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Milwaukee Women Set To Host 16th Bill Ritter Invitational

Panthers have won three titles in past four years

Jan. 16, 2007

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team returns to action this weekend, hosting the 16th Bill Ritter Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Panthers are at home for the first time since Oct. 27, with action getting underway at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

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SCOUTING THE MEET:
Milwaukee looks to keep its stranglehold on the Ritter title, having won the invitational three times in the past four seasons. It welcomes back Green Bay, UIC and Illinois State to the event for the sixth-straight season.

To win again, UWM will have to get past UW-Green Bay, which will enter with a 9-1 (4-0 Horizon) dual record, not having lost since dropping the season opener to Wisconsin Oct. 6. Molly Cox (freestyle) and Danielle DeGrand (IM/back) are just two of the Phoenix potent attack.

UIC (2-5) has lost its past three duals since starting the year 2-0. The Flames most recent outing was a 168-75 loss to UWGB, but did see Andrea Giczewski break the school mark in the 100 free. Sarah Economides leads the divers.

Illinois State is 2-1 in dual meets, falling to Ball State, 190-110, in its last outing Jan. 15. Tracy Deyell (fly) and Kyle Pullman (sprints) play key roles for ISU.

IN THE POLLS:
UWM keeps rising in the polls, as they have broken into the Top 10 in the most recent NCAA Division I mid-major collegeswimming.com poll. After starting the year at No. 10, the Panthers now sit at No. 8 with 169.18 points. Navy is first with 179.02, while weekend foe Illinois State checks in at #16.

RITTER INVITATIONAL HISTORY:
Milwaukee has seen great success at the event, winning championships in 10 of the 15 years it has been held. It regained the crown last year, as UW-Green Bay had ended UWM's two-year hold on the trophy with the victory in 2005. UWM also had a five-year stretch of championships get snapped in 2002.

LAST YEAR:
The team ended the day where it started, claiming the championship in the 15th Annual Bill Ritter Invitational. It scored 985.5 points to edge UW-Green Bay's total of 971.5. Illinois State placed third (878) and UIC fourth (620) to round out the field.

The Panthers took a slim 14-point lead into the final event of the day, the 1650 freestyle. With Emily Holcomb placing third (18:00.92) and four others in the top 12, UWM held on to claim their 10th title in the 15 years of the event.

The Panthers claimed victories in five other races and the 400 freestyle relay to earn the championship.

Lindsay Caldwell and Molly Finn came through with two victories each, while Julie Olson also contributed with a first-place effort as well.

JUST CALL IT THE UWM AWARD:
Senior Emily Duesler and sophomore Molly Finn earned a pair of weekly Horizon League honors Dec. 6. Duesler was named Diver of the Week and Finn repeated as the Swimmer of the Week to give Milwaukee the sweep. This marks the fourth career diver of the week award for Duesler, earning the honor twice earlier this year (Nov. 14 and Oct. 24) and once last season. It's already the fifth of Finn's career, as she won last week and Oct. 31 in addition to earning two as a freshman.

Duesler was the top finisher for the UWM women at the Miami (OH) Invitational. She took second place on both boards, nearly getting a victory in the one-meter event. On the one, her score of 251.75 was just behind the winning tally of 253.25 and her score on the three-meter was 268.25 points.

Finn played a key role in the Panthers repeat at the Wheaton Invitational, winning all three of her individual events. She won the 200 butterfly (2:07.26), the 200 IM (2:08.57) and the 400 IM (4:33.75) and swam them all in season-best times. In addition, she was on the 400 medley relay team that took first, the 400 and 800 free relay teams that took third and the 200 medley relay team that placed fifth.

The league honors are the seventh and eighth of the season for the UWM women. They have won a league-best eight times out of the 14 awards handed out so far this season and have swept the weekly accolades on three occasions. Senior Lindsay Caldwell (Swimmer of the Week Oct. 18 and Nov. 14) has also won in addition to the other times that Duesler and Finn have been chosen earlier this fall.

LAST TIME IN THE POOL:
UWM won the Wheaton Invitational Dec. 3. The win was the second-straight for the Panthers and the third in four years at the event. They 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. 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 nearly 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.

STREAKING PANTHERS:
After starting the dual season 0-2 with losses to Big Ten foes Iowa and Wisconsin, the Panthers have been on a serious roll. The squad topped Wright State for its first dual win Oct. 20 and have not lost since - defeating Wheaton, Valparaiso, Butler and UIC in that stretch. The last time UWM won five straight was during the 2003-04 season.

FIRST THE VETS:
With the first half of the season in the books, the team is being led by key returners. Senior Lindsay Caldwell has won 15 times in 21 races this season, and went over a month (Oct. 13 to Nov. 18) without losing a race - a streak of 10-consecutive. Sophomore Molly Finn has also been impressive, winning 12 of 19 races on the season - and also had that same winning streak that Caldwell did (Oct. 13 to Nov. 17). Junior Jess Kelly is not far behind, claiming seven top-three finishes - including four wins - on the year. It's not just the swimmers, as senior Emily Duesler has recorded seven victories (and four seconds) in 15 tries on the season.

Caldwell holds Horizon League top times in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free, while Finn is tops in the 200 IM and 200 fly. Duesler has the highest total on the three-meter board. Additionally, junior Emma McKeith has the top time in the 1650 free and all five UWM relay teams have the fastest times this year.

AND THEN THE ROOKIES:
The newcomers have also arrived for UWM, with freshmen Shannon Berndt (eight individual victories and the school freshman record in the 200 breaststroke), Alex Nelson (3), Megan Skiba (3) and Jenny Westfall (1) all recording wins already this season. Berndt has excelled in the breaststroke events, Nelson in distance, Skiba in the backstroke and Westfall in distance events as well.

Berndt has not only led Milwaukee, but has the best times in the league in both the 100 and 200 breast as well.

ON TAP:
The women will be home for the final time this season next week Saturday, taking on Western Illinois in non-conference action Jan. 27. The meet with the Westerwinds is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.