Weekly Release #4
12/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Upcoming Schedule
Thu-Sat., Dec. 5-7 -- at U.S. Open (Minneapolis, Minn.), 9 a.m. / 6 p.m. CST
Thursday, Jan. 2 -- at Rainbow Invitational (Honolulu, Hawaii), 3 p.m. HST
This Week: At the U.S. Open
Four members of the University of Michigan women's swimming team -- junior Emily-Clare Fenn (Westport, Conn./Staples HS), sophomore Amy McCullough (West Bloomfield, Mich./Mercy HS) and juniors Kelli Stein (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Waterson HS) and Anne Weilbacher (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis De Salles HS) -- will compete at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Fenn is scheduled to swim in the 800-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley, while McCullough will take to the pool for freestyle races of 400, 200 and 100 yards. Stein is scheduled to swim the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and Weilbacher will compete in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly.
Last Meet
The Maize and Blue placed third out of 10 teams at the Nike Cup (Nov. 21-23) at North Carolina's Koury Natatorium. Visiting Chapel Hills, N.C., for the second time in November, the Wolverines earned 534 points, falling behind No. 10 North Carolina's top score of 959 and Virginia Tech's total of 573.5 points. U-M jumped out to second place after the first day of competition after its 400-yard medley relay squad composed of Erin Abbey (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield HS), Kelli Stein, Anne Weilbacher and Amy McCullough set a Nike Cup record with a time of 3:40.57. McCullough continued to have strong individual performances at the meet, helping Michigan remain in the top three by earning the team's first NCAA automatic qualifying time of the season, in the 200-yard freestyle. Junior diver Tealin Kelemen (Riverton, N.J./Moorestown Friends School) earned wins in both the one- and three-meter diving events, setting a personal best with her three-meter championship score of 532.85.
Duo Earns Two Weekly Big Ten Honors
Sophomore Amy McCullough and junior Tealin Kelemen were selected for Big Ten Conference weekly awards for their efforts in the Wolverines' third-place finish last weekend (Nov. 21-23) at the Nike Cup. McCullough was named co-Swimmer of the Week with Wisconsin sophomore Carly Piper after posting an NCAA automatic qualifying time and four consideration times, while Kelemen earned her second Diver of the Week honor this season with titles in both the one- and three-meter diving competitions.
"T" Time
Junior diver Tealin Kelemen has taken individual titles in five of six events in which she has competed this season. Kelemen took first in the three-meter competitions in the Nike Cup and against both Florida (Oct. 25) and North Carolina (Nov. 1-2). Kelemen also won the title in the one-meter event in the Nike Cup and in U-M's dual meet against the Tar Heels.
Keep On Rockin' in the Freestyle
Laura Kaznecki (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Western HS) has set season bests in the 50-yard freestyle in three successive meets this season. In the Nike Cup, Kaznecki lowered her top time to 23.78. Freshman Abby Seskevics (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) set a personal best as one of four participants to improved their times in the 100-yard freestyle at the Nike Cup. Seskevics' mark of 52.17 is Michigan's fastest time in the event so far this season. Emily-Clare Fenn, Amy McCullough and Lori Eberwein (Maple Glen, Pa./Maple Glen HS) all set season bests is the 500-yard freestyle. Both Fenn and McCullough earned NCAA consideration times in the 1,650-yard freestyle during Nike Cup competition.
Faster 'Fly
Junior co-captain Anne Weilbacher set season bests with NCAA consideration times in both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly at the Nike Cup with results of 54.20 and 1:59.17, respectively.
Abbey and Stein Are Doing Just Fine
Senior co-captain Erin Abbey and junior Kelli Stein earned NCAA consideration times both distances of their respective specialties. Abbey had consideration times of 55.17 and 1:58.42 in both the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes at the Nike Cup, while Stein has posted consideration standards of 1:02.26 in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Nike Cup and 2:17.12 in the 200-yard breaststroke event against North Carolina (Nov. 1-2).
Leaders and Some of the Best
The Wolverines have named two captains for the 2002-03 season, as senior Erin Abbey and junior Anne Weilbacher have been selected to lead the Maize and Blue. Abbey earned All-America Honorable Mention last season, while Weilbacher is one of the most decorated Wolverines, with four NCAA All-America Honorable Mentions.
Head Coach Jim Richardson
Michigan head coach Jim Richardson is in his 19th season at the helm of the Wolverines. Over that time, his teams have dominated the Big Ten Conference, winning 12 consecutive league titles from 1987-98 and adding the team's 13th in 2001. During the 1998 season, Richardson recorded his 100th career dual-meet victory, against Indiana University on Jan. 30. Since he took over the program in 1985-86, Michigan has finished in the NCAA top 10 all but six years. In 1995, Michigan finished in second place as a team and followed that in 1996 by hosting the NCAA Championships and finishing third.
Let's Look at the Polls
The Michigan Wolverines are ranked in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America national swimming and diving poll, released Nov. 27, for the first time this season at No. 18. The Wolverines have competed against two squads in the top 11, No. 2 Florida and No. 10 North Carolina, while the Big Ten Conference boasts a total of five teams in the poll.
CSCAA Division I Top 25 (Nov. 27)
Rk. Team Pts. Last 1. Auburn (8) 200 1 2. Florida 192 3 3. Georgia 180 2 4. Stanford 173 4 5. USC 168 T-7 6. SMU 160 5 7. Texas 159 6 8. Arizona 141 9 9. California 139 T-7 10. North Carolina 127 11 11. Virginia 121 10 12. Wisconsin 107 13 13. Indiana 102 14 14. UCLA 95 12 Maryland 95 18 16. Purdue 71 19 17. Notre Dame 69 15 18. MICHIGAN 59 -- 19. Missouri 56 20 20. Arizona State 47 16 21. Penn State 39 17 22. Texas A&M 30 T-23 South Carolina 30 21 24. Florida State 16 T-23 25. Washington 12 -- Tennessee 12 --
On the Horizon
The Maize and Blue is not scheduled to compete again until Jan. 2, 2003, when it races at the Rainbow Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii, as part of its annual winter training trip.
Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
