Former UWM Baseball Player Inducted Into Hall of Fame

Mike Casper, who played baseball at Milwaukee from 1995-98, was recently inducted into the Wisconsin State Baseball League Hall of Fame. Casper made 41 starts in 49 career games at UWM, going 16-17 with an ERA of 4.27. He struck out 165 batters in 249.0 innings as a Panther.

Special thanks to Denny Moyer for providing the story.

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Casper Joins WSL Hall of Fame

Former Sheboygan A’s pitcher Michael Casper, who finished with a career 41-22 record in league play, was inducted into the Wisconsin State Baseball League Saturday night at the league’s Annual Awards and Hall of Fame dinner at The Bull in Sheboygan Falls.

In presenting Casper, Dave Moyer, who managed him in the pitcher’s young formative years cited his consistency and dedication to his team.

“He was so consistent with his composure, hidden desire to destroy his opponent, commitment to his team, love of the game, unbelievable control, dominant slider and superb change up, that his consistency became deceptive,” Moyer said. “He became spectacular at appearing unspectacular.”

“I remember coming back to watch him pitch later in his career. He was so on top of his game in those years in the late 1990s and early 2000s that it was a routine matter of business for him to precisely and surgically demoralize an opponent,” Moyer said.

Casper played his high school ball at New Holstein and then went on to UW-Milwaukee before signing with the Kansas City Royals.

In his 10 years in the State League, he won the Most Valuable Pitcher Award three times. His 3.23 career earned run average ranks third among pitchers with 500 or more innings pitched. He shares a one-season record with 11 complete games. And his 10 wins in 1999 is second all time. He ranks seventh in career shutouts, strikeouts and wins. He led the league in innings pitched and in strikeouts in 1999, 2000 and 2001

Michael helped the A’s to championships in 1997 and 2000 and was a first team all-league pick in 1997, ’99, ’00 and ’01.

Inducted with Casper at the dinner were Dave Christman of the Green Bay Blue Ribbons, Tom Imhoff of the Janesville Aces, Paul O’Callaghan of the Lombard Orioles and Dr. Tom Zoch of the Marshfield Chaparrals.

Presented with the league’s individual honors for the 2011 season were Jeff Vukovich of the champion Lombard Orioles, who was named Manager of the Year, Pitcher of the Year Randy Johnson of the Kenosha Kings, Rookie of the Year Brock Guetzke of the Oshkosh Giants and Most Valuable Player and Leading Hitter Nolan Fadness of the Eau Claire Cavaliers.

Weekend Postgame Report - Milwaukee vs. Butler/Valparaiso

Game #22 – Milwaukee 53, Butler 42

Game #23 – Valparaiso 55, Milwaukee 52

Butler Full Recap and Stats

Valpo Full Recap and Stats

Player Of The Weekend: James Haarsma is continuing his consistent offensive play. In two low-scoring games, he averaged 11 points per contest and made 10 of his 17 shots from the floor.

Key Stat: Defense was the story of the weekend, but unfortunately it turned more against Milwaukee in the second game of the set. Thursday, UWM allowed Butler to score just 21 points over the final 28 minutes of the game. Saturday, Valpo gave Milwaukee just 11 points over the final 17 minutes.

News and Notes: Milwaukee’s loss Saturday was just its second in 12 home games … UWM has beaten Butler in three of the last five meetings between the two teams … Butler shot just 28 percent from the floor Thursday night, the second league opponent to shoot below 30 percent against Milwaukee … the Panthers also have now held 11 opponents under 60 points and five opponents under 50 … Milwaukee has won five games this season when scoring less than 60 points … Kaylon Williams now has 320 career assists … James Haarsma has reached double-figures in seven-straight games and nine of his last 10 outings … Tony Meier returned to the starting lineup against Butler and then started vs. Valpo. He averaged 10 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two games.

Up Next: UWM wraps up its three-game homestand with a Tuesday night contest against Youngstown State.

Postgame Report: Milwaukee at Valparaiso

Game #18 – Milwaukee 55, Valparaiso 47

Full Recap and Stats


Player Of The Game: The Panthers once again had four players in double-figures, but Angela Rodriguez saved her best for late in the game. She had 12 points, but none bigger than the three she hit to give UWM back momentum late in the game when Valparaiso had cut the lead to just five points with about 4 minutes remaining. Valpo again was back within seven at the 2:25 mark when Rodriguez grabbed an offensive rebound and made the putback.

