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UWM Women Head Back To Indiana Again This Weekend

Team will participate in Doug Coers Invitational

Nov. 14, 2006

After improving its dual win streak to five-consecutive last week, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team will return to the state of Indiana again this weekend, joining two other teams at the Third Annual Doug Coers Invitational on the campus of Ball State Friday and Saturday in Muncie, Ind.

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SCOUTING THE MEET:
The Doug Coers Invitational is named after the late Doug Coers - a four-year swimmer at Ball State University from 1986-1989. Joining Milwaukee at the event is host Ball State and IUPUI. After taking third place the inaugural year of the event, and then second place last year, UWM looks to go one better this season.

The Ball State women have won three of their past four duals, getting past Bowling Green (190-110 Nov. 11), Akron (184-116 Oct. 28) and Buffalo (155-80 Oct. 27). Top performers for the Cardinals include Emily Hurst in the breaststroke and diver Katie Boyle, who recorded a first and second place finish in her last meet.

The IUPUI women are coming off their first dual win of the season, a 125-101 defeat of Centre Nov. 11. That followed a triple-dual Nov. 10 that saw the Mustangs fall to UW-Green Bay, Evansville and Xavier. They are 1-4 on the year and led by Emily More (Breaststroke), Amy Rowe (Sprints) and Sara Smith (Mid-distance).

LAST YEAR:
Lindsay Caldwell won three events to earn Swimmer of the Meet honors at the Doug Coers Invitational in helping the team to a second-place finish out of five teams at the Lewellen Aquatics Center. Host Ball State won the event with 935 points, outdistancing the Panthers second-place effort of 531 points. Baldwin-Wallace finished third with 192, IUPUI fourth at 184 and Valparaiso last with 141 points.

Caldwell won the 50 freestyle in a time of 24.25, the 100 freestyle in 52.71 and the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:06.35. Molly Finn also helped out, taking second in the 200 IM (2:12.17) and 400 IM (4:40.08) before winning the 200 butterfly. Erin Blemberg won both of the diving events on the weekend.

LAST TIME IN THE POOL:
The Panthers won 11 of 12 events in cruising to a 161-56 victory over Valparaiso on the road this past Saturday. The Panthers got touched-out by the Crusaders in the final event of the night in narrowly missing the sweep. The last relay came down to the narrowest of margins, with Valpo touching the wall in 1:40.78, just ahead of the Panther's 1:40.99.

Junior Jess Kelly was the only double-winner for the Panthers, recording victories in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.59 and the 100 freestyle in 55.15. In the 100, she led a 1-2-3 finish for Milwaukee, with junior Heidi Goetsch second (55.81) and freshman Megan Skiba (56.34) third.

Skiba had a victory of her own, leading the way in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:09.94. Her freshman teammates also contributed to the effort, with Alex Nelson winning the 1000 freestyle in a time of 10:54.76, Shannon Berndt the 200 IM in 2:14.91 and Jenny Westfall the 500 freestyle in 5:17.97.

Other winners for UWM included senior Lindsay Caldwell in the 200 freestyle, senior Emily Duesler in one-meter diving, junior Briana Fergusson in the 100 butterfly and the 200 medley relay team of Finn, Berndt, Fergusson and Goetsch.

Then, on Sunday, seniors Lindsay Caldwell and Emily Duesler, sophomore Molly Finn and freshmen Shannon Berndt and Alexandra Nelson all recorded multiple wins to help the team breeze to wins against both Butler and UIC. The Panthers routed the host Bulldogs, 223-63, and also topped UIC, 201-85. Caldwell and Finn each won three events, while Duesler, Finn, Berndt and Nelson recorded two wins each on the day.

STREAKING PANTHERS:
After starting the 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:
The team is being led by hot starts from key returners. Senior Lindsay Caldwell has won eight times in 12 races this season, and has not lost a race since the season-opening double-dual versus Iowa and Wisconsin. Sophomore Molly Finn has also been impressive, winning eight of 10 races on the season - and has also not lost since falling to Iowa/Wisconsin. Junior Jess Kelly is not far behind, claiming six top-three finishes - including four wins - on the year. It's not just the swimmers, as senior Emily Duesler has recorded six victories in nine tries on the season.

AND THEN THE ROOKIES:
The newcomers have arrived for UWM, with freshmen Shannon Berndt (four individual victories), Alex Nelson (2), Megan Skiba (3) and Jenny Westfall (1) all recording wins already this season. Berndt has excelled quickly in the breaststroke events, Nelson in distance, Skiba in the backstroke and Westfall in distance events as well.

ON TAP:
The women's team will have a week off before they split up at the start of December. The divers will head to the Notre Dame Diving Invitational while the swimmers compete at the Wheaton Invitational.