Weekly Release #7

Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 3 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 1 p.m.
Thu-Sat., Feb. 22-24 -- at Big Ten Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.), Noon/7 p.m. CST

This Weekend
The ninth-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team will take on Big Ten Conference rival Michigan State in dual-meet action Saturday (Feb. 3), beginning at 1 p.m. at McCaffree Pool in East Lansing, Mich.

The Competition
Michigan State -- The Spartans (3-3, 0-2 Big Ten) recently defeated Oakland University 140-98 (Jan. 20). The Spartans have a 5-63 all-time record against the Maize and Blue, with the Spartans getting their last win over U-M in 1976, 63-60. MSU finished 10th of 10 teams at the 2000 Big Ten Championships. Last season U-M defeated the Spartans 210-123 (Feb. 5). Michigan State on the Internet: www.msuspartans.com.

Last Time in the Pool
The Wolverines improved to 3-0 in Big Ten Conference action with a 132-110 dual meet win at Indiana (Jan. 27) at Bloomington, Ind. U-M won eight of the 13 events. Seniors Chris Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg HS) and Scott Werner (Haymarket, Va./Paul VI HS) paced the way as each finished with two victories. Thompson won the 500-yard freestyle (4:32.47) and 1,000-yard freestyle (9:41.91), while Werner took firsts in the 200-yard individual medley (1:50.59) and 200-yard backstroke (2:01.42).

U-M's underclassmen also had strong performances for the Maize and Blue as freshman Dan Ketchum (Cincinnati, Ohio/Syracuse HS) won the 200-yard freestyle in an NCAA consideration time of 1:37.98. Sophomore Paul Ely (Beaverton, Ore./Sunset HS) took first in the 200-yard butterfly (1:50.40) while sophomores Ryan Earhart (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier HS) and junior Jason Mallory (Granger, Ind./Penn HS) finished 1-2 in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:48.22 and 1:51.22, respectively.

Back to the Future
Last season the Wolverines headed into the Big Ten Championships with a 5-0 Big Ten dual meet record. This weekend, the Maize and Blue travels to East Lansing, Mich., for its last conference dual meet of the season, against the Spartans (Feb. 3). A win over the MSU would improve U-M's record to 4-0 heading into this season's Big Ten Championships Feb. 22-24 at Minneapolis, Minn. Michigan has gone undefeated in the Big Ten dual meets 41 times in the program's history.

Big Ten Coben
Freshman Jason Coben (Newtown Square, Pa./Maple Newtown HS) has had a standout rookie season with an impressive 11 first-place performances and three second-place performances in 15 competitions this season. He continued that this past weekend with another second-place finish on the one-meter board with a score of 307.80 at Indiana (Jan. 27). Coben has already achieved NCAA zone meet qualifying for both events with a score of 323.10 (vs. Florida, Nov. 4) on one-meter and 322.30 (vs. Purdue and Penn State, Jan. 20) on three-meter. U-M's last Big Ten one-meter diving champion was Ron Merritt (1980), while Matthew Chelich (1979) was the last Wolverine to receive the honor in the three-meter event.

Coben's NCAA Zone Qualifying Scores

One-meter	323.10 vs. Florida (Nov. 4) 307.80 at Indiana (Jan. 27) 317.30 vs. Purdue and Penn State (Jan. 20)
Three-meter	322.30 vs. Purdue and Penn State (Jan. 20) 317.40 vs. California (Jan. 6)

Wolverines in the National Rankings
Six Michigan swimmers are among the national top 25 in their respective events in the latest rankings (Jan. 23), led by Chris Thompson, who is ranked in the top three nationally in three events, including No. 1 by a full three seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle (8:57.18). Thompson is listed third in both the 500 freestyle (4:22.87) and the 1,650 freestyle (15:06.40).

Scott Werner also holds three top-25 rankings, including the No. 3 time in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:58.35) and a No. 6 listing in the 100 breaststroke (55.23). Garrett Mangieri owns Michigan's other top-eight ranking, sitting in eighth in the 200 freestyle (1:37.42).

U-M Individuals in the National Top 25 Rankings (1/23/01)

Name	Event (Yards)	Rank	Time	Date
Chris Thompson	500 freestyle	3rd	4:22.87	Jan. 20
	1,000 freestyle	1st	8:57.18	Jan. 5
	1,650 freestyle	3rd	15:06.40	Jan. 19
Scott Werner	200 individual medley	18th	1:50.14	Jan. 20
	100 breaststroke	6th	55.23	Dec. 2
	200 breaststroke	3rd	1:58.35	Dec. 3
Dan Ketchum	200 freestyle	11th	1:38.02	Dec. 2
	500 freestyle	10th	4:25.22	Dec. 1
	400 individual medley	25th	3:55.53	Dec. 2
Garrett Mangieri	200 freestyle	8th	1:37.42	Jan. 6
	500 freestyle	24th	4:27.92	Jan. 6
Tim Siciliano	500 freestyle	13th	4:25.84	Jan. 20
	1,000 freestyle	15th	9:12.62(s)	Jan. 19
	1,650 freestyle	9th	15:16.84	Jan. 19
Jeff Hopwood	200 breaststroke	14th	2:01.03	Nov. 3
(s) 1,000-yard split time from 1,650-yard freestyle race

National Rankings
U-M is ranked No. 9 in the latest CSCAA Coaches Poll (Jan. 18). Other Big Ten schools in the rankings are No. 16 Minnesota, No. 17 Penn State, No. 19 Purdue and No. 21 Wisconsin. The next poll is scheduled to be released Feb. 1.

Speedo America's CSCAA Coaches Poll (1/18/01)

1. Texas 197 2. Stanford 187 3. Tennessee 183 4. Texas A&M 171 5. Auburn 168 6. Arizona 164 7. California 157 8. Southern Cal 146 9. MICHIGAN 134 10. Florida 131 11. Virginia 116 12. Georgia 103 13. Arizona State 100 14. North Carolina 99.5 15. Brigham Young 85 16. Minnesota 81.5 17. Penn State 67 18. Pittsburgh 61 19. Purdue 55 20. Harvard 46 21. Wisconsin 32 22. Southern Methodist 30 23. Kentucky 24 24. Alabama 22 25. Georgia Tech 18

Contact: Karen Simpson (734) 763-4423