The defending Horizon League champion Oakland Golden Grizzlies started off their season just where they left off, beating conference foe Milwaukee on the road.
Oakland sophomore Aleksandr Danielewski was a force to be reckoned with, sweeping the backstrokes and setting a new Milwaukee pool record in the 200 back with his 1:50.03. He was also 51.43 in winning the 100 back and added a third win with his 1:54.96 in the 200 IM to close the meet.
Also winning multiple events for Oakland were Jorden Merrilees (200 free in 1:40.42 and 500 free in 4:43.84) and freshman Ayrton Kasemets (100 breast in 59.14 and 200 breast in 2:10.18).
Oakland swept the breaststrokes on both sides, with Takara Martin adding two women’s wins to Kasemets’ two men’s victories. Martin was 1:05.38 and 2:21.93.
Also doubling up: Patricia Aschan won the 200 fly (2:08.09) and 200 IM (2:08.95) and Tricia Grant took both diving events, scoring 306.15 on 1-meter and 302.32 on 3-meter.
Milwaukee sophomore Natalie Johnson was impressive, winning three races including the first two individual events back-to-back. Johnson went 10:28.75 to pace the 1000 free, then got right back in the water for the next women’s event and won the 200 free with a 1:54.59.
Johnson took some much-needed rest before claiming the 500 free title after the first diving break in 5:10.28.
The Panthers also got two multiple wins from sprinter Anna Yontz, who bookended the first diving break with wins in the 50 free (24.04) and 100 free (52.54).
The Panther men also did well in the 1000, with Kenny Stelpflug winning in 9:48.06. That was one of five events Milwaukee took on the men’s side, with diver KJ Heger sweeping the 1-meter and 3-meter boards to lead the team in individual points.