She joined Scott Warras on the radio following the contest, hear that interview HERE.

Play of the Game: Rodriguez's three was important, and was part of the key set of plays that put the victory away. After her 3 gave UWM an 8-point lead, Sami Tucker stole the inbounds pass and found Kiki Wilson for another three - all in the span of 10 seconds on the clock. That gave Milwaukee its largest lead of the game at 11.

Key Stats: The Panthers went a perfect 10-10 at the free throw line, the first time this season they were 100 percent and the first time they accomplished that feat since Feb. 24 of last season, when they went 17-17 against Butler. In addition, UWM held the Crusaders to 36.4 percent shooting on the night and forced 21 turnovers. The 47 points allowed was the fewest for the Panthers since allowing 39 to Youngstown State March 6, 2010.

News and Notes: Courtney Lindfors became the third player to record her 500th career points this season when she finished with 14 to give her 500 on the head. She joins Sami Tucker and Angela Rodriguez in that group this campaign.

Up Next: UWM closes out January with a trip to Indy to take on Butler. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. CST Saturday.

Traci Edwards Still Enjoying Life as a Professional

Traci Edwards, who played at Milwaukee from 2005-09, was recently profiled by Andy Thompson of the Appleton Post Crescent. Traci is still enjoying life as a professional basketball player, now with a team in Lulea, Sweden.

Read the article HERE.

Postgame Report - Milwaukee at Youngstown/Cleveland

Game #20 – Youngstown State 68, Milwaukee 66

Game #21 – Cleveland State 83, Milwaukee 57

YSU Full Recap and Stats

CSU Full Recap and Stats

Player Of The Weekend: James Haarsma put together a pair of solid games this weekend. He had 14 points at Youngstown State and then led the way with 15 points at Cleveland State. Haarsma also averaged six rebounds per game and shot nearly 53 percent from the field.

Key Stat: The Panthers entered the weekend as the best three-point defensive team in the country. But, both of UWM’s opponents found the range this weekend. In fact, Youngstown State and Cleveland State combined to go 16-of-32 from three-point range.

News and Notes: The Panthers have now dropped four-straight games on the road since winning at Valparaiso … Paris Gulley reached double figures Friday at Youngstown State before adding nine points Sunday. He has been in double digits in four of his last six games … Friday’s loss at Youngstown State marked just the second time this season UWM lost when the game was decided by five points or less. The Panthers are 5-2 in those close contests this season … Cleveland State shot 63.5 percent against the Panthers Sunday, the best by a UWM opponent since the Vikings shot 63.8 percent at the U.S. Cellular Arena last season … Demetrius Harris saw some of his most extended playing time of the season Sunday, scoring seven points in 11 minutes … Evan Richard missed his third-straight game with a bad back, joining Ja’Rob McCallum and Lonnie Boga on the sidelines.

Up Next: UWM is back home for its next three games, starting with a Thursday night contest against Butler.

Postgame Report: Youngstown State at Milwaukee

Game #17 – Milwaukee 76, Youngstown State 68

Full Recap and Stats


Player Of The Game: The Panthers had four players in double-figures, so picking just one may not be possible. Sami Tucker had a great game with her fourth double-double of the season, going for a team-best 16 points and 10 rebounds as a quality candidate. Next on the list is Angela Rodriguez, who took just 6 shots - all 3's - but buried 4 of them to net 15 points. Courtney Lindfors also is a good nominee, scoring 15 points and grabbing 7 rebounds ... but did it in just 17 minutes of play. Last, but not least, Ashley Green finished a rebound short of a double-double with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Pick one...

Play of the Game: So instead, we will go with a "play of the game". Down by 16 at one point, YSU made it a game and was within 3 points with 10 minutes to play. UWM responded quickly, as Rodriguez answered by burying a three-pointer from the right wing to give Milwaukee control. The team led from start to finish for the second time this season (also against Chicago State).

Postgame Interview: Alex Klawitter joined Scott Warras on the radio following the contest, hear that interview HERE.

Key Stats: The Panthers set the stage by coming out to a quick start of their own. After falling behind early the past 3 games - 14-3 against CSU, 9-0 at WSU and 11-3 at Detroit - Milwaukee went up 9-1 to start the game and built that lead to 15-7 and 35-9.

