Saturday is a special day for both the NIU men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads.

It’s also an opportunity to add victories to the dual meet ledgers; a chance to build up some confidence; a time to show off for the parents; and a farewell for the seniors.

The 1 p.m. coed meet is at Anderson Hall Pool against University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s teams both defeated the University of Illinois-Chicago with the UWM men improving to 7-1 in duals thanks to a 120.5-106.5 win over the Flames. The women climbed to 9-0 after a 124-98 triumph over UIC.

Both NIU teams beat UIC earlier and followed up with wins over Western Illinois last weekend. Coach Mike Burt’s NIU women (4-5) topped WIU (138-103) before losing to Iowa State (126-113).

Dave Clark’s 8-5 men downed WIU (139-104) prior to losing to Northwestern (141-196).

On the women’s side, Stacey Hartzer may be the only graduating senior, but her loss will be a major one. She demonstrated her scoring ability by winning three individual events versus the Westerwinds. Hartzer currently owns NIU’s school record for the 500-yard freestyle (5:04.55), 1,000-yard freestyle (10:27.86), and 1,650-yard freestyle (17:25.86).

One other highlight from the WIU meet was Jennifer Horoky’s victory on the one-meter board. Her 257.70 tally earned Horoky a berth to the NCAA Zone C Qualification Meet.

Seven swimmers complete their careers on the men’s side and Clark is quick to admit they’ll be missed. “There are a whole lot of points and some school records leaving with this group. It will really be very difficult to replace them.”

Making their final home appearance are Greg Anderson, Randy Faherty, Ed Sanchez, Steve Sanders, Ralph Sprake-Jones, Jayson Warn, and Bill Zolna.