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Milwaukee Closes Out Regular Season Schedule Saturday

Panthers host Green Bay at Klotsche at 1 p.m.

Jan. 28, 2008

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team closes out the regular season at home this weekend. The Panthers, winners of five of their past six duals, welcome the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to the Klotsche Natatorium on Saturday, with a starting time of 1 p.m.

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SCOUTING THE MEET:
The Panthers have won their past four duals on the season and will break a long streak if they can extend it against the Phoenix. UWGB leads the all-time series, 8-5, but have won the last seven in a row - including a 132-111 victory in Green Bay last season. The last victory for UWM in the series came in February of 1999.

Green Bay has been swimming well of late, posting wins in four of its past five duals. The Phoenix last two outings were a 144.5-98.5 win over Western Illinois Jan. 25 (where they won eight events overall) and a 138-105 loss at the hands of UIC Jan. 12. Sprinter Alex Hill is helping lead the way and posted wins in the 50 and 100 free against WIU.

SENIOR SALUTE:
Saturday's meet marks the final home competition for the five seniors on the UW-Milwaukee roster. Congratulations and best wishes to Ross Bittner, Chase Gravengood, Tyler Jefferson, Jeremy Seibel and David Yugo.

LAST TIME IN THE POOL:
Seniors Chase Gravengood and Jeremy Seibel and junior Robby Leibold won two events each to lead the team to a 158-80 victory over Western Illinois Saturday. Both relay teams also posted victories as the Panthers won all 11 swimming events at the meet in their first action of the semester.

Gravengood won the 200 IM in 1:57.41 and also took home top honors in the 200 butterfly in a time of 1:55.95. Seibel, swimming for the first time this season, was in top form, earning victories in the 200 freestyle in 1:46.03 and also in the 200 breaststroke in 2:10.70. Leibold continued his strong campaign, opening the meet with a win in the 1000 freestyle in 9:37.25 and also finishing first in the 500 freestyle in 4:48.87. He also placed second in the 200 fly.

Other individual winners included junior Andrew Belton, sophomore Jeremy Waldhart and freshman Jake Kalinowski.

LAST YEAR:
Chase Gravengood and Tyler Jefferson led the way as the Panthers closed out their dual season with a 132-111 loss on the road at UW-Green Bay Feb. 3.

Gravengood won two individual events and Jefferson one, while both were members of the winning 400 freestyle relay team. Jeremy Waldhart was also an individual event winner for Milwaukee.

Gravengood won all three of his events, topping the field in the 200 freestyle in 1:43.96, the 200 butterfly in 1:54.58 and as a member of the 400 free relay team. That squad consisted of Gravengood, Jefferson, freshman Eric Burns and junior David Yugo, touching the wall in 3:12.02.

Jefferson had a solid meet, winning the 100 freestyle in 47.85 and taking third in the 50 free despite a tough start.

Waldhart led a one-two finish for Milwaukee in the 200 IM, winning in 1:58.39. Jeremy Seibel was second in 1:59.61. Waldhart took second in the 200 backstroke in 1:57.08 as well, while Seibel was second in the 200 breaststroke.

LEADING THE WAY:
With the Horizon League Championships right around the corner, it's time to take a look at who is leading the way for the men's team. Senior Chase Gravengood has been solid, collecting 12 wins, six seconds and just two finishes outside of the top three individually all year long. He currently holds top times in the Horizon League in the 200 IM and 400 IM, as well as the second-best time in the 200 fly and third-best clip in the 200 breaststroke. Junior Robby Leibold is also having a very strong campaign and currently holds top times in the Horizon League in the 1000 freestyle and 1650 freestyle and the second-fastest time in the 500 free. He has a staggering 18 wins and six second-place finishes in 28 races on the year.

Sophomore Jeremy Waldhart has nine wins on the year as part of 18 top-three finishes overall. He holds top league times in the 200 back - an event he currently holds a seven-race win streak in. Junior Andrew Belton has been contributing in his first season at UWM as well, recording three victories and 10 top-five finishes in sprint events.

GETTING IT TOGETHER:
After starting last season 0-3 in dual meets, the UWM men went on to finish 5-4, giving first-year head coach Dave Griffore's squad a winning record for the first time since the 1998-1999 season (7-4). After that same 0-3 start this season, the Panthers are now 5-4 in duals, on pace for the first back-to-back winning records in the program since 1998-99 (7-4) and 1997-98 (6-3-1).

POLL TIME AGAIN:
The second NCAA Division I mid-major collegeswimming.com poll of the season came out over the break and the Panthers are still in the Top 10. After starting the season at No. 9 with 166.56 points, the team now stands in just one spot lower at No. 10 with 176.17 points. Harvard now tops the men's poll with 194.22 points.

WHAT "SOPHOMORE SLUMP"?:
Sophomore P.J. Rongitsch continues to dominate his competition, as he earned Horizon League Diver of the Week honors for the third time this season Dec. 4. Rongitsch was the top Panther finisher in each diving event at the Miami (OH) Invitational, where he competed against 12 other Division I programs. He placed seventh overall in the finals on the one-meter board with a score of 217.45 after posting a 259.60 total in the preliminaries. He also placed third in the three-meter with a score of 312.10.

He now has seven victories, four second-place finishes, and four third-place finishes this season, finishing out of the top three just once in 16 attempts.

UP NEXT:
Milwaukee will compete at the Horizon League Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, starting Feb. 20.