Michigan
Big Ten Championships (Day 3)
Shakespeare Leads U-M to Big Ten Runner-Up Finish
2/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
U-M was led by senior All-American Shannon Shakespeare (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Kelvin SS), who placed first in the 100-yard freestyle at 48.90 after setting a Big Ten Championships record in the event preliminaries. Shakespeare's prelims time of 48.80 broke the previous record set by former U-M swimmer and current undergraduate assistant coach Jennie Eberwein in 1998 (49.07). Junior All-American Melissa Sugar (Newburgh, Ind./Evansville Day School) also performed well in the 100 freestyle, placing fourth with an NCAA consideration time of 50:00.
Michigan's other first-place finish came in the final event of the competition. The team of Shakespeare, Sugar, junior All-American Jennifer Crisman (Hudsonville, Mich./Jenison HS) and freshman Laura Kaznecki (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Western HS) finished the 400-yard freestyle relay with an NCAA consideration time of 3:19.44.
Overall, Shakespeare was part of four record-shattering performances in three days -- two on Thursday and one on Friday to go with today's record. She won three individual events (200-yard individual medley, 200 freestyle, 100 freestyle) and swam on three winning relay teams (200 freestyle, 200 medley, 400 freestyle) in addition to a second-place relay (200 medley) to account for 98.5 of Michigan's points.
The 1,650-yard freestyle event featured three Wolverine freshmen among the top eight finishers. Jenay Karlson (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) led the charge with her second-place finish in an NCAA consideration time of 16:35.59. Lindsay Johnson (Oxford, Mich./Marian HS) finished sixth and Mara Sveum (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins HS) placed eighth with times of 16:51.25 and 16:54.08, respectively.
The pair of sophomore Lindsay Carlberg (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) and freshman Erin Abbey (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield HS) placed third and eighth, respectively, in the 200-yard backstroke. Carlberg swam in 1:58.88 while Abbey finished in 1:59.53, both of which are NCAA consideration times.
Other top performers included the 200-yard breaststroke duo of freshman Traci Valasco (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) and senior Emily Cocks (Albion, Mich./Albion HS). Valasco turned in a fifth-place performance at 2:18.05, while Cocks placed 13th (2:20.36).
In platform diving, an exhibition event, senior Hanna Shin (Inverness, Ill./Fremd HS) placed fifth with 361.40 points and teammate Amanda Crews (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central HS) finished sixth at 348.45.
The meet marks the final Big Ten Championships for seniors Shakespeare, Cocks and Shin.
U-M's divers will return to action Friday through Sunday, March 10-12, at the NCAA Diving Zone Meet in Minneapolis, Minn. The swimmers' next meet is Thursday through Saturday, March 16-18, at the NCAA National Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. The Wolverines placed seventh in last year's NCAA meet.
Final Team Standings
1. Minnesota 562.50 2. MICHIGAN 501 3. Northwestern 459 4. Penn State 435 5. Wisconsin 423.50 6. Indiana 330 7. Illinois 258.50 8. Iowa 232 9. Purdue 206 10. Ohio State 196.50 11. Michigan State 95
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 3)
(Preliminary time in parentheses if faster than finals time)
1,650-yard Freestyle
1. Melissa Loehandorf, Iowa 16:33.95# 2. Jenay Karlson, U-M 16:35.59# 6. Lindsay Johnson, U-M 16:51.25 8. Mara Sveum, U-M 16:54.08 14. Julie Kern, U-M 17:04.10
200-yard Backstroke
1. Tashianna Bohm, NU 1:58.19* 3. Lindsay Carlberg, U-M 1:58.88# (1:58.48#) 8. Erin Abbey, U-M 1:59.53# 20. Laura Kaznecki, U-M 2:04.00 30. Linday Maas, U-M 2:05.67 33. Kathleen Gilbert, U-M 2:06.64
100-yard Freestyle
1. Shannon Shakespeare, U-M 48.90* (48.80!*) 4. Melissa Sugar, U-M 50:00# 49. Heather DeHainaut, U-M 53.21 50. Viviana Rodriguez, U-M 53.29
200-yard Breaststroke
1. Amy Balcerzak, NU 2:12.40* 5. Traci Valasco, U-M 2:18.05 13. Emily Cocks, U-M 2:20.36 (2:19.97) 17. Andrea Kurrle, U-M 2:21.79 23. Gwen Weingart, U-M 2:22.28 27. Lisbeth Goble, U-M 2:22.54 32. Laura Sadler, U-M 2:23.48
200-yard Butterfly
1. Merritt Adams, NU 2:00.16# 37. Brooke Smith, U-M 2:09.48
Platform Diving (exhibition)
1. Sara Reiling, IU 417.50^ 5. Hanna Shin, U-M 361.40 6. Amanda Crews, U-M 348.45
400-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Michigan 3:19.44# (Shannon Shakespeare, Jennifer Crisman, Melissa Sugar, Laura Kaznecki) ^ NCAA zone diving qualifying mark * NCAA automatic qualifying time # NCAA consideration time ! Big Ten Championships record
Day 1 Results | Day 2 Results
Contact: Justin Pfauth (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
