Michigan
Big Ten Championships (Day 3)
Michigan Dominates Mile, Finishes Second in Big Ten
3/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Sophomore Dan Ketchum (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore HS) was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and Brendan Neligan (Briarwood, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy HS) earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year as the No. 10-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team wrapped up the Big Ten Conference Championships on Saturday night (March 2) with a second-place finish. Minnesota, with a No. 6 national ranking, scored 711.5 points at the Counsilman and Billingsley Aquatic Center to win the meet for the second year in a row, while the Wolverines (636.5) were again runners-up.
| | Brendan Neligan won the 1,650-yard freestyle by more than 10 seconds. |
Neligan solidified his Freshman of the Year status by winning the 1,650-yard freestyle on Saturday night with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark and personal best of 14:53.94. The win by Neligan marked the 10th consecutive time a Michigan swimmer has won the Big Ten title in the event and 15th overall. In his first Big Ten Championships, Neligan won the mile, competed on the Big Ten record-setting 800-yard freestyle relay team (6:22.82) and placed third in the 400-yard individual medley (3:48.47) and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:19.13).
Classmate Andrew Hurd (Oakville, Ontario/Trafalger HS) joined Neligan on the award stand by placing runner-up in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:04.23 as Michigan swept the top three places. Junior Justin Drake (Phoenix, Ariz./Arcadia HS) rounded out the top three with an NCAA consideration mark of 15:05.21 and senior All-American Tim Siciliano (San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos HS) turned in a time of 15:07.59 to finish fifth overall.
Neligan will have a good role model to follow as last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Ketchum, was part of establishing two Big Ten meet records and three first-place finishes en route to being the co-leader in points scored at this year's meet with 57. On Saturday, Ketchum posted a runner-up finish in the 200-yard butterfly with an NCAA consideration time of 1:45.43 and then anchored the 400-yard freestyle relay that set a school record with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:54.47 while placing second in the event.
Joining Ketchum on the record-setting relay 400-yard freestyle relay were juniors Tony Kurth (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales HS) and Garrett Mangieri (Closter, N.J./Mercersburg Academy, Pa.) and senior Jordan Watland (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka HS). The squad broke the previous Michigan mark of 2:54.62 that was set in 1995 by Jason Lancaster, John Piersma, Gustavo Borges and Derya Buyukuncu.
Before competing in the 400 free relay, Mangieri helped lead a revitalized effort in the sprints for the Wolverines. The All-Big Ten performer led a trio of Wolverines in the A final of the 100-yard freestyle with a runner-up finish. Mangieri's NCAA consideration time of 43.66 was the fastest of a group that also included Kurth in seventh with an NCAA consideration mark of 44.61 and Watland in eighth at 45.40.
Also placing runner-up in an event was junior All-American Jeff Hopwood (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto HS), who placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke. With an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:57.25, Hopwood was the only Wolverine in the A final of either breaststroke.
Other members of the Maize and Blue to score in the A finals included sophomore Christian Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams HS) in the 200-yard butterfly and junior Ryan Earhart (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier HS) in the 200-yard backstroke. Vanderkaay placed seventh in the butterfly with an NCAA consideration mark of 1:48.07 and Earhart also had a seventh-place finish with an NCAA consideration time of 1:46.50 in the backstroke.
Michigan's next meet will be at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., which will be held Thursday through Saturday, March 28-30. Preliminaries will be start at 11 a.m. and finals will begin at 7 p.m. each day.
