UWM Women Claim Three Titles At League ChampionshipsFeb. 23, 2006
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team won championships in the 400 medley relay, the 50 freestyle and one-meter diving at the Horizon League Championships on Thursday, the second day of the event. That keeps them in third place with 275 points, just eight points out of second. Milwaukee placed 11 athletes in the finals of four events, ending day two eight points behind UW-Green Bay (283), while Wright State leads the way at the halfway point with 324.50 points. "What can you say?" head coach Dave Clark said. "You finish second in the IM, you win the 50, you go one-two in diving and you win the relay. I am speechless." One of the biggest highlights of the night was the 400 medley relay, where the team of senior Julie Olson, junior Lindsay Caldwell, freshman Molly Finn and sophomore Jess Kelly broke the Horizon League record in a time of 3:51.09, topping the 3:51.11 that the Phoenix finished in by the slimmest of margins. The time also broke the pool and school records, topping Green Bay's pool-record time of 3:51.48 set in 2003 and the league standard of 3:51.26 set in 2004. The UWM record was set last year at 3:51.93 by Olson, Caldwell, sophomore Kristin Skiba and junior Heather Sawatzki. "That was just an absolutely awesome swim by those four ladies," Clark said. "Top-to-bottom, they did exactly what they needed to do. It was an amazingly tough swim by Jess Kelly on the anchor ... just tremendous." The Panthers took three of the top four places in diving, with senior Erin Blemberg earning the championship with the victory on the one-meter board, up a spot from last year's second-place finish. She totaled an NCAA Zone qualifying score of 280.80 points, topping junior teammate Emily Duesler who earned All-Horizon League second-team honors on the strength of 253.90 points. Junior Crystal Szymanski rounded out the Milwaukee divers in the finals with a fourth-place effort, recording 246.75 points - less than one point behind third-place finisher Sarah Economides of UIC (247.10).
"You couldn't ask for much more than that," UWM diving coach Todd Hill said. "I am proud of the way the girls dove in the finals. Erin Blemberg dove like a champion tonight." Caldwell led the 50 freestyle the entire way, winning a league title in the event for a second-straight year. She placed first in a time of 23.64, with teammate Kelly taking sixth with a season-best time of 24.47. In the consolation heat, Skiba placed 10th in 24.78. In the 500 freestyle, the Panthers sent three swimmers to the finals. Sophomore Emma McKeith took eighth place in the championship heat, touching the wall in a time of 5:10.45. In the consolation heat, junior Susan Harmsen placed 13th in a time of 5:14.91 and junior Bridget Fargen was 15th in 5:15.44. Freshman Molly Finn broke her own school record (2:07.43) in the 200 IM, finishing second in a time of 2:07.30. Finn led late in the race, falling to UW-Green Bay's Danielle DeGrand (2:06.44) by less then a second. Sawatzki took eighth in a time of 2:14.89. Day three of the league championships gets underway with preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. and finals scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium. |
