Milwaukee Women Return To Action With Win Over Western Illinois
Jan. 26, 2008
MACOMB, Ill. - Junior Molly Finn and freshman Lauren Roy of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving each won two events to lead a balanced team effort on Saturday. The Panthers extended their dual win streak over Western Illinois to six with a 149-83 victory in their first action in seven weeks. Milwaukee won 11 events overall, with five other swimmers winning individual events and both relay teams posting victories. "The main focus for today was to get back in the pool and compete," UWM head coach Dave Griffore said. "It's nice to be back to racing after more than a month off." Finn won the 200 IM in a time of 2:12.53 and also posted a victory in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall in a time of 2:10.00. Roy recorded the first two victories of her collegiate career, winning both boards with totals of 211.65 points in the one-meter event and 240.45 in the three-meter. "Lauren dove well," Griffore said. "Actually, all of our freshmen did well. This was a great opportunity for them to compete. We didn't want to get too caught up in times but wanted to win races. I was pleased to see us do that." Adding to the list of winners was senior Jess Kelly, sophomores Kerry Rossow and Jenny Westfall and freshmen Ellie Gross and Danielle Wenger.
Kelly topped the field in the 50 freestyle, touching out senior teammate Heidi Goetsch for the win. Kelly finished in 25.54, Goetsch in 25.72. Kelly also contributed in the 100 freestyle, taking third in 55.02. Westfall won the 1,000 freestyle in a season-best time of 10:41.71, nearly nine seconds better than her previous best of 10:50.62. Gross won the 200 freestyle in 1:57.15, with Wenger just behind in third place with a time of 1:58.06. Rossow won the 200 breaststroke in 2:26.17 and Wenger the 500 freestyle in 5:14.71. Both relay teams took first, with Wenger, Rossow, freshman Amanda Nelson and Goetsch opening the meet with a victory on the 400 medley relay in 4:01.25. Junior Kristina Hansen, Gross, Finn and Kelly then closed out the action, winning the 400 free relay in a time of 3:39.36. Milwaukee will be home for its final dual of the regular season, hosting UW-Green Bay next Saturday, Feb. 2. With league championships up after that, the Panthers and Phoenix will have an early battle for bragging rights, starting at 1 p.m. at the Klotsche Natatorium. "We are coming off our hardest training of the year and getting ready for the league championships," Griffore said. "It will be good for us to face a team like Green Bay to close out the season." |
