Feb. 26, 2004

Results

CHICAGO, Ill. - Thursday night's finals of the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championship concluded and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers swimming and diving team have made some strides in the standings. The Panther women moved themselves from third place to second in the team standings (277.50 pts.) while the Panther men stand steady in fourth-place (208 pts.). Wright State's women (304 pts.) currently hold first-place along with their men's team (306 pts.).

The women divers for UWM kicked off the night's session with strong performances off the 1-meter board. Becky Rubel (232.30) was the highest Panther finisher by tying for third-place. Hannah Burgard (231.60) finished fifth, while Crystal Szymanski (226.65) and Erin Blemberg (222,35) placed sixth and seventh. The Panther women divers accounted for 64.5 team points for the day.

"The women divers did a really good job today on the one-meter board," diving coach Todd Hill said. "I'm proud of the way they stayed strong in a competition where one bad dive could really knock you down. They stayed with it and it's really great to see."

The Panther men's divers returned for the 3-meter diving finals during the evening session and made every dive count. Sophomore Jeff Jasinowski placed the highest for the men by bumping up from fourth to place third overall (439.20). Corey Kupfer (365.65) and Joel Mauer (360.15) placed seventh and eighth. The Panther men divers accounted for 42 team points for the day.

"The guys did a fantastic job tonight," Hill said. "Jeff Jasinowski came out and had a performance that was just outstanding. I'm ecstatic at the way Jeff and the rest of the guys came out and performed in the finals."

For the swimmers, Jen Kedinger returned for the finals of the 500-yard freestyle to place third (5:06.49). Emily Holcomb placed first (5:12.83) in the consolation bracket for the Panther women. On the men's side of the event Michael Belting came on strong with a second-place finish (4:33.91).

In the 200-yard individual medley, Kari Kinney placed seventh (2:11.65) in the finals bracket while Heather Sawatski placed second (2:11.99) in the consolation bracket. Kyle Fyock, who qualified for the consolation bracket in the men's 200 IM finished third (1:55.63).

Closing out the evening session, Lindsay Caldwell placed second in the women's 50-yard freestyle (24.11). Freshman Bridget Fargen placed second (25.01) in the consolation bracket. For the men, Josh Baseheart claimed third-place (20.94) in the 50-yard freestyle finals, while Adam Steffes claimed first-place (21.45) in the consolation bracket of the event. The women's 400-yard medley relay (Julie Olson, Lindsay Caldwell, Heather Sawatzki and Bridget Fargen), placed third (3:54.50) while the men's relay team placed fifth.

"There's still plenty of swimming to happen," Panther head coach Dave Clark said. "Our women moved up in the standings while the men stayed where they are despite a few uneven performances. It should still turn out to be an exciting final two days." The championships will start back up on Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. with the women's 400-yard individual medley to lead things off.