Weekly Release #4
11/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Nov. 17 -- vs. Texas, Michigan State (Canham Natatorium), 9 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 18 -- vs. Texas [non-scoring] (Canham Natatorium), 3 p.m.
Fri-Sat., Dec. 1-2 -- at EMU Invitational (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 6 p.m./10 a.m.
Fri-Sun., Dec. 1-3 -- at Texas Invitational (Austin, Texas), 10 a.m./6 p.m.
This Weekend
The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team (1-2) will be at Canham Natatorium this weekend to host a double dual against No. 7 Texas and Michigan State on Friday (Nov. 17) at 3 p.m., and a a non-scored event against Texas on Saturday (Nov. 18) at 9 a.m. (Note: This is a change from the original schedule.)
The Competition
Texas -- This will be the Maize and Blue's first meeting against No. 7 Texas in dual competition. The Wolverines competed at the Texas Invitational during the 1995-96 season, but there was no team scoring.
Texas will be competing in its third meet on the season. The Longhorns are coming off a third-place finish with 289 points at the Southern Methodist Classic on Nov. 4 at the Perkins Natatorium in Dallas, behind No. 6 Auburn (313) and No. 14 Wisconsin (296). In Texas' first outing it was victorious at the Big 12 Relays (Oct. 27) at Robinson Natatorium in Lawrence, Kan., with 117 points in front of Kansas (75), Texas A&M (73), Missouri (71) and Iowa State (63).
The Longhorns are tutored by co-head coaches Jill Sterkel and Mike Walker and are led by senior Colleen Lann, who competes in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyle events. The Longhorns on the Internet: www.TexasSports.com.
Michigan State -- Michigan has owned the Spartans in the all-time series, taking 23 of 25 meets. Last season the Wolverines defeated MSU 170-129 in East Lansing. The Spartans come to Canham Natatorium with first-year head coach James Lutz.
This season, Michigan State has defeated Iowa 132-116 on Oct. 28 and finished second with 184 points to Northwestern's 212 at the Northwestern Relays (Oct. 29). The Wolverines defeated Iowa 202-96 on Oct. 28 at Canham. The Spartans on the Internet: www.msuspartans.com.
Prosperous Weekend
The Wolverines won the 2000 Continental Airlines Classic Friday (Nov. 10), edging out No. 22 Big Ten Conference rival Penn State and No. 2-ranked California at Rice University. Michigan finished with a final team total of 209 to Penn State's runner-up finish of 206. Cal finished third with 205, followed by Rice (177), Illinois (162) and Missouri (140).
In the final race, Michigan freshman Samantha Arsenault (Peabody, Mass./Gardner HS) touched out Penn State's Haley Cope in the 400-yard freestyle relay by one one-hundreth of a second to win the event and the Classic. Penn State finished second with a time of 3:25.65.
Jennifer Crisman (Hudsonville, Mich./Jenison HS) picked up a victory in the 50-yard freestyle (23.80) and was second in the 100-yard freestyle (51.81). Erin Abbey (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield HS) won Race B of the 200-yard backstroke in 2:03.63 and Emily Fenn (Westport, Conn./Gardner HS) won Race B of the 500-yard freestyle (5:00.63).
Head Coach Jim Richardson's Comments
On winning the Continental Airlines Classic ... "It was a solid meet. Cal was missing one of its Olympians, so that had a lot to do with the outcome. It was a tough meet across the board and it showed how much improvement we have made in the last couple of weeks."
Rice Record-Setters
Michigan's 400-yard freestyle relay team of Jennifer Crisman, Melissa Sugar (Newburgh, Ind./Evansville Day School), Laura Kaznecki (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Western HS) and Arsenault finished first in 3:25.64, shattering the Rice Pool record of 3:27.67 set by SMU in January 2000.
Arsenault also reset the Rice Pool record in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:50.58, breaking the old mark of 4:51.75 set by SMU's Naoko Imoto in January 2000.
Practice Makes Perfect
Michigan women's swimming and diving team concluded its weekend in Houston Saturday (Nov. 11) with the Rice Invitational. A day after winning the Continental Airlines Classic and with no team scores being kept, the Wolverine swimmers used the Rice Invitational to test the waters, swimming different events.
As she did all weekend, freshman Samantha Arsenault led the Wolverines at the Rice Invitational. In her only individual event on the day, Arsenault finished second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.19.
Other Wolverine highlights included: senior Jennifer Crisman, second in the 100-yard butterfly (57.08) and seventh in the 200-yard individual medley (2:11.56); freshman Annie Weilbacher (Columbus,Ohio/St. Francis DeSales HS), fifth in the 100-yard freestyle (53.54) and seventh in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.88); and sophomore Erin Abbey, sixth in the 500-yard freestyle (5:11.63).
Speedo America's CSCAA Coaches Poll
Michigan is ranked ninth in the preseason CSCAA Coaches Poll. The poll comes out every two weeks of competition, and the next poll will be released on Nov. 16, 2000.
CSCAA Coaches Preseason Poll (10/26/00)
1. Arizona (6) 174 2. California (1) 162 Stanford 162 4. Georgia 149 5. Southern Cal 148 6. Auburn 146 7. Texas 128 8. Florida 118 9. MICHIGAN 112 North Carolina 112 11. UCLA 105 12. Virginia 100 13. Southern Methodist 96 14. Wisconsin 70 Northwestern 70 16. Minnesota 52 17. Miami (Fla.) 47 18. Notre Dame 40 19. Arizona State 39 20. Villanova 37 21. Nebraska 31 22. Penn State 30 23. Tennessee 29 24. Maryland 27 25. Indiana 23
Contact: Jason Binge (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
