Wisconsin-Milwaukee Swimming and Diving Downs Wheaton

MILWAUKEE – The Wisconsin-Milwaukee swimming and diving teams won 15 events Friday night to sweep the Wheaton College Thunder at Klotsche Natatorium in Milwaukee. The men posted a 137-65 win and the women picked up a 134-71 victory.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Men’s Press Release

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s swimming and diving team won nine of the 11 events en route to a decisive 137-65 win over Wheaton College Friday evening from the Klotsche Natatorium.

Six different individuals all won at least one event to go with wins in both relay events as UWM grabbed its first win of the season.

“We’ve had some really solid opponents all season and Wheaton is no different,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “We’re coming along each week. We anticipated we would swim well tonight and winning was a byproduct of that. We’ve been starting to come around to consistently swimming fast as the season has gone on, making it a daily routine and when it becomes a routine like that, wins naturally start coming with that. We really started to see times drop this week in practice, starting back last week and we had a hunch this week was going to be a little bit quicker.”

Milwaukee set the tone right out of the gates with an opening win in the 200 medley relay. Evan Kuker, Teddy Stackman, Max Ward and Nick Menninga combined to win the opening relay in 1:35.46, nearly six seconds ahead of the second-place team.

Junior J.J. Melville had one of the largest time drops of the day, winning the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.36, nearly four seconds faster than his previous season best for his first win of the year. Senior Mic Boggio was second at 1:02.46, also a season best.

Erik Wahlgren grabbed his first win of the year. The junior topped the field in the 100 free with a time of 48.39 in a tight race, just touching out Wheaton’s top swimmer.

After four-straight runner-up finishes in the 50 free, senior Mike Lucchesi grabbed his first win of the year in the sprint event with a time of 21.69, over half a second ahead of the rest of the field.

Kenny Stelpflug led four Panthers in the 200 free. The senior posted a season-best time of 1:44.16 to lead the way. Menninga was second at 1:46.38, with Ryan Finke (1:48.33) and Tanner Nimke (1:48.73) right behind.

Tim Halverson posted a convincing win in the 1000 free. The junior touched the wall first at 9:50.58, with Wahlgren taking second at 10:04.34.

Nic Halverson posted a pair of wins on the night. The Kiel, Wis. native collected his first win of the night in the 400 IM in 4:16.73, just ahead of Joe Chokran (4:20.56). Then, in the 500 free, N. Halverson again won, this time in 4:53.84.

With the victory well in hand, the Panthers closed out the night with yet another win, this time in the 200 free relay. Ward, Kuker, Yevgeniy Foster and T. Halverson took first at 1:27.73.

Milwaukee will now have three weeks to prepare for its big mid-season meet – the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational Dec. 5-7 from Iowa City, Iowa.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Women’s Press Release

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s swimming and diving team claimed six wins on the day to claim a 134-71 victory over Wheaton College Friday evening from the Klotsche Natatorium.

It marks the third-straight win for UWM, all three in very convincing fashion to wrap up its three-meet home stand.

“We’ve had some really solid opponents all season and Wheaton is no different,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “They have one of the best swimmers in Division 3 on the women’s side. We’re coming along each week. We anticipated we would swim well tonight and winning was a byproduct of that. We’ve been starting to come around to consistently swimming fast as the season has gone on, making it a daily routine and when it becomes a routine like that, wins naturally start coming with that. We really started to see times drop this week in practice, starting back last week and we had a hunch this week was going to be a little bit quicker.”

UWM started the night with a thrilling win by a sophomore-filled 200 medley relay. Kiersten Seidel, Natalie Johnson, Kristin Zablocki and Emily Roche teamed up to claim the win in 1:50.38, edging Milwaukee’s ‘A’ team at 1:50.53.

Freshman Kady Ruemmele notched the first win of her collegiate career, taking the top spot in the 100 back at 1:00.71, a new season best.

Sami Stelpflug tallied a win in the 1000 free for Milwaukee, touching the wall in a season-best 10:46.60. Senior Kelly Theis was second at 10:59.84.

The Panthers took the top four spots in the 50 free. Senior Anna Yontz won the event for the third time this season in 24.26 seconds. Junior Hannah Lucas was second at 25.01, just ahead of Sierra Townsend (25.16) and Roche (25.46).

Maddy Nelson, primarily a backstroke specialist, claimed a win in the 500 free. In the first time competing in the event at the collegiate ranks, Nelson took first in 5:23.92, just ahead of classmate Maggie Burns at 5:24.64.

In the final relay of the night, UWM again grabbed the top spot. Sara Bentley, Roche, Lucas and Sarah Grieve teamed up for the win at 1:41.38.

Milwaukee also had a number of runner-up finishes on the night, including Natalie O’Connell (200 free), Leah Winckler (100 fly), Maggie LaMere (100 free) and Charli Wike (100 breast).

Milwaukee will now have three weeks to prepare for its big mid-season meet – the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational Dec. 5-7 from Iowa City, Iowa.

Wheaton Press Release

The Thunder men’s and women’s swimming teams dropped a dual meet at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Friday night. The Thunder women fell 134-71 while the Thunder men lost 137-65. Kirsty Nitz and Kayla Roberson each won two events to highlight the evening.

Kirsty Nitz won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:57.58 and the 100-yard butterfly in a blazing 56.83 seconds, over five seconds ahead of the field. Kayla Roberson won the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 54.42 seconds, over a second and a half ahead of the field. Roberson also highlighted a Wheaton 1-2 finish in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:38.28, just ahead of Katie Deysher who touched in 4:40.23. Erin Bagley took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke in a tiem of 1:07.96.

Chris Dingfield won teh 100-yard butterfly for the Thunder men’s team in a tiem of 53.33 seconds. Addison Coen topped a 1-2 finsih in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.30 seconds, just .08 seconds ahead of Sam Chong.

Wheaton will next be in action next Friday when the Thunder kickoff participation in the University of Chicago Invitational.

Results: Wheaton vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee

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