News and Notes: Milwaukee extended its longest current win streak against any opponent to 14 with the victory. The streak dates back to February of 2005.

Up Next: UWM closes out January with a two-game road swing. Up first is Valparaiso Thursday, set for a 7 p.m. tip.

Men's Basketball Honors And Rankings

A few miscellaneous honors and rankings to make note of as the Panthers get set to hit the road for a pair of key league games this weekend.

College Sports Madness named Kaylon Williams its Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. Williams earned the attention by averaging nine assists per game in the two wins.

Meanwhile, UWM has made its first appearance in the CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll, jumping in at number 23. And, in the latest NCAA RPI list, Milwaukee has jumped back up to 96th.

Statistically, the Panthers continue to lead the nation in three-point field goal defense and are 20th in scoring defense. Kaylon Williams is 10th nationally in assists.

Postgame Report - Detroit at Milwaukee

Game #19 – Milwaukee 84, Detroit 74

Full Recap and Stats

Player Of The Game: Paris Gulley had the best game of his still brief college career. He scored 26 points – the most by a Panther player this season – making 6-of-9 from three-point range.

Key Stat: Milwaukee has had its share of ups and downs shooting the ball this season, but the Panthers have had a knack for carving teams up when they make the extra pass. Saturday was no exception, as UWM patiently worked the ball for opens looks and knocked in 14-of-24 from long range.

News and Notes: UWM has now won 17 of its last 21 meetings with Detroit … the Panthers have now won 15 of their last 16 regular season league games … Milwaukee is now 9-1 at home this season and has won 83 of its last 102 regular season home league games … UWM’s 14 three-pointers are second-most the Panthers have hit in a game this season. Milwaukee made 15 against Nebraska-Omaha last month, also the last time UWM went past the 80-point mark … the Panthers’ 58.5 percent shooting clip was its second-best of the season … Kaylon Williams had nine assists for the second-straight game … the Panthers had four players in double figures for the second time in three games … UWM’s 51 points in the first half marked a season high.

Up Next: UWM hits the road for games at Youngstown State and Cleveland State next weekend.

Postgame Report - Wright State at Milwaukee

Game #18 – Milwaukee 58, Wright State 38

Full Recap and Stats

Player Of The Game: Ryan Allen did a stellar job against Julian Mays and really set the tone for Milwaukee. His stats showed “only” six points, three assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block, but he controlled the game for UWM.

Key Stat: The Panthers were stellar on defense again, allowing Wright State to shoot just 25.5 percent from the field.

News and Notes: The Panthers have now won 14 of their last 15 regular season league games … Milwaukee is now 8-1 at home this season and has won 82 of its last 101 regular season home league games … UWM has beaten Wright State 14-straight times in Milwaukee … the Panthers allowed Wright State to shoot just 25.5 percent from the field, the fifth-lowest mark by an opponent in the school’s Division I history … the 38 points Milwaukee allowed are the fewest ever surrendered by the Panthers against a Horizon League opponent … this is the first time since the 1940’s where UWM has held two opponents under 40 points … the Panthers also won again while scoring less than 60 points, the fourth time that has happened this season … that has not occurred since the early 1950’s.

Up Next: UWM wraps up its three-game homestand with a Saturday night contest against Detroit.

Fun in the sun...part VIII

With the UWM swimming team down in Florida on their annual training trip, we thought it would be fun to have a member of the team share their thoughts each day on the UWM Blog.

The Panthers are in sunny Fort Lauderdale, training at Pinecrest Academy, both short and long course.They will be on the trip through the 15th of January before resuming the regular season schedule second semester against Carthage College on Jan. 14.

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The eighth entry is from freshman Kelly Theis:

Dear Diary,

Today was the last day of my first training trip with the UWM swim team, and let me tell you, it was one to remember. It has been said that I am the team’s best runner and I proved it so in this morning’s biathlon. The team woke up the same as every morning, loading the vans at 7:15. Tensions were high as everyone prepared for a mile swim followed immediately by a three mile run. No time was allotted for a clothes change, resulting in many boys running in only their speedos. The competition was fierce. Brittany Walsh took the gold for the girls and Sam Niesen pulled out a win for the guys, with Kyle Trelka and Nathan Welchlin hot on his tail. It was a valiant effort by all, especially those of us who aren’t so talented on land. After the banging biathlon, we all packed into our vans and headed back to the one and only Ocean Manor.

