Oakland Swimming Sweeps Wisconsin-Milwaukee

ROCHESTER, Michigan, October 11. Oakland swimming kicked off the season with a a pair of wins against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The men won, 173-127, while the women’s picked up a 157-141 victory over Milwaukee.

Oakland Press Release

Sophomore Aleksander Danielewski set a Klotsche Natatorium record in the 200 backstroke Friday evening in one of many stellar swims for the Oakland swimming and diving team as the Golden Grizzlies defeated Milwaukee in the season-opening dual for both teams.

The Golden Grizzlies’ men bested the Panthers 173-127, while the Oakland women battled back and forth throughout the night before notching a 157-141 victory over Milwaukee.

“This was a great start to the season,” head coach Pete Hovland said. “The women were almost a carbon copy of the conference championship last season, and we just kept coming back. We were really tough for this early in the season, and we were really pleased with everyone’s performance.

“Our team was able to overcome some tough conditions,” added Hovland. “But the fact we’re swimming this well early on bodes well for the direction we’re heading.”

For the men, the Golden Grizzlies won the 200 medley relay and never relenquished the lead. Oakland won nine individual events following the 200 MR win by Danielewski, John Schihl, Mario Rusnak and Tuomas Kiviluoma in 1:34.17.

Along with Danielewski’s 200 back win in a pool-record 1:50.03, the sophomore added wins in the 100 back (51.43) and 200 IM (1:54.96). Also earning individual wins were Jorden Merrilees (200 free, 1:40.42; 500 free, 4:43.84), Ayrton Kasemets (100 breast, 59.14; 200 breast, 2:10.18), Mitch Alters (200 fly, 1:53.76) and Kiviluoma (100 free, 47.25).

The women started out with a victory in the 200 medley relay, with Kyra Rietveld, Takara Martin, Emily Flowers and Holly Morren finishing in 1:47.87. As the meet progressed, Milwaukee gathered a 28-point lead.

But starting with the 200 breaststroke, Oakland went 1-2-3 in three events – 200 breast, 100 fly and 200 IM. With Patricia Aschan, Stella Pasalidou and Martin finishing 1-2-3 in the 200 IM, Oakland regained the lead, and capped the victory with a first-place finish in the 400 free relay. The relay team of Nikki Flynn and freshmen Emily Flowers, Cassie Misiewicz and Holly Morren touched in 3:31.46, beating Milwaukee’s touch by .05 seconds.

Winning individually for the women were Martin (100 breast, 1:05.38; 200 breast, 2:21.93), Aschan (200 fly, 2:08.09; 200 IM, 2:08.95)Tricia Grant (3-meter, 302.32; 1-meter, 306.15) and Pasalidou (100 fly, 59.23).

Milwaukee Press Release

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s swimming & diving team won six events on the night but came up just short to defending league champs Oakland University Friday from the Klotsche Natatorium.

“You never like opening your season with a loss,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “Oakland is obviously the top team in conference and the result tonight was to be expected. Our divers gave us a lot of points and kept us in the meet the entire time. We relied on our veterans tonight. Kenny (Stelpflug) in the 1000, Tim (Halverson) in the 200. (Ryan) Finke and Rob (Miller) were great leaders tonight, but the bottom line is that we have to get better. We want to contend in this conference this year and we have to get better and we will get better.”

Senior Kenny Stelpflug started off the meet with a tremendous effort in the 1000 freestyle. In an event that often is won comfortably, two swimmers from each team all swam together seemingly the entire race. Trailing entering the final lap, Stelpflug dug deep and was able to edge out Oakland’s top swimmer with a winning time of 9:48.06, less than two-tenths of a second ahead of the next swimmer. Tim Halverson also had a great showing, taking fourth in 9:51.83, just over two-tenths of a second from third overall.

Halverson also did well in the 200 free, taking third in 1:44.32, again just over two-tenths behind the previous spot.

Milwaukee took the top three spots in the 50 freestyle on the night. Sophomore Nick Menninga roared out to a 21.56 second win in his first event of the year. Senior Mike Lucchesi was second in 21.58 and junior Tanner Nimke was third in 21.99.

