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.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
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.
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.
Friday, January 13, 2012
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.
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.
****************************************************************************
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
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.
****************************************************************************
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.
****************************************************************************
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.
****************************************************************************
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 ;)
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.
****************************************************************************
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.
****************************************************************************
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 ;)
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
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.
****************************************************************************
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.
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.
****************************************************************************
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.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
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.
****************************************************************************
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.
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.
****************************************************************************
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.
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