Feb. 24, 2004
MILWAUKEE -
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HORIZON LEAGUE SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP
Host: University of Illinois-Chicago
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Start Date: Wednesday, Feb. 25 - Saturday, Feb. 28
Heading To The Windy City
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men and women's swimming and diving program will be heading down to Chicago, Ill. for the culmination of the 2003-04 swimming and diving season to compete at the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships.
This year's league championships will be hosted by the University of Illinois-Chicago at the UIC Natatorium. The four-day championship will kick off Wednesday, February 25 with the women's 1-meter diving competition set to start at 12 p.m. Events will wrap up on Saturday, February 28.
The Panther women will enter this year's meet with a dual record of 5-3, while the Panther men will come in with a dual record of 3-4.
"Dual records are important to us, but what it really comes down to is how you swim at the championships," Panther head coach Dave Clark said. "I really believe that anything can happen throughout this meet."
Last Year At The Championships
The UWM men finished fourth at last year's Horizon League Championships in Cleveland, while the UWM women claimed a 3rd-place finish. At the championships, five school records, two freshman records and one Horizon League record were set by the Panthers. The Panthers lose just seven seniors from the two squads that competed at the championships a year ago.
Looking For Repeats
Jeff Jasinowski won the Diver of the Year award after finishing seventh on both 1m and 3m at the league championships, despite missing a good portion of the season due to injury. He currently ranks third in the league's 3-meter diving (11 dives) and is seventh in the league on the 1-meter board (six dives).
Hannah Burgard was named Diver of the Year for the women after picking up a pair of top-three finishes at the league championships. Burgard was third on 1m and second on 3m, the highest finishes by a Panther diver at the meet. She ranks second in the league on the 3-meter board (six and 11 dives).
Defending His Title
Senior Josh Baseheart returned this season as the defending league champion in the 50 and 200-yard freestyle events. With the competition tight, Baseheart has a chance of winning being crowned champion in the 50, 100 and 200-yard freestyle events. If champions were to be crowned based on the league's top times list, Baseheart would win the 50 and 200 freestyle with his times of 20.61 and 1:40.95. However, that's not the case and Baseheart has himself with the second fastest time in the league in the 100-yard freestyle event (45.25) just behind Cleveland State's Warren Vickers (44.90).
Looking To The Top
Freshman Lindsay Caldwell, younger sister of Panther senior Sarah Caldwell, is looking to swim to the top of the league in her first season. Caldwell will enter the league championships seeded 1st in the 50-yard freestyle and 2nd in both the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke. Caldwell has already taken UWM by storm by setting multiple records by being a part of five new school records and breaking three UWM freshmen records.
Besides breaking the records, Caldwell also owns the time to beat for the league best in the 100-yard freestyle (52.66). She is currently second in the 50-yard freestyle (24.14) behind Cleveland State's Marianne Lionell (23.86) and is also second in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.51) behind Lionell (1:06.33).
Back In The Fold
Junior backstroker Julie Olson fell victim to the random illnesses that float throughout college students and hasn't been a part of competition since the early part of the new year. However, a month and a half of recovery time has placed the league's top backstroker back into the fold of things. Olson established new team records this year in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke and sits on top of the league with the best time in both events.
Clark Named To NCAA Swimming Committee
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee head swimming coach Dave Clark has been appointed to the NCAA Division I Men and Women's Swimming Committee. Clark's appointment marks the first time in UWM and Horizon League history that the head swimming coach has garnered this opportunity.
"This is a great chance for me to help the sport of swimming continue to grow," Clark said. "Being the first head swimming coach at UWM to get this appointment means a lot and I'm excited for the opportunity."
Clark's responsibilities for the committee will include promoting the sport of swimming and looking ways to continue its' growth. His appointment to the committee will begin September 1, 2004 and run through September 1, 2008.
Moving On Up
Some of the UWM Panther swimmers traveled down to Wheaton, Illinois to compete at the Midwest Classic (2/20-21) hosted by Wheaton College. Five of the Panther performers competing in the meet had such strong performances that they placed themselves onto the team top times list.
For the men, Matt Luba and newcomer Jason Schiessl added themselves to the team's top time list with their individual performances. Luba swam to a time of 17:40.39 in the mile to push himself into the fourth slot on the team list. Luba claimed second-place in the 400-yard IM and fifth in both the mile and 500-yard freestyle. Schiessl, the team's newest member, put himself into fourth on the team for the best 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:04.44. The Panther newcomer placed third in the 500 freestyle.
On the women's side Sam Skorlinski swam the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 25.82 to bump herself into third on the Panther women's top times list. Her time placed her fourth overall in the event at the meet. Skorlinski also placed third in the 100-yard freestyle.
Sam Skorlinksi swam to a time of 25.82 in the 50-yard freestyle event to place her 3rd on the Panther women's top time list. Jenille Junco swam to a first-place finish in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke. Junco's time of 2:14.57 pushed her into fourth on the team top times list. Rounding out the Panther performances was Crystal Betker. Betker recorded two season-best times in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke. Betker swam the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:12.80 and the 200 in a time of 2:38.17.
Smart Kids
Three Panthers were named Academic All-District last season by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Peter Clark, who completed his eligibility last season, was joined by senior Josh Baseheart and Sarah Caldwell on the team. The only other Panther recognized with this distinction is now-assistant coach Heather Czappa, who was academic all-district in 1999.
Academics Are A Team Effort
The UWM men's and women's swimming and diving teams were named Academic All-American by the College Swim Coaches Association of America this past spring. This marks the 29th-consecutive semester the women's team has made the list, while the men's team made the list for the fourth-straight semester. The women's team finished the spring semester with a cumulative grade point average of 3.021, placing them 60th in Division I. UIC and Wright State also made the list out of the Horizon League. The men's team tied with Alabama for 15th among all Division I schools, posting a grade point average of 3.083.