Menninga also had a strong showing in the 100 free. He took second overall in 47.48, just missing the top spot by .23 seconds. Freshman Jon Roberts was third in the sprint event at 49.23.

In the 100 butterfly, sophomore Max Ward burst out of the gates and won with an impressive time of 50.42, less than half a second shy of his life-time best in just the season opener. Lucchesi came in third overall at 50.96.

Milwaukee dominated the diving events. Two-time defending league diver of the year K.J. Heger came in first on both boards with strong season-opening scores. On one-meter, Andres Villa came in second overall with a score of 253.27, while freshman Marcel Harris had a strong showing in taking third on three-meter at 228.97.

The Panthers closed out the night with another win. Lucchesi, Nimke, Kyle Gerum and Menninga teamed up to take the top spot in the 400 free relay with a strong time of 3:08.81, over a full second ahead of Oakland’s top team.

UWM also came in second overall in the meet-opening 200 medley relay. Seth Johnson, Joe Chokran, Ward and Lucchesi combined to post a time of 1:35.97, just over a second shy of the win.

Coming down the final relay, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s swimming & diving team fell just short to Oakland University, 157-141, Friday night at the Klotsche Center.

In the season-opener for both teams, Milwaukee came out of the gates hot, winning the first three individual events against the preseason favorites.

With the meet on the line heading into the final event of the night, the Grizzlies just edged out Milwaukee’s top 400 free relay squad by a mere five-hundredths of a second to secure the win.

Milwaukee did win seven of the 16 events on the night, including two by the talented and deep incoming freshman class of 13.

“I didn’t know exactly what to expect tonight,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “I knew from our practice times what our ladies could do in general. But it was all in theory. I didn’t necessarily expect us to be that close in this meet, but we have so many different individuals who can swim so many different events. We’re just starting to figure out our lineup and tonight’s meet will serve as a good teaching moment for this young team.”

UWM came out of the gates firing. Last year’s league newcomer of the year Natalie Johnson picked up right where she left off, winning the 1000 freestyle by an impressive 22 seconds in 10:28.75. Coming in second was freshman Alena Bonaruk at 10:41.47, just beating out Oakland’s top swimmer, while freshman Sami Stelpflug was fourth in 10:47.99.

It was Johnson again in the very next event, winning the 200 free in 1:54.59, edging out the next finisher by nearly a full second despite the short break.

In the 100 backstroke, another pair of freshmen quickly made names for themselves. Maddy Nelson won the event in a very fast 58.64 with classmate Emily Kinnaird right behind at 58.98 for second.

After the Golden Grizzlies won the next two events, senior captain Anna Yontz stepped up big to turn the tide back toward UWM. Just like she did in the Horizon League Championships, Yontz won the 50 free in 24.04, just beating out new teammate Mandie Siehs at 24.47. Sierra Townsend was fourth in the event at 25.02.

Yontz also won the 100 free on the night, taking the top spot in 52.54 in a close race all the way to the finish. Siehs was third in 53.26, also just touching out out an Oakland swimmer.

After a runner-up finish in the 100 back, Kinnaird wasted no time in claiming her first collegiate win by touching the wall first in the 200 back. The freshman clocked a time of 2:06.25, nearly half a second faster than the next finisher.

Johnson completed her sweep of the night in individual events by claiming yet another win, this time in the 500 free at 5:10.28.

Milwaukee also had solid showings from its diving squad on the night, with Rachel Margis, Leah Hennes and Anna Percival finishing 2-3-4 on both boards in the first meet of the year.

With the meet on the line and the capacity crowd on its feet, it all came down to the decisive 400 free relay. After neck-and-neck opening legs by Yontz, Townsend and Johnson, Siehs swam a great anchor leg to touch out at 3:31.51, just shy of the top spot of 3:31.46.

The Panthers’ B-team came in third in the event as Nelson, Maggie LaMere, Bodnaruk and Emily Roche teamed up for a swim of 3:40.74.

Results: Oakland vs. Milwaukee

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