Michigan
Big Ten Championships (Day 4)
Michigan Wraps Up Big Ten Championships in Fifth Place
2/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team concluded the Big Ten Conference Championships on Saturday evening (Feb. 23) at Canham Natatorium in fifth place with 343 points. Penn State, with 594.50 points, won its first Big Ten title in women's swimming and diving by edging out Indiana.
| | Laura Kaznecki helped Michigan finish second in the 400 freestyle relay. |
While more attention was focused on Indiana and Penn State in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Michigan squad posted its highest finish of the day with a runner-up performance. The team of sophomores Annie Weilbacher (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales HS) and Sara Johnson (West Bloomfield, Mich./Lahser HS) and juniors Erin Abbey (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield HS) and Laura Kaznecki (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Western HS) combined for an NCAA consideration time of 3:22.93. The second-place finish by the relay team tied Weilbacher's performance in the 100-yard butterfly for Michigan's highest finish at the 2002 Big Ten Championships.
The Wolverines also received a top-flight performance in the 1,650-yard freestyle from freshman Amy McCullough (West Bloomfield, Mich./Mercy HS) as she finished third in the 1,650-yard freestyle. With a mark of 16:27.76, McCullough earned an NCAA automatic qualifying time while also establishing a career best in the event. McCullough joined Weilbacher as the two Wolverines to post automatic qualifying times at the Big Ten Championships as Weilbacher posted a time of 54.50 in the preliminaries of the 100-yard butterfly on Friday.
Sophomore Emily-Clare Fenn (Westport, Conn./Staples HS) also competed in the 1,650-yard freestyle and was one of seven Wolverines to place in the top 15 on the final day of competition. Fenn earned an NCAA consideration mark in the mile with a time of 16:49.26 while placing 13th overall.
The backstroke remained a strong event as well for the Maize and Blue on Saturday. Michigan was able to place three people in the top 15 of the event, led by senior Lindsay Carlberg (Carmel, Indiana/Carmel HS). With an NCAA consideration time of 1:59.78, Carlberg placed seventh in the event, marking the fourth consecutive year she has placed seventh or higher in the 200-yard backstroke at the Big Ten Championships. Johnson and Abbey also scored points in the event as Johnson placed 11th with an NCAA consideration time of 2:00.74 and Abbey followed in 14th with an NCAA consideration time of 2:01.53.
Other Michigan competitors to place in the top 15 of their respective event included Weilbacher and Kelli Stein (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Waterson HS). Weilbacher's time of 51.19 placed 11th in the 100-yard freestyle and Stein finished 10th in the 200-yard breaststroke with an NCAA consideration mark of 2:17.21.
In diving, sophomore Tealin Kelemen (Riverton, N.J./Moorestown Friends School) and junior Kelly Vander Kuyl (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) both earned NCAA zone diving qualifying marks in the platform diving, which did not count in the team scoring. Kelemen finished fourth in the event with a score of 366.55 and Vander Kuyl was right on her heels in fifth place (365.30).
Michigan will compete at the Gopher Invitational on Sunday, March 3, in Minneapolis, Minn., before heading to Austin, Texas, to compete at the NCAA Championships from Thursday through Sunday, March 21-23.
Final Team Standings
1. Penn State 594.50 2. Indiana 561 3. Wisconsin 447 4. Northwestern 376.50 5. MICHIGAN 343 6. Purdue 318.50 7. Iowa 292 8. Illinois 287 9. Minnesota 226 10. Michigan State 139.50 11. Ohio State 116
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 4)
(Preliminary time in parentheses if faster than finals time)
1,650-yard Freestyle
1. Carly Piper, Wisconsin 16:16.25* 3. Amy McCullough, U-M 16:27.76* 13. Emily-Clare Fenn, U-M 16:49.26# 18. Lindsay Johnson, U-M 16:58.09# 24. Lori Eberwein, U-M 17:13.27 28. Julie Kern, U-M 17:34.02
200-yard Backstroke
1. Susan Woessner, Indiana 1:56.58* 7. Lindsay Carlberg, U-M 1:59.78# (1:59.40#) 11. Sara Johnson, U-M 2:00.74# 14. Erin Abbey, U-M 2:01.53# (2:01.20#) 31. Kathleen Gilbert, U-M 2:06.38 38. Lisbeth Goble, U-M 2:13.48
100-yard Freestyle
1. Shannon VanCluren, Wisconsin 50.08# 11. Annie Weilbacher, U-M 51.19 24. Laura Kaznecki, U-M 51.91 48. Tracy Egnatuck, U-M 53.00 67. Kathleen Gilbert, U-M 54.44 81. Maya Mandel, U-M 55.83
200-yard Breaststroke
1. Corrie Clark, Penn State 2:13.06* 10. Kelli Stein, U-M 2:17.21# 28. Lisbeth Goble, U-M 2:25.00 30. Katherine Peterson, U-M 2:25.51
200-yard Butterfly
1. Merritt Adams, Northwestern 1:59.11* (1:58.73*) 19. Erica Watts, U-M 2:04.94 21. Lesley Barnet, U-M 2:05.55
Platform Diving (exhibition)
1. Sara Reiling, Indiana 486.45^ 4. Tealin Kelemen, U-M 366.55^ 5. Kelly Vanderkuyl, U-M 365.30^ 12. Alexis Goolik, U-M 322.85 15. Lauren Roth, U-M 305.90
400-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Wisconsin 3:19.86# (Shannon VanCuren, Bethany Pendleton, Sarah McCauley, Jennifer Lyman) 2. Michigan 3:22.93# (Annie Weilbacher, Erin Abbey, Laura Kaznecki, Sara Johnson) * NCAA automatic qualifying time # NCAA consideration time ^ NCAA zone diving qualifying mark
Previous Results: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Jim Richardson
On concluding the Big Ten Championships ... "We didn't swim as well as we would like today until the 400-yard freestyle relay. That team gave a good effort and it was nice that the last race of the meet was a good one. Penn State swam a great meet. Even if we had are whole team healthy, I don't think we would have won the meet. We lost too many points to graduation last year and we haven't replaced those yet. Every once in awhile you have to have a rebuilding year, but this team never quit or took that attitude. They came out and competed hard every meet. I think our history as a program is good and you don't accomplish the things we have without having girls like that."
Contact: David Crabtree (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
