The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened the season Saturday at Illinois Institute of Technology. The Warhawk men topped Illinois Tech 140-90 while the women cruised to a 164-70 victory to open the 2024-25 campaign.
In the first event of the day, four UWW women's squads competed in the 200-yard medley relay. The Warhawks were led by a second-place finish from
Jenna Denton (O'Fallon, Wis./),
Gianna Gnewuch (Verona, Wis./),
Paige Malitz (Wausau, Wis./DC Everest) and
Emily Connell (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) who combined for a time of 1:56.68. The men's foursome of
Jason Halvert (Whitewater, Wis./Monona Grove),
Donny Gramer (Dekalb, Ill./Sycamore),
Ethan Bergman (Kenosha, Wis./Bradford) and
Dom Schlueter (South Elgin, Ill./) picked up the first event win of the season with a time of 1:37.40.
The 1000-yard freestyle kicked off the individual events Saturday. The Warhawks went 1-2-3 on the women's side led by a time of 11:33.83 from
Hannah Wenszell (West Bend, Wis./Wisconsin Virtual).
Gala Boutin (San Antonio, Tex./Smithson Valley) followed with a time of 11:53.21 while
Brianna Zimdars (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) stopped the clock in 12:30.07 for third.
Caleb Weis (Burlington, Wis./) captured first for the UWW men with a clocking of 10:22.90 - winning the event by nearly 20 seconds.
Zak Nowakowski (DeForest, Wis./) finished third with a time of 11:14.87.
Bella Borta (Wonder Lake, Ill./Woodstock), Connell and
Amelia Davey (Phillips, Wis./) swept the top three spots in the 200 free. Borta's 2:06.20 was best followed by Connells 2:08.44 and a 2:10.55 from Davey. Schlueter paced the Warhawk men with a runner-up time of 1:48.43. In the 50 freestyle,
Grace Linstroth (Port Washington, Wis./) secured second touching the wall in 25.46 followed by a third-place time of 27.03 from
Addi Sanow (Munster, Ind./). On the men's side,
Brenden Spaulding (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) and
Charlie Schenck (Fort Atkinson, Wis./) also finished second and third with times of 24.02 and 24.27 respectively.
The Warhawks claimed second and third in the women's 200 individual medley led by
Nikolina Gallo's (Greendale, Wis./) 2:24.66.
Hannah Gault (Moline, Ill./) was less than two seconds back with a time of 2:26.24.
Daniel Keller (Omaha, Neb./Papillion-LaVista) won the men's race with a time of 2:04.75 as he just out-touched teammate
Noah Johnson (DeKalb, Ill./) (2:04.81).
Paige Malitz (Wausau, Wis./DC Everest) picked up the win in the 100-yard butterfly with a clocking of 1:05.89. Gault finished as the runner-up with a time of 1:07.52.
Jason Halvert (Whitewater, Wis./Monona Grove) touched the wall in 53.05 to take first for the men with teammate
Matt Ozog (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) claiming third with a time of 56.63.
Linstroth (57.25) and Sanow (58.86) finished second and third in the women's 100 free while Bergman paced the Warhawk men with a third-place time of 49.23.
In the 100 backstroke, Denton was tops with a 1:00.63 to win the race by nearly two seconds. Gnewuch was third with a clocking of 1:03.68. Halvert registered a time of 53.67 to win the men's race with
Ethan Schmohe (Sullivan, Ill./) taking third with a time of 56.98.
The 500 freestyle saw Gallo coming into the wall first by nearly eight seconds with a clocking of 5:35.95. Goutin's 5:43.13 was good for second. Weis was the first to touch the wall in the men's race with a time of 5:03.48.
Matt Sipin (Round Lake, Ill./Grayslake Central) was the next to finish with a time of 5:18.02.
Gnewuch was the top Warhawk in the 100 breaststroke. She narrowly finished as the runner-up with a time of 1:13.77 - just .17 seconds back. Wenszell was third with a time of 1:17.50. Johnson claimed the title in the men's 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:01.43.
The final event in the pool Saturday was the 200 freestyle relay. The top UWW women's squad captured a time of 1:41.48. That foursome included Borta, Connell, Denton and Sanow who won the race by nearly nine seconds. UW-Whitewater also claimed the victory in the men's race. Bergman, Schlueter,
Owen Phillips (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township) and Gramer combined for a first-place time of 1:28.19 - out-touching an Illinois Tech squad by just .08.
Illinois Tech hosted two one-meter diving competitions during Saturday's dual. In the first,
Jersey Schweitzer (Oak Creek, Wis./) led the way with a first-place score of 145.70.
Lydia Wirkkula (West Bend, Wis./West Bend West) (135.70) and Brookelyn Kelpfer (117.50) finished in second and third.
Drew Schmitz (Appleton, Wis./North) was the lone diver for the men accumulating a score of 156.55. Schweitzer also won the second set consisting of six dives with a total score of 198.35. Wirkkula was the runner-up with a total of 166.25. Schmitz claimed the men's title in the second diving competition with a total of 226.50, competing agaisnt a pair of Illinois Tech divers.