Within an hour of practice ending, almost the entire team was down on the beach, soaking rays as bathing beauties. We all knew it wasn’t going to be a difficult practice in the evening, so even Finke skipped his daily nap to play in the sun all afternoon. Today was the perfect day for Liz, Chris and I to show off our Soul Surfer moves to the team. (Rent the movie if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth it.) Brian Verink dug his annual hole in the sand, deep enough to cover the head of any boy on the team. Anna and Mic were then buried in the hole, covered in sand up to the neck. Can you say photo op? The afternoon was filled numerous photo opportunities; I would even go as far to say that there were a few beach photo shoots. Hands down Brady Huemann is the model of the team, that kid’s got a future. Around four in the afternoon everyone headed in and prepared for the senior led practice.

Coaches Kyle and Brittany got the night off, kicking back and relaxing as the seniors wrote and led our last practice in Florida. The practice consisted of trivia questions, all based solely on the all so interesting seniors themselves. Getting a trivia question right resulted in an easy set and a wrong answer landed a lane something a little more difficult. My team, “Team Slackers”, was filled with all of the team’s biggest gossipers so we never had to do the “hard sets”. As things go, the freshmen were the last out of the water, ending the night with a doggie-paddle relay race where each swimmer needed to bark like a dog while paddling. Interesting noises were made by all freshmen. Each freshman’s personality came out with their individual barks, Mic was a yippy Chihuahua whereas Finke was a powerhouse bulldog. The night ended with laughs, giggles and a massive team picture.

We had the hardest workouts of the season this week, but my abs received an equally difficult workout from laughing so hard with all of my teammates and best friends. Diary, I am so sad to leave Florida and the constant interactions with all of these swimmers. I don’t want to go back to Wisconsin, winter boots, and mittens. I wish we could stay in our bikinis and speedos just a little longer. The memories made over these past tens days are by far some of the best of my freshmen year of college.

Sincerely,
Kelly Theis

Fun in the sun...part VII

With the UWM swimming team down in Florida on their annual training trip, we thought it would be fun to have a member of the team share their thoughts each day on the UWM Blog.

The Panthers are in sunny Fort Lauderdale, training at Pinecrest Academy, both short and long course.They will be on the trip through the 15th of January before resuming the regular season schedule second semester against Carthage College on Jan. 14.

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The seventh entry comes from a pair of Panthers. The first version, from junior Mike Schalla:

Wednesday's morning practice was a bit different than most days. Both the men’s and women’s teams were given the choice of whether to go the pool to do a normal workout or do an ocean workout. The ocean workout consists of swimming to different buoys in the ocean and running along the beach. The combination of the long distances between buoys, the waves, and the tides made it difficult to swim fast and in a straight line. On top of that, many of the younger swimmers and even some of the older ones were very nervous about the possibility of swimming into jellyfish and other ocean animals (Brady Huemann, Nathan Welchin, Rob Miller).

We started with a warm-up of swimming out to a buoy, then along the coastline to a different buoy and then back in to the beach. We stuck together and everyone soon realized that there weren’t any 20-foot sharks and that we had nothing to be afraid of. About half way through our ocean workout the wind picked up and before we knew it, we were swimming in what felt like 15-foot waves. In reality, they weren’t close to that size but the waves did make swimming much harder and we left the ocean feeling tired and a bit sandy. The team members who didn’t choose the ocean workout didn’t get off easy either, they had a tough pool workout that helped build their aerobic capacity.

With clouds in the sky and a chilly wind, mostly everyone decided to stay indoors and get a little nap in.

We arrived to the pool that evening with the sky having a beautiful orange sunset, a nice start to the evening. Night practice was an hour of dryland and an hour of swimming. The theme tonight for swimming was shorter sprints, working on top-end speed rather than longer aerobic training. Everyone was doing something fast off the blocks with freestylers doing 50 and 100's and stroke swimmers doing multiple 25's. Dryland was a test set where we had to do max pushups, sit-ups, and pull-ups. The goal was to beat the amount we had done earlier in the season. We left the pool looking forward to completing the biathlon the coming morning.

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Junior Mike Brady's version:

Daybreak, Wednesday, January 11th. We awake to a calm Florida morning though we all know that that it is just the calm before the storm that is the Ocean Swim. A majority of Panthers took the challenge of taking on the Atlantic in all of her glory. She fought back with large waves jostling those like Nathan Welchlin and Ryan Finke.

