Feb. 24, 2006

Results

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Sophomore Chase Gravengood won his second league title in two days, this time in the 100 butterfly, to lead the way for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's swimming & diving team on Friday at the third day of the Horizon League Championships.

The Panthers currently sit in fifth place with 356 points, just 32 behind UW-Green Bay. Host Cleveland State built their advantage on Friday, ending the day with 579 points to take a 67.5 point lead over second-place Wright State (511.50). UIC has 474.5 points for fourth, while Butler trails UWM in sixth with 153.

"We had a lot of season-best times again today," head coach Dave Clark said. "We swam well tonight. Cleveland State is a very good team. They've had a great meet ... the home pool makes a difference."

Gravengood won his second title of the championships, setting a new UWM record in the 100 butterfly to claim the victory in 49.18, edging Kris Simos of UIC who took second at 49.51. Gravengood bettered the old standard of 49.41, set by Andrew Babcock back in 2000.

"That was probably the biggest highlight of the day," Clark said. "It was just a great effort and was also a senior national qualifying time in addition to the school record."

The Panthers had two swimmers in the consolation heat of the event as well. Sophomore Ross Bittner placed 13th with a season-best time of 51.57, while junior Matt Howard was 16th at 52.88.

In the three-meter diving event, senior Jeff Jasinowski took fourth with 301.25 points, missing a third-place finish by a little more than three points. Cleveland State swept the top two spots in the event, with Thatcher Carr winning (409.40) and Chris Dalman taking second (396.25).

Sophomore Jeremy Seibel led the way for UWM in the 400 IM, taking fifth in a collegiate-best time of 4:09.13. Senior Joe Vermeulen and junior Kyle Palmer both swam in the consolation heat, with Vermeulen finishing 11th in a time of 4:23.68 and Palmer 12th in a season-best time of 4:24.11.

Milwaukee had half of the field in the consolation heat of the 200 freestyle and nearly came away with a victory. Senior Ryan Frohmader was neck-and-neck with Cory Carlson of UW-Green Bay for the final 50 yards, but got touched out to settle for second in the heat. His time of 1:45.35 was a collegiate-best and just a fraction off the winning time of 1:45.24. Senior Tim Watt (15th in 1:47.13) and sophomores David Yugo (12th in 1:45.48) and Paul Lewis (16th in a season-best 1:48.62) also competed in the event.

Senior Kyle Fyock took third in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in a collegiate-best time of 57.54 - just 39-hundreths of a second off the UWM school record of 57.15. Sophomore Tom Heitkamp finished 12th overall in a time of 1:00.84 and teammate Palmer was 16th, touching the wall in 1:01.78.

Milwaukee sent four swimmers to the finals of the 100 backstroke, with sophomore Tyler Jefferson turning in the best time of his UWM career, 52.63, to place seventh. Three Panthers swam in the consolation finals, with sophomore Ross Bittner holding a late lead before being touched out for the win in the heat. Bittner's time of 53.97 was a season-best and less than a half-second behind Wright State's Alon Meiri (53.40). Howard took 12th with his time of 54.33 and freshman Brian Randall 16th with a time of 54.91.

The Horizon League Championships will conclude Saturday at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium, with preliminaries beginning at 10:30 a.m. EST and finals at 6 p.m. EST.