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Milwaukee Women Put Long Win Streak On Line Against Valparaiso

Team closes out month with league meet Saturday

Nov. 19, 2008

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's swimming & diving team will look to extend its long dual winning streak this week, as it heads to Indiana for a meet against Horizon League foe Valparaiso University. The Panthers are red-hot, have won 10-straight duals and are coming off a weekend where they went 6-0 in a quad meet at IUPUI. The team also carries a long winning streak against the Crusaders that dates back to 1991. The two teams hit the pool at 1 p.m. Saturday.

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SCOUTING THE MEET:
UWM is 13-1 all-time against Valpo, losing to them only in 1991. First-year Valpo head coach Howard Hunte inherits 18 letterwinners from last year's squad that finished sixth in the Horizon League and has six newcomers that have been added into the mix. He is also in the unique position of not having any seniors on this year's roster. The team is off to a 1-4 start, but has only competed once between Oct. 17 and when they hit the pool Saturday. The Crusaders dropped a 129-87 decision to Wright State Nov. 15 in between. Against WSU, Jaclyn Krause won the 100 free and took second in the 50 free. Shaunna Dangremond won the 100 back.

LAST TIME IN THE POOL:
The women ran away with six victories in weekend action in a four-team meet hosted by IUPUI Friday and Saturday. The team won three separate duals each day, coming away with two victories over IUPUI (92-21 Friday, 98-15 Saturday), two over Xavier (69-42 Friday, 72-39 Saturday) and two more over Saint Louis (71.5-41.5 Friday, 80-33 Saturday). The team recorded 16 individual victories and two in relays overall in extending their current win streak in duals to 10-straight on the year.

Sophomore Danielle Wenger paved the way with four wins on the weekend, topping the field in the 1000 freestyle, the 1650 freestyle and both days in the 500 freestyle. Freshman Sarah Wardecke swept the 50 and 100 freestyle both days. Senior Molly Finn added three wins, junior Kerry Rossow two, sophomore Ellie Gross two and sophomore Kelsey George earned a win in diving. Two relay teams also posted wins in the four-team competition.

LAST YEAR:
The women downed Valparaiso, 170-114, to close out the semester schedule. Ashley Hall, Molly Finn, Kristina Hansen, Kerry Rossow and Bailey Nennig led the way against the Crusaders. Each finished with two individual wins to help UWM increase its all-time record against Valpo to 13-1. Jess Kelly, Shannon Berndt, Kelsey Ogle and the 200 medley relay team also posted wins, giving Milwaukee 14 of 16 events on the day.

Hall swept the diving events for the second-straight day, winning the one-meter board with 248.40 points and the three-meter with a score of 280.73. Finn swept the butterfly events, taking home the win in the 100 in 59.32 and the 200 in 2:06.76. Hansen brought home the victory in each backstroke event, touching the wall in 1:01.51 in the 100 back and 2:12.20 in the 200 for the sweep.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
Freshman Sarah Wardecke has been quick to make an impression this season, winning eight times and placing second four times in her 12 races so far this year. She has already put her name in the record book as well. She broke the school freshman record of 52.64 (formerly held by Lindsay Caldwell) in the 100 free when she won in 52.25 against Wright State Oct. 31.

The Horizon League honored her efforts last week at the IUPUI quad meet by naming her the league swimmer of the week. She won all four events she swam in and helped out in relays as well. She currently holds top times in the Horizon League in the 50 free, 100 free and the 200 breaststroke so far this season.

BACK AT IT:
Senior Ashley Hall was named the Horizon League Diver of the Week Nov. 12. The award was the second-straight of the year for Hall and also marks the seventh of her career - all accomplished since the start of last season.

UP NEXT:
Milwaukee closes out the semester slate with a weekend road trip to the Falcon Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn., December 5-6. The meet is hosted by UW-River Falls.