UWM Women Run Away With Repeat At Wheaton InvitationalDec. 3, 2006
WHEATON, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming team won the Wheaton Invitational on Saturday. The win was the second-straight for the Panthers and the third in four years at the event. UWM ended the meet with 814.50 points, over 200 points ahead of runner-up Washington University (603). Rounding out the top five was UW-Stevens Points in third (563), Hope in fourth (548.5) and host Wheaton in fifth (518). The Panthers finished day two of the event as strongly as they started day one, getting individual wins from senior Lindsay Caldwell, sophomore Molly Finn and freshman Shannon Berndt. "This meet really showed us what these kids can achieve," UWM head coach Dave Griffore said. "We are glad that the first semester is over. It was stressful and tough - we were injured and we were sick, but we can use this to carry over into the second semester and start preparing for the Horizon League meets." Caldwell won the 50 freestyle in 23.56 before taking second in the 200 free by less than a second to Washington's Marian Hawk. Finn won her third event of the meet, recording a victory in the 400 IM in a season-best time of 4:33.75, knocking just about seven seconds off her previous-best this year. Berndt, who just missed a freshman record in the 100 breaststroke on Friday (her time was 1:06.41/record is 1:06.36), set a new freshman record in the 200 breast on Saturday when she won in a time of 2:22.94, taking almost three seconds off the old mark of 2:25.34, formerly held by Kristin Cefalu. Other top finishers for UWM included senior Heather Sawatzki and junior Emma McKeith. Sawatkzki took third in the 100 butterfly in 58.71, while McKeith also placed third in the 1650 free in 17:50.19. She led a strong contingent for the Panthers, with freshman Alex Nelson taking fourth and senior Susan Harmsen fifth.
After taking a 128-point lead on Friday, the Panthers cruised to the win. "It was nice to win both [the men also won the team title]," Griffore said. "We had a lot of career-best times which is good to see at a mid-season meet." The Panthers end the first semester on a high note, returning to the pool in mid-January when they host the Bill Ritter Invitational. |
