The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Swim and Dive teams opened up their season with a win over Illinois Institute of Technology. The men's team won 137-78 and the women's team won 153-89.

Head Coach Elise Knoche shared her thoughts on today's performance from the team: "Today was a great way to start to our season. I was really happy with how our team performed; we showed a lot of grit in finishing our races when events were close. We are excited about what the rest of the season will bring with our new and returning swimmers, as well as a quartet of freshmen divers this season.

The Warhawks opened up the meet with the 200 yard medley relay. Both the men's and women's races were close. The women's team touched only 2 seconds before the IIT team and the men's was even closer, with less than a second between the squads in the men's heat. Later on, the 400 yard freestyle relay for both men's and women's took first in the dual match.

The first Warhawk individual gold took place in the 200 freestyle for the women. Ava Hennig (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) took the first touch at 2:13.90.

Dom Schlueter (South Elgin, Ill./South Elgin) on the men's side also picked up gold in the 200 free, touching at 1:49.87. Later on in the event, Schlueter timed in at 48.06 to win the 100 yard freestyle.

Ethan Bergman (Racine, Wis./Bradford) placed first in the 50 yard free with a time of 21.95.

Hannah Gault (Moline, Ill./Senior) earned the first touch in the 200 yard IM with a time of 2:28.46. Gault also made a podium finish in the 100 yard backstroke at 1:08.73 for second place. In first, fellow Warhawk Izzy Doczy (Greendale, Wis./Greendale) finished with a time of 1:05.44.

In the women's 100 yard butterfly, Paige Malitz (Wausau, Wis./DC Everest) timed in at 1:05.12 for a first place finish.

Daniel Keller (Omaha, Neb./Papillion-LaVista) took second in the 200 yard IM with a time of 2:03.04. A couple of events later, Keller narrowly took gold in the 100 yard Butterfly with a time of 55.26, the IIT swimmer in second timed in at 55.51. 

Logan Cunningham (Sun Prairie, Wis./East) won the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 6:01.73.

Owen Phillips (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township) and Donny Gramer (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) put up an exciting 100 yard breaststroke. Williams narrowly beat out Gramer in the event, taking first with a time of 1:01.42. Gramer clocked in at 1:01.73.

On the Diving side, the Warhawks took the top spot in the Women's 1 meter and the top two spots on the Men's 1 meter. Sophia Cram (Brookfield, Wis./Central) scored a 105.50 for the first place finish. Drew Scmitz (1st-203.25) and Daniel Farrell (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) (2nd-196.90) topped the men's side for diving. in the 3 meter diving, Farrell scored 179.35 points, taking another gold in the dual meet. 

The men's and women's team will jump back in for the Wisconsin Invite next week on October 21st in Milwaukee, WI.