After the Panthers had conquered the great Atlantic, mother nature frowned upon us with an overcast day, though as we all know you get the best bronze on with overcast UV rays so the joke's on her.

Later that day, and with only four practices to go, the Panthers went to Pine Crest high school with an air of mystery and wonder on what the coaching staff would comprise for another day of guts and glory.

The practice: an hour of dryland and an hour of swim. The men started off with a short warm up and then a stand up set that both tested physical and, more importantly, mental toughness. The freestyle men dominated six 50’s while the ironmen of distance tackled six 100’s.

Then the men took on a classic Panther test set: two minutes of push ups and sit ups, followed by one minute of push ups and sit ups and then finally a max pull up. Every press of the earth and crunch of the abs meant we were one step closer to a "3-peat" as the Panther men left one of the nicest looking high schools in Florida.

One day left….get ready, Cleveland ;)

Fun in the sun...part VI

With the UWM swimming team down in Florida on their annual training trip, we thought it would be fun to have a member of the team share their thoughts each day on the UWM Blog.

The Panthers are in sunny Fort Lauderdale, training at Pinecrest Academy, both short and long course.They will be on the trip through the 15th of January before resuming the regular season schedule second semester against Carthage College on Jan. 14.

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The sixth entry comes from freshman Sierra Townsend:

To begin our eighth day in Florida, the team traveled to the pool with nothing but a vague idea as to what our practice would contain. After a long team warm up, coach Kyle Clements instructed us to split up into groups. To the upperclassmen on the team, this meant one thing: stations. As a freshman, I had been told many horror stories of training trip: the pain train, goal 50's, tough dryland practices, animal kicks, a biathlon, and much more. However, stations was the one practice that was rumored to be somewhat enjoyable.

Stations consist of – you guessed it! – different stations. Each lane contained either a set or a drill that focused on one specific aspect of swimming. For example; one lane dealt with breath control, another with our underwater kicking, and a third with IM. The practice was a nice differentiation from the standard practice format we were used to. It was also nice to swim with teammates outside of our usual practice group; my group enjoyed a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep as performed by Maggi Beck, Brady Huemann, and Evan Green.

After practice, a large majority of the team headed down to the beach to improve our tans (or, for some of us, our sunburns). We caught a glimpse of a few manatees and an odd-looking fish. We also showed off our famous Panther dance moves to make a music video under the direction of the birthday girl, Sophia Schmidt. Some of the team then retired indoors to take a nap and recuperate for the evening practice.

This practice consisted of the classic animal kick set. Animal kicks (I realize this is a peculiar name for a set and I am afraid I do not know of its origin) are simply ten 100's on 1:40 kicking as fast as possible. The women’s team tackled this set in the first hour of practice while the men’s team lifted weights. Throughout the set, the team was encouraging each other to persevere, despite our collective fatigue. This positivity makes it much easier to forget about the soreness and pain of the set and focus instead on putting forth all you have.

For the second hour of practice, the women’s team lifted while the men took to the pool. Our lifting was divided into three stations in which there were four or more individual lifts. The practice ended with everyone doing sit ups and passing a medicine ball down the line we were formed in – a tough exercise developed by captain Heidi Niespodzany.

To end the day, the women’s team was surprised with pizza provided from the Panther favorite, DaVince’s Pizzeria. As a way of releasing some stress from the past week, we also stood in a circle on the beach and all shared one or more positive aspects of our training trip thus far. It was a great way to refocus as a team before the final stretch of our time here in Ft. Lauderdale.

Fun in the sun...part V

With the UWM swimming team down in Florida on their annual training trip, we thought it would be fun to have a member of the team share their thoughts each day on the UWM Blog.

The Panthers are in sunny Fort Lauderdale, training at Pinecrest Academy, both short and long course.They will be on the trip through the 15th of January before resuming the regular season schedule second semester against Carthage College on Jan. 14.

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The fifth entry comes from senior Brady Huemann:

After an eventful afternoon off on Sunday, our luck had run out and the Panthers had to enter the pool once again on Monday morning. We woke up to find that our muscles were still aching and we were about to embark on another day of tough practices. Even the sky was weeping for us as we walked outside and were welcomed by a warm Florida mist. Although it was raining and we were tired and sore, nothing was going to stop us from getting into the pool and training like the champions that we are.

