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Milwaukee Men Back In Action This Weekend Against Western Illinois

Team returns to pool in 2008 on Saturday

Jan. 23, 2008

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team returns to action this weekend for the first time since early December. Fresh off their Florida training trip, the Panthers will put their winning streak to the test on the road Saturday, swimming against Western Illinois. UWM has won the past five duals against the Leathernecks, with this weekend's action getting underway at 1 p.m.

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SCOUTING THE MEET:
The Panthers come into the meet Saturday with an all-time record of 8-5-1 against Western Illinois, but have won the past five-straight in the series. Included in that mark is a 142-84 win a year ago.

The Leathernecks have already been back in the pool in 2008, competing in a quad meet Jan. 11 before getting beat by Iowa, 159-63, Jan. 18. The team is 3-3 in duals this season after a 3-1 start, having also dropped a 182.5-115.5 decision at UIC Dec. 19. Diver Anthony Holzhouer has been a bright spot, recently winning the three-meter board against Iowa. Jeff Davis (freestyle) and Darius Wolny (backstroke - including a sweep of the 100 and 200 against UIC) are also key contributors.

LAST TIME IN THE POOL:
UWM won all 16 events Dec. 8 to defeat Valparaiso University, 186-77, at the Klotsche Natatorium. The Panthers closed out the 2007 portion of their schedule with four wins in their final five duals.

The list of multiple-event winners for Milwaukee included senior Chase Gravengood, juniors Robby Leibold and Andrew Belton and sophomore Jeremy Waldhart. The victory moved UWM's all-time record against Valpo to a perfect 14-0. Other winners included both relay teams, sophomore PJ Rongitsch and freshmen Matt Kluczinske, Nick DeWitt, Bill McCarty and Jake Kalinowski.

Gravengood was the big winner, as the senior captain claimed three victories and put his name into the record book once again. He won the 100 butterfly in a season-best time of 50.78, eclipsing the former pool record of 50.87 set by UW-Green Bay's Joey Weber in 2006. He swept the butterfly events with a time of 1:53.72 in the 200 fly and also claimed a first-place finish in the 400 IM in 4:07.17.

Leibold just keeps on winning, providing first-place efforts in the 1000 freestyle in 9:39.84 and in the 500 free in 4:46.59. Belton came through with the first two victories of his UWM career, winning the 100 free in a time of 47.64 and the 100 breaststroke in a season-best 1:00.23.

Waldhart won for the second-straight day, sweeping the backstroke events against the Crusaders. He finished with a season-best time of 54.17 in the 100 back and 1:54.74 in the 200 back. Senior Ross Bittner gave UWM a one-two finish in the 100, recording a time of 55.82.

LAST YEAR:
The Milwaukee men won 10 out of 13 events in cruising to a 142-84 victory over Western Illinois.

Chase Gravengood and Robby Leibold paced the day with two wins each, as UWM got victories from six different people and two relay teams to extend its head-to-head win streak over Western Illinois to five-straight.

Gravengood won the 400 IM in a time of 4:05.76, breaking the Klotsche Natatorium record of 4:07.45 in the process. He also won the 100 butterfly by nearly three seconds, touching the wall in 51.88.

Leibold pulled off the distance event sweep, taking top honors in the 500 and 1000 freestyles. He opened the meet with a dominating effort, topping the field by over 20 seconds with a time of 9:40.92. He finished in 4:43.43 in the 500 to earn the win.

Both Milwaukee relays were victorious, with the team of Ross Bittner, Jeremy Seibel, Gravengood and Lucas Tanel winning the 200 medley relay in 1:39.05. In the 200 freestyle relay, it was Tyler Jefferson, David Yugo, Tanel and Eric Burns who won in a time of 1:28.14. Other individual winners for the Panthers included David Adams, Burns, Yugo and Seibel.

LEAGUE AWARD WINNER:
Senior Chase Gravengood was honored for a terrific weekend in the pool, earning Horizon League Swimmer of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career Dec. 11. He won all five of his individual events and both relays he swam with to lead Milwaukee to two dual wins. Against SDSU, he won the 200 IM in 1:53.98 and the 200 breaststroke in a season-best 2:08.96. He also helped the 400 medley relay team to a victory.

The next day was even better, winning all three of his individual events over Valparaiso while also swimming with the first-place 200 medley relay team. He won the 100 butterfly in a season-best 50.78, setting a new Klotsche Natatorium record in the process. He swept the fly events with a win in the 200 in 1:53.72 and also claimed first place in the 400 IM in 4:07.17.

The team captain now has 10 victories, five second-place effort and three third-place finishes in 22 races on the season.

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 4-4 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 be home for its final dual of the regular season, hosting UW-Green Bay next Saturday, Feb. 2. The Panthers and Phoenix will start at 1 p.m. at the Klotsche Natatorium on what will be Senior Day for the UWM seniors.