It sets the table nicely for an exciting last day."

The Bill Ritter Memorial Invitational will resume Saturday, Jan. 24 at 9:30 a.m. at the Klotsche Center Pool and will with the final session with the final session set to start at 3:30 p.m.