Our challenge for the morning was a grueling set of 5 x 300 freestyles best average. The pain reached from our shoulders down to our feet and the intensity of the pain increased as the set went on. We lost some swimmers due to injuries during the set but for those who toughed it out, the accomplishment of completion was rewarding. After morning practice, my van led by coach Brittany Sayler enjoyed a delicious breakfast to fill us with energy for the afternoon practice.

Once the sun came out, many people went down to the beach to get their tan on and splash in the ocean. I would like to say that I enjoyed this fun but that would be a lie. I accidentally took a much needed three-hour nap instead, which interfered with my usual card games with Maggi, Evan, and Chris. Before we knew it, our fun in the sun was over and we had to prepare to go back to Pine Crest for our afternoon practice.

We mentally and physically tried to prepare our bodies for our test set of goal 50's (or 100's if you are lucky enough to be a distance swimmer). The 50's seemed more difficult than ever and it seemed nearly impossible for me as well as many others to reach their goal times. Each 50 became harder and harder as my arms and legs began to give out. Eventually, we finished our 20 x 50's and coach Kyle gave us the good news that we didn’t have to do a third set. I was so happy that I embraced some of my lane mates with a hug (I am not sure if they necessarily appreciated it though).

After a rough day of practices, our van was in a good mood and we celebrated with our usual after-practice ritual of singing and rocking out in the van. We ended the night in a heart-wrenching performance of Bohemian Rhapsody where everyone joined in and sang with the voices that God gave them. It was truly a moving performance. Maggi, Chris, and I then enjoyed a delicious meal at Burger-Fi, which for those who don’t know, has probably one of the coolest pop machines in the world. We created many different concoctions of our favorite drinks.

Well, everything is going great here down in Florida and both the guys and girls teams are working harder than ever in order to be the best once conference rolls around.

Fun in the sun...part IV

With the UWM swimming team down in Florida on their annual training trip, we thought it would be fun to have a member of the team share their thoughts each day on the UWM Blog.

The Panthers are in sunny Fort Lauderdale, training at Pinecrest Academy, both short and long course.They will be on the trip through the 15th of January before resuming the regular season schedule second semester against Carthage College on Jan. 14.

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The fourth entry post comes from junior Maggi Beck:

Today is Sunday, so we have been in Florida for six days now. Everyone was sore and tired going into the morning practice but our hopes were high because we had the afternoon off. The whole team was together for the first hour of practice and we did a quick kick/sprint set. It was a good set to get our heart rates high in the little amount of time that we had. After an hour, the lucky people that lift weights three times a week, which is over three-fourths of the team, got out and went to the weight room. I am not sure what they did in there, but I heard it was hot and packed with people. The distance and IM swimmers continued to swim in the pool for an hour. We did Melvins, which is a stand-up set that a guy named Melvin used to do and he did really well once so we copy him. The set was pretty hard but because the sun was shining it did not seem as bad.

After practice, we had so much time so I got my suit on and headed toward the beach. There were a lot of activities to choose from during the day. One group of twelve people and coach Dave Joyce went deep-sea fishing and were lead by a crazy captain. Another group went shopping at the mall; Chloe bought a really nice Nike jacket that was worth the trip. Some people had relatives living in the area so they went and visited them. The last group went with Coach Kyle to a place called Pramanti Brothers. I went along with this group but I did not get their number-two seller, which is a burger with coleslaw and french fries on it.

Then Brady, Evan, CJ and I played hearts by the pool for a while. The game was intense, but Evan won and Brady lost by quite a bit. It was time to go to our team dinners. The boys went to Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co. and the girls went to Aruba for our second year in a row. It was nice to get dressed up with all of the girls. The food was really good and so were the conversations.

After supper, Brady and I were trying to get into some trouble. We searched for a good hour for some, but we ended up just chatting with some friends at the cabana by the pool. I went back to bed and got locked in the bathroom because the door is off its hinges and Randee had to save me. Overall, it was a very successful day for the Panthers in Ft. Lauderdale.

Fun in the sun...part III

With the UWM swimming team down in Florida on their annual training trip, we thought it would be fun to have a member of the team share their thoughts each day on the UWM Blog.

The Panthers are in sunny Fort Lauderdale, training at Pinecrest Academy, both short and long course.They will be on the trip through the 15th of January before resuming the regular season schedule second semester against Carthage College on Jan. 14.

