Jan. 24, 2004

Complete Results

MILWAUKEE - Closing out the final session of the Bill Ritter Memorial Invitational, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men and women's swimmers knew that they would have to place high in every event to claim victories. The women used every resource necessary edge out UW-Green Bay for a two-point meet victory. The women tallied 974 points while UW-Green Bay scored 972 points. The Panther men finish in second with 1,003 points behind UW-Green Bay's 1,043 points.

The first-place Panther women relied on a total team effort to claim the victory in the final session of the meet. Freshman Lindsay Caldwell swam to another first-place victory, this time in the 100-yard freestyle event with a time of 53.69. Caldwell already had one win under her cap during the morning session when she won the 100-breaststroke in record-breaking fashion. Caldwell also team up with Heather Sawatzki, Bridget Fargen and Jen Kedinger to claim the victory in the 400-freestyle relay with a winning time of 3:38.01. Pushing the team over the top was a second and third-place finish in the mile by Jen Kedinger and Amanda Schmitt. Kedinger and Schmitt swam times of 18:03.67 and 18:03.92, respectively, to add 33 more team points to the Panthers' win.

Besides the performances by Caldwell, the Panthers also received a strong final session from Emily Holcomb, Patricia Frank, Sarah Caldwell, Danielle Bradley, Kari Kinney and Sawatzki. Holcomb and Frank placed third and fourth in the 200-yard backstroke with times of 2:11.95 and 2:13.28. Sarah Caldwell and Bradley added another set third and fourth-place finishes in the 200-yard breaststroke while Kinney and Sawatzki capped it all off their own third and fourth-place finishes in the 200-yard butterfly.

The men entered the evening session down 53 points, but gave their all to overcome it. Ryan Frohmader started the session with a victory in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:57.50. Frohmader used and needed every single stroke as he pulled out the victory on the final touch by .14. Justin O'Keefe followed Frohmader with a third-place finish in the event with a time of 1:59.72. From there, Josh Baseheart added a first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a winning time of 45.62. After Basehearts win, the Panther men were tied for the lead with 802 points. However, second-place finishes in the 200 breaststroke by Kyle Fyock and in the 400-yard freestyle relay weren't enough to propel the Panthers to a victory.

"This was an exciting meet and having it come down to the final event made it all the more exciting," Panther head coach Dave Clark. "It's a rarity that the meet comes down to what the milers will do, but it made for an exciting atmosphere. I was pleased with how both our teams finished the meet off."

The Panthers will return to action on Saturday, January 31 when they head to Macomb, Ill. for a dual meet against Western Illinois. The meet is set to begin at 2 p.m.