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Panthers Host Western Illinois At Home This Weekend

Seniors set to compete at last home meet of season

Jan. 23, 2007

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team will conclude the home portion of its regular season schedule this week when it hosts Western Illinois this weekend. The Panthers take on Western Illinois in their last non-conference dual of the season Saturday afternoon, scheduled for a 2 p.m. start. UWM has won four-straight duals this season and four-straight against the Leathernecks in the series.

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SCOUTING THE MEET:
The Panthers return to dual meet action after hosting the Bill Ritter Invitational this past weekend. UWM leads the all-time series with WIU by a 7-5-1 count and has won the past four, including a 125-112 victory a season ago. The meet will be the final home appearance for seniors Corey Kupfer, Kyle Luska, Kyle Palmer and Karl Winderl.

The Leathernecks are 2-6 in dual meets this year, having lost the past four-consecutive. In their last outing Jan. 19, the team dropped decisions to Big Ten foes Iowa and Ohio State. The last time they posted a victory was a 178-107 win over Valparaiso Nov. 18.

Sophomore diver Anthony Holzhauer was named Mid-Continent Conference Athlete of the Week after breaking the school one-meter record and qualifying for NCAA Zones last week. Fellow sophomore diver Eric Campbell, who has been named Mid-Con Athlete of the Week twice, gives them a solid 1-2 punch on the boards. The young team is also led by freshmen Chris Hala (sprints) and Darius Wolny (backstroke).

RITTER CHAMPIONSHIP:
Milwaukee won the 16th Annual Bill Ritter Invitational last weekend, taking home the team championship for the first time since 1998. The Panthers have now won first place honors eight times in the 16-year history of the event. Those other seven times came in consecutive tries (the invitational was not held in 1994 or 1996): 1990-93, 95, 97 and 98.

IN THE POLLS:
UWM keeps rising in the polls, as they inch up to No. 13 in the most recent NCAA Division I mid-major collegeswimming.com poll. They opened the season at No. 15, and now have moved up two spots on the strength of 170.01 points. They trail the leader, Navy, by just over 18 points.

LAST YEAR:
Jeremy Seibel and both relay teams helped lead the team to a close 125-112 victory over Western Illinois.

Seibel won two events, placing first in both the 200 IM and the 500 freestyle. His time of 2:02.74 was a season-best and took top honors in the 200 IM, where he edged out Robby Leibold (2:02.85) for first. Seibel's time of 4:51.78 in the 500 free topped the field by almost two seconds.

The 400 medley relay team of Kyle Palmer, Chase Gravengood, Tyler Jefferson and David Yugo finished in 3:38.49, well ahead of Western Illinois' second-place time of 3:41.63. In the 400 freestyle relay, Ryan Frohmader, Jefferson, Yugo and Seibel were victorious by over eight seconds in a time of 3:14.20.

Gravengood also added a win in the 200 freestyle, winning in a time of 1:46.70.

LAST TIME IN THE POOL:
Despite competing shorthanded, the Panthers won the Bill Ritter Invitational on Saturday for the first time since the 1997-98 season. Milwaukee had 1,055.5 points to take the honors, defeating UW-Green Bay (1,015) and UIC (955.5).

Sophomore Robby Leibold played a key role, winning the first and last events of the day. He started the morning with a win in the 400 IM in 4:10.81, and then topped that in the last event of the day. He won the 1650 freestyle in 16:16.59, setting a new Klotsche Natatorium record in the process.

Freshman Jeremy Waldhart also continued his fine performance on the weekend. After taking second in the 200 IM on Friday, Waldhart added two more second place efforts on Saturday. He finished just behind Leibold in the 400 IM in 4:14.04, and then was second to Green Bay's Joey Weber in the 200 back, touching the wall in 1:55.76. Leibold and Waldhart led a team effort in the 400 IM, as UWM had five of the top 10 finishers. In the 100 butterfly, junior Ross Bittner (second in 54.40) and freshman Ed Lichinsky (fourth in 55.25) also gave Milwaukee a good showing.

The Panthers also had two of the top five in the 200 freestyle, with junior David Yugo third and sophomore David Adams fifth. The mile was also a strong event for the home team. In addition to Leibold's record-breaking performance, Adams was second in 16:42.26 and senior Karl Winderl was fifth in 17:23.90. Lastly, junior Tyler Jefferson took second in the 100 backstroke in 54.35 to top the list of five UWM swimmers in the top 10 of the event.

FOUR-STRAIGHT HARD TO COME BY:
The Panthers are currently riding a four-dual winning streak. Not only is it impressive, but noteworthy. The last time UWM accomplished the feat was the 1999-2000 season when they defeated Wheaton, UIC, Northern Iowa and Northern Illinois in November of that season.

OVER HALFWAY HOME:
The Panthers success this season has to do with many aspects, but great individual efforts surely help. Junior Chase Gravengood and sophomore Robby Leibold are both having solid seasons in 2006-07. Gravengood has participated in five different events for UWM, winning 14 times and taking second in two others out of 20 races. Leibold has taken first or second in six of eight attempts at the 500 freestyle, won four out of six times in the 1000 free, won all three 1650 free's he swam and placed first or second overall in 16 out of 23 races.

Gravengood owns the top time in the Horizon League in the 200 butterfly and 200 IM, while Leibold has the top time in the 1650 free.

ON TAP:
The Panthers hit the road for their final dual of the season, swimming against UW-Green Bay Feb. 3, starting at 1 p.m.