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The third entry comes from senior Nathan Rahe:

"FINNA QUAD RUNNERS!!" This is the war cry that is shouted by the five members of the group of guys that always warm-up together before breaking up into the separate groups.

To begin this rough day of training, the men's team began with an hour of football field suicides, sprints, and abs. The intensity that was brought out during these dreadful 100-yard dashes pushed everyone to the max, gaining the most effort toward the workout from everyone. At the conclusion of dryland, we quickly changed into our ratty, tight speedos and hopped into the pool for another hour-long “fun activity.” This set began with a few hundred yards of warm-up, then quickly turned into our main set that was a total of 2,250 yards long and max effort. It consisted of a 500 swim, 250 kick, 400 swim, 200 kick, 300 swim, 150 kick, 200 swim, 100 kick, 100 swim, and a 50 kick. It took the majority of us about 26-27 minutes to finish. Even though it was a long, hard, straight swim, we all put forth our best effort to swim as quickly as we could to get our best times.

After a rough morning practice, the team went to the beach to bask in the lovely Florida rays, swim in the ocean and have fun on the beach. Others….were too tired to come to the beach and just wanted to rest before the infamous “Pain Train” set we had to come later that evening.

This set is Coach Kyle’s favorite set to give us during training trip. This was the last time I was going to have to swim this distance IM set (THANK GOODNESS!). 5x 400IM’s + 100 Fly was the challenge of the night to complete on various intervals. Many of the sprinters were given the option to do the set short course instead of long course, and many stepped up to the challenge. This was the first time we did this set in a two hour practice, which many of us seemed to like better than lifting before hand. The team all successfully completed Kyle’s mental challenge and all the seniors cheered to it being the last time we ever had to do that set. It was indeed a great day to be a Panther.

Lastly, from Mike Brady’s infamous words of wisdom, Finna Quad Runners went above and beyond for today's rough day of training.

Fun in the sun...part II

With the UWM swimming team down in Florida on their annual training trip, we thought it would be fun to have a member of the team share their thoughts each day on the UWM Blog.

The Panthers are in sunny Fort Lauderdale, training at Pinecrest Academy, both short and long course.They will be on the trip through the 15th of January before resuming the regular season schedule second semester against Carthage College on Jan. 14.

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The second entry post comes from sophomore Brianna Huth:

The Panthers swim team started out day three of the training trip looking strong at the duel meet against the Tigers. The men held strong leads in all of their events and finished 1-2-3 consecutively, while the women swam outstanding relays and really brought it home in all their individual events.

Day three also brought along some excitement, starting with a break in of one of the team vans in the Jamba Juice parking lot, which lead to a search for the van members' belongings that had been taken...which were later located by the local police in near by trash cans...guess they weren't happy with the swim bag contents of wet towels, practice suits, caps and goggles, SORRY.

Later, after a lounge by the beach in the beautiful 70 degree Florida weather, a group walked off to Burger Fi, a new "high-tech" burger joint with touch screen soda dispensers where you could add any flavor you wanted to your sodas! Very, very exciting. On the walk home we passed the team's old hotel for training trip, Lauderdale By The Sea, and were shocked to see "KEEP AWAY, HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS" signs located all over the exterior of the building. Way to go coaches on finding our new hotel, Ocean Manor.

Starting to bring the day to a close, fire alarms directed the team out of the hotel and then informed them of the false alarm, which was followed by a show off down on the beach between Jordan Diel and Mike Schalla in a 200IM ocean swim which brought a crowd. Panthers then brought it on during their second practice of the day swimming through a tough practice and weight session.

Three days down and much more excitement to come on the Panthers Training Trip 2012, stay tuned!

Fun in the sun...part I

With the UWM swimming team down in Florida on their annual training trip, we thought it would be fun to have a member of the team share their thoughts each day on the UWM Blog.

The Panthers are in sunny Fort Lauderdale, training at Pinecrest Academy, both short and long course.They will be on the trip through the 15th of January before resuming the regular season schedule second semester against Carthage College on Jan. 14.

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The first blog entry comes from senior Jordan Diel.

Day 2 of training trip (day one was travel day):

The day started at 7:15 in the morning with the always exciting trip to the pool, where very little is said and much is implied. Day two was a couple degrees warmer than the previous day, which is encouraging mentally when having to jump into a pool in the 40 degree weather. The set for the morning was a kick set that started at an 800 and then decreased in half until we finished with 25. As you swam through the set you had to beat the previous time divided by two. The set went by rather quickly, which is rare for swim practices. We ended up getting out about 10 minutes early, which always puts everyone in a good mood.

