Panthers Take Third, Win Three Awards At League Championships
Feb. 27, 2005
BROWN DEER, Wis. - Sophomore Lindsay Caldwell won the 100 freestyle with a league-record time, and swam with the league champion 400 free relay to lead the Universty of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming and diving team on the final day of the 2005 Horizon League Championships Saturday evening in Brown Deer, Wis. Caldwell was named the Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet, while junior Erin Blemberg earned Diver of the Meet honors and Todd Hill was named Diving Coach of the Year. The Panthers notched 700 points for third place in the seven-team field, while UW-Green Bay won the league championship with 817 points. Wright State took second, just 35 points ahead of UWM with 735. Caldwell touched the wall in the 100 free in 51.08 for her third league championship and league record of the meet. In addition to being the only woman to win three events at this year's championships, she swam with a pair of first-place relays. In total, she finished with school and league records in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 breaststroke, while achieving school records with four relays. Freshman Jessica Kelly in 10th with a time of 53.57, sophomore Bridget Fargen in 11th with a time of 53.66 and freshman Heidi Goetsch in 15th with a time of 54.78 all competed in the consolation heat of the 100 free. Kelly and Fargen, along with sophomore Heather Sawatzki, joined Caldwell in winning the league title in the 400 free relay with a school-record mark of 3:30.51. The quartet edged UW-Green Bay by 0.36 seconds, while falling just 0.40 seconds short of the league mark. Blemberg, who won the three-meter diving crown on Thursday, took second in the one-meter event on her way to Diver of the Meet honors. She tallied 258.70 points, while sophomore Crystal Szymanski placed third with a score of 244.35. Sophomore Emily Duesler gave Milwaukee three finalists, as she took seventh in 210.65.
In the 1650 freestyle, freshman Emma McKeith paced four scorers for the Panthers with her second school, and third freshman, record of the meet. McKeith, who set the school mark in the 1000 free on Wednesday and freshman standard in the 500 free on Thursday, touched the wall in 17:36.10 for third place. Sophomore Susan Harmsen took seventh in 17:52.82, while senior Cathy Honeyager took ninth in 17:56.57 and freshman Michal Hawker completed the event in 18:16.91 for 11th. UWM benefited from four finalists in the 200 butterfly, as Sawatzki and sophomore Breanna Ballweg swam in the championship heat and freshmen Kaite Caucutt and Briana Fergusson qualified for the consolation heat. Sawatzki placed third, as she touched the wall in 2:09.95, while Ballweg was sixth with her time of 2:13.47. In the second heat, Caucutt finished 10th overall in 2:14.60 and Fergusson was 11th in 2:15.93. The finals of the 200 backstroke featured four UWM swimmers, all competing in the championship heat. Junior Patricia Frank finished fifth in 2:06.57, ahead of junior Julie Olson in sixth with a time of 2:06.82. Another junior, Emily Holcomb placed eighth, completing the event in 2:09.68. A league Diver of the Year for the Panther men in both 1999 and 2000, Hill earned the League's second annual Diving Coach of the Year honor. UWM placed six divers in the finals of the two events, while taking the top two spots from the three-meter board and two of the top three in the one-meter event.
Team Scores
Swimmer of the Meet -- Lindsay Caldwell, UWM |
