Duesler's League Title Helps UWM's Cause At League ChampionshipsFeb. 21, 2007
CHICAGO, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team took the top two spots in the three-meter diving event and got a school-record performance from its 200 freestyle relay team to open the 2007 Horizon League Championships at the UIC Natatorium on Wednesday in Chicago, Ill. The Panthers sit in second place with 154.50 points. Only Wright State is ahead of them with 170.50. Two-time defending champ Green Bay is third with 139. "I feel like we had a very solid opening day," Milwaukee head coach Dave Griffore said. "It's always good to break school records and we had a lot of best times. I think we are right where we want to be after the first day." Seniors Emily Duesler and Crystal Szymanski placed first and second to earn All-Horizon League honors in the three-meter diving event. Duesler recorded 295.0 points in the finals to set a new career-high with another NCAA Zone qualifying score. Szymanski earned second team all-league honors for the third-straight season on the three-meter board, registering a season-high 279.0 points which was also an NCAA Zone qualifying tally. UWM went on to have four of the top nine in the event, as freshman Rachel Grimm was tied for seventh with 228.35 points and junior Megan McLoone placed ninth with 223.05. "For the two seniors to end the way they did was fantastic," UWM diving coach Todd Hill said. "And, after all the hard work that Emily (Duesler) has put in, it's great to see her win a conference championship." The 200 free relay team of senior Lindsay Caldwell, freshmen Megan Skiba and Jamilla Edwards and senior Jess Kelly that finished in 1:35.56 broke the school mark of 1:35.99 set last year, and actually broke what was the Horizon League record of 1:35.65 in the process. The hard part for the Panthers to swallow on this night was that they took third by .32 of a second. In a photo-finish, UIC touched the wall first in 1:35.24, followed by UW-Green Bay in 1:35.45.
Senior Susan Harmsen came within two seconds of the school record in the 1000 freestyle, finishing in 10:33.59 to eclipse her personal-best of 10:35.17 in the event in taking fourth overall. She missed third by four-hundredths of a second. Junior Emma McKeith swam a season-best 10:42.78, as did sophomore Kelsey McDonough in 10:48.70 to give UWM three of the top 10 in the event (McKeith was ninth; McDonough 10th). In the last event of the night, the 200 medley relay team of senior Katie Green, freshman Shannon Berndt, junior Briana Fergusson and Kelly just missed another win, taking second in a season-best 1:47.29. Green Bay won in a time of 1:46.17. Day two of the championships takes place Thursday, with preliminaries beginning at 10:30 a.m. and finals starting at 6 p.m. |