With the day starting to heat up, most of the team hit the beach. Since most of the team is from northern states, with the exception of a couple people, the amount of sun that has seen people’s bodies has been very limited over the last five months, which makes for some interesting tan lines and tones of red (Mike Brady, Brian Vernik, and Liz Bishop). While at the beach soaking up the rays, Sky Boggio found a new calling in life that was drastically different from his plan of going to law school. A school of manatees swam by so Sky swam out to frolic with the gentle mammals. As he grunted and squeaked with them and felt their hairy backs he connected with them in such a way that he felt as if they were peering into his very soul.

After spending some quality time on the beach and darkening our complexion, we hit the pool again. The sprinters were rewarded with an awesome practice of chutes and starts, which made the sprinters giddy like school girls. This completed day two of the last training before the end of the world.

Postgame Report - Green Bay at Milwaukee

Game #17 – Milwaukee 64, Green Bay 63

Full Recap and Stats

Player Of The Game: It is a tough choice as the Panthers got a variety of contributions. Kaylon Williams hit the game-winning shot and also had seven assists, plus Ryan Allen had a double-double. But where would the Panthers have been without Paris Gulley Saturday night? He scored just enough in the first half to keep the Panthers in it and then came through at the foul line late to give Milwaukee a chance. He also got the assist on the Williams game-winner.

Key Stat: 32.3 – that’s what Green Bay shot in the second half after shooting 56.7 percent in the first 20 minutes.

News and Notes: UWM has now won 12 of its last 14 meetings with Green Bay in Milwaukee … the Panthers have now won 13 of their last 14 regular season league games … Milwaukee is now 7-1 at home this season and has won 81 of its last 100 regular season home league games … UWM is now 5-1 this season in games decided by 5 points or less … the Kaylon Williams three at the buzzer to win the game is the first buzzer-beater for Milwaukee since Deion James beat UIC with a 3 in 2009 … Tone Boyle did hit a jumper with a little over two seconds left to beat Northern Iowa last season … Williams also had a three at the horn that sent the game at Detroit to overtime last season … Ryan Allen collected his second double-double of the season … Paris Gulley led the Panthers in scoring for the second-straight game … this was the eighth time this season Kaylon Williams has had at least seven assists in a game … Milwaukee’s 14 three-point attempts are the fewest the Panthers have had since a win over IUPUI in November … the win has Milwaukee in a three-way tie with Cleveland State and Youngstown State atop the Horizon League. Butler and Valparaiso can both move into that tie with road wins Sunday.

Up Next: UWM stays home for two more league games. The Panthers host Wright State Thursday and Green Bay Saturday.

"Sandy Botham Show" Set To Air This Week

It's about that time of the season for the premier of the "Sandy Botham Show" on Time Warner Cable Sports 32. The initial episode for the 2011-12 season was taped this week and is set to air on the following dates.

Thursday, January 5
5 p.m.
10:30 p.m.

Friday, January 6
7:30 a.m.
8:30 a.m.

Be sure to check in and catch all of the action!

Postgame Report - Milwaukee at Western Michigan

Game #16 – Western Michigan 72, Milwaukee 61

Full Recap and Stats

Player Of The Game: Kaylon Williams and Paris Gulley both put up strong performances. Williams had a season-high 12 assists, while Gulley scored 16 points.

Key Stat: The game was won at the foul line. Western Michigan had 37 free throw attempts to Milwaukee nine, with the Broncos outscoring the Panthers, 30-3.

News and Notes: Milwaukee gave up more than 70 points for just the second time this season … Kaylon Williams’ 12 assists marked a season-high and are tied for the fourth-most in a game in UWM’s Division I history … it is also the second-highest tally of Williams’ career, as he had 14 at UIC last season … Williams played 37 minutes, the first time in three games where he did not play all 40 minutes … UWM’s 36 three-point attempts were a season-high and are the most since the Panthers tried 37 in a win at Detroit last season … the 36 attempts are also tied for the seventh-most in Division I history … the Panthers have just one regular season non-conference game remaining. It will be against an opponent to be determined in the annual BracketBusters contest.

Up Next: UWM is headed home and back into league play, starting with a Saturday night game against Green Bay.