Wisconsin-Milwaukee Cruises Over Grand Valley State

ALLENDALE, Michigan, October 19. FRESHMAN Kelsey Abbas and junior Emily McClellan each won a pair of individual events and also combined on a relay to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team to 142-100 win over Grand Valley State at the Fieldhouse Pool Friday evening in Allendale, Mich.

Milwaukee won the first three events and 10 of the 13 events on the day en route to the team's first win of the season.

“The theme of the day was freshmen winning their first-ever events,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “I was really excited to see them get those positive results. Grand Valley State swam well and gave us a good fight, but we stayed calm and did well throughout. Everything is coming along and we had a lot of freshmen + sophomores win. We're going to keep working and we're going to keep getting faster and faster because our opponents are going to keep getting faster. Tonight was a good win, but we need to build on this going forward.”

Abbas had a strong showing in just her second collegiate meet. She won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.14, just edging out sophomore teammate Anna Yontz (1:58.36). She also was the top swimmer in the 200 backstroke after touching the wall first at 2:09.16.

McClellan continued her fast start to the season, winning the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:18.88, over 10 seconds in front of the next finisher. The junior also dominated the field in the 200 IM, winning the event in 2 minutes, 9.66 seconds.

McClellan also teamed up with Becky Yokosh, Mary Kuyvenhoven and Sierra Townsend to win the 400 medley relay in the meet's opening event with a time of 3:56.56, over five seconds in front of the second-place team.

Abbas later swam with Townsend, Yokosh and Yontz to convincingly win the 400 freestyle relay in the final swim of the night.

Maggi Beck grabbed her first win of the season, touching the wall first in the 1000 free in 10:59.91. Townsend also was a winning, grabbing the top spot in the 100 free with a time of 53.98 seconds. Yontz was also a winner in the 500 free, finishing in 5:22.15 to win the event.

In diving, freshman Rachel Margis continued her strong start to her collegiate career. Margis won the three-meter board and took third on the one-meter with a score of 252.37.

Up next for Milwaukee, the Panthers have their home opener when they take on conference-foe Wright State next Friday, Oct. 26 at 5 p.m.

Three freshmen won their events, sophomore Lee Anderson won both boards and Nathan Welchlin also posted a pair of wins as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team swam to a 153-89 win over Grand Valley State at the Fieldhouse Pool Friday evening in Allendale, Mich.

The Panthers lost the opening relay of the day but took 10 of the next twelve events and recorded a pool record on their way to their first win of the season.

“The theme of the day was freshmen winning their first-ever events,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “I was really excited to see them get those positive results. Grand Valley State jumped on us quick by winning the opening relay, but we stayed calm and did well to come back. Everything is coming along and we had a lot of freshmen + sophomores win. We're going to keep working and we're going to keep getting faster and faster because our opponents are going to keep getting faster. Tonight was a good win, but we need to build on this going forward.”

Anderson broke the pool record and recorded an NCAA Zone score by winning the three-meter board with an impressive score of 325.13. Freshman Andres Villa took second with 250.50 points and sophomore Andy LaFleur was third at 243.45. Anderson also won the one-meter, followed closely by LaFleur and Villa.

Freshman Nic Halverson notched his first-ever collegiate victories, just edging out brother Tim Halverson in the 500 freestyle with a winning time of 4:45.45. Tim was second in 4:47.52.

Nic also took first in the 1000 freestyle, touching the wall in 9:45.85. Sophomore Kenny Stelpflug took second with a time of 9:50.74.

Welchlin continued his fast start to the season, winning the 50 free for the second-straight week with a time of 21.23. Freshman Tanner Nimke also had an impressive time in the event, taking third in 22.78.

Welchlin's second win came in the 100 free, where he finished with a time of 46.40, over one and a half seconds in front of second place.

Freshman J.J. Melville also recorded the first win of his collegiate career, taking the top spot in the 200 breaststroke at 2:14.72.

Other winners on the night for Milwaukee included Mike Brady (1:44.51) in the 200 free, Ryan Finke (1:59.09) in the 200 fly and the 400 free relay team (3:07.78) made up of Welchlin, Brady, Sam Niesen, and Erik Wahlgren.

Up next for Milwaukee, the Panthers have their home opener when they take on conference-foe Wright State next Friday, Oct. 26 at 5 p.m.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use