Nov. 20, 2004

Results

MUNCIE, Ind. - Sophomore Lindsay Caldwell won two events on the second day of the Doug Coers Invitational to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team to a third-place finish on Saturday in Muncie. Ball State University took top honors at its own meet, with Marshall University taking second.

"It's hard to get off the bus and compete hard," head coach Dave Clark said. "But that is what we did, going against two good (Mid-American Conference) schools. It was a great competition."

Named the meet's Outstanding Woman Peformer of the Meet, Caldwell was the top finisher in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. In the shorter event, she touched the wall in 1:06.44 for the win. Later on, Caldwell was victorious with her time of 2:25.74 in the 200 breast.

"Lindsay was named Outstanding Performer of the meet on the women's side," Clark said. "Certainly she is someone look to meet after meet for good performances. We have been able to count on her for them."

UWM scored 625.50 points to finish behind the Cardinals' 1159 points and 743 points from the Thundering Herd. Valparaiso University was fourth with 254, as Baldwin-Wallace College with 247.50 points and Butler University with 205 rounded out the field.

All three Panther relays posted third-place finishes, as Caldwell competed in a pair of the events. She was joined by junior Emily Holcomb, sophomore Bridget Fargen and freshman Briana Fergusson in the 200 medley to post a time of 1:52.68. In the 400 free relay, Caldwell, sophomore Heather Sawatzki and freshmen Heidi Goetsch and Kristin Skiba completed the event in 3:44.31. Sawatzki and Skiba teamed with freshmen Emma McKeith and Kaite Caucutt in the 800 free relay for a time of 8:09.12.

Milwaukee had an excellent showing in the diving events, placing six divers in the top eight of the three-meter event. Junior Erin Blemberg paced the squad with a second-place finish with 445.80 points. Sophomores Emily Duesler (417.00 points), Crystal Szymanski (369.25) and freshman Jenna Kotlarz (366.66) placed third through fifth, respectively. Freshman Megan McLoone took seventh with 358.00 points while Kayla Szymanski was eighth with 355.15.

"Our divers finished consistantly solid," Clark said. "We had six of the top eight divers in three-meter, and Erin got her zone cut again in the event. This time it was for 11 dives."

From the one-meter board, Crystal Szymanski led the way with a third-place finish and 235.35 points. Blemberg was fourth with 234.05 points, Kayla Szymanski was sixth with 208.50 and Duesler placed eighth with 203.75.

Holcomb was UWM's top finisher in both backstroke events, with a fifth-place finish in the 100 event in 1:02.55 and fourth in the 200 back event. Ahead of a pair of teammates among the top eight, Holcomb swam the 200 back in 2:14.72. Sophomore Katie Green was sixth in 2:20.08, with sophomore Jenille Junco was close behind in eighth at 2:20.49.

In her first collegiate 1650 freestyle event, McKeith swam to a fifth-place finish ahead of sophomore Susan Harmsen in seventh. McKeith posted a time of 18:14.49 as Harmsen was just 11 seconds back in 18:25.75.

A pair of underclassmen paced the Panthers in the freestyle and butterfly events on day two. Skiba swam to seventh-place finishes in the 100 free and 200 free with times of 55.28 and 2:00.92. In the 200 fly, Sawatzki posted a time of 2:15.23 to take seventh, after completing the 100 fly in 1:01.75 for seventh, ahead of Fergusson in eighth with a time of 1:03.03.

The Panthers have next weekend off before the divers head to the Notre Dame Invitational (Dec. 2-4) and the swimmers travel south to the Wheaton Invitational (Dec. 3-4) in Illinois.