Final Team Standings
1. Minnesota 711.50 2. MICHIGAN 636.50 3. Penn State 442.50 4. Northwestern 341 5. Wisconsin 335.50 6. Ohio State 306 7. Indiana 304 8. Purdue 243 9. Iowa 195 10. Michigan State 122
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 3)
(Preliminary time in parentheses if faster than finals time)
1,650-yard Freestyle
1. Brendan Neligan, U-M 14:53.94* 2. Andrew Hurd, U-M 15:04.23# 3. Justin Drake, U-M 15:05.21# 5. Tim Siciliano, U-M 15:07.59# 13. Nicholas Douville, U-M 15:35.28 17. Zayd Ma, U-M 15:43.63 24. Tim Wera, U-M 16:02.02200-yard Backstroke
1. Anthony Swanson, Northwestern 1:42.94* 7. Ryan Earhart, U-M 1:46.50# 10. Chuck Sayao, U-M 1:47.46 (1:47.31#) 24. Andrew Hack, U-M 1:50.65100-yard Freestyle
1. Eugene Botes, Penn State 43.30*$ 2. Garrett Mangieri, U-M 43.66* 7. Tony Kurth, U-M 44.61# (43.99#) 8. Jordan Watland, U-M 45.40 (44.44) 37. Mike Porth, U-M 46.13200-yard Breaststroke
1. Jeff Hackler, Minnesota 1:56.56*$ 2. Jeff Hopwood, U-M 1:57.25* 16. Jason Mallory, U-M 2:03.53 (2:02.45)200-yard Butterfly
1. Kellan O'Connor, Northwestern 1:44.35*$ 2. Dan Ketchum, U-M 1:45.79# 7. Christian Vanderkaay, U-M 1:48.07# (1:47.03#) 15. Eric Wilson, U-M 1:49.40 (1:48.91) 18. Heath Novak, U-M 1:49.39 27. Zayd Ma, U-M 1:50.57 30. Edward Lippincott, U-M 1:51.18Platform Diving (Exhibition)
1. Jason Coben, U-M 528.35^$ 7. Dusty Garwood, U-M 376.65 9. Kevin Nyugen, U-M 264.50400-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Penn State 2:53.68*@$ (Eugene Botes, Robert Molettiere, Martin Schierhorn, Todd Minnier) 2. Michigan 2:54.47* (Garrett Mangieri, Tony Kurth, Jordan Watland, Dan Ketchum) * NCAA automatic qualifying time # NCAA consideration time ^ NCAA zone diving qualifying mark @ Big Ten Championships record $ Counsilman and Billingsley Aquatic Center record
Previous Results: Day 1 | Day 2
Big Ten Awards
Swimmer of the Year: Dan Ketchum, U-M
Swimmer of the Championship: Anthony Swanson, Northwestern
Diver of the Year: Heath Knowling, Ohio State
Diver of the Championship: Heath Knowling, Ohio State
Freshman of the Year: Brendan Neligan, U-M
Swimming Coach of the Year: Dennis Dale, Minnesota, and Bob Groseth, Northwestern
Diving Coach of the Year: Vince Panzano, Ohio State
At-Large Big Ten Selections: Tamas Bessenyei, Purdue; Justin Mortimer, Minnesota; Matt Taylor, Minnesota
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Jon Urbanchek
On the team's performance ... "We were able to close the gap from last year with Minnesota because we had a lot of improvement in the sprints. The 400-yard freestyle relay was a great example of that tonight and I'm pleased with our improvement in those areas. Of course we did well in the events we're usually strong in and that provided for a good meet. Dan Ketchum performed up to his capabilities and Brendan Neligan just added to the tradition of being Freshman of the Year."
Diving Coach Dick Kimball
On Jason Coben and coaching at his last Big Ten Championships ... "Jason's performance was a great way to close out the meet. Now we have a tough assignment of getting to NCAAs, but I'm going to enjoy this for now. I'm very happy."
Freshman Brendan Neligan
On winning the 1,650-yard freestyle ... "I wanted to go out early and try to scare the other guys. I got lucky that I was able to stay in front and fortunately it went well."
On Michigan winning the mile for the 10th year in a row ... "This has more to do with the guys I work with everyday than me. There is so much tradition at Michigan in this event and I'm just happy to be a part of it. When you practice everyday with guys like Chris Thompson and Andrew Hurd, it really helps to make you a better swimmer."
N O T E S
The six Big Ten champions in 2002 surpassed Michigan's total of five from last season. The Wolverines successfully defended each title they won last year -- the 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley and 800-yard freestyle relay -- while adding a title in platform diving.
With a second-place finish at the 2002 Big Ten Championships, Michigan has still never finished lower than third at the meet under head coach Jon Urbanchek. In the 20 years Urbanchek has been at the helm of the program, Michigan has won 12 league titles.
Michigan has claimed the last 10 Big Ten titles in the 1,650-yard freestyle, with 2002 champion Brendan Neligan joining Marcel Wouda (1993), Tom Dolan (1994-95), Joe Palmer (1996), Andy Potts (1997) and Chris Thompson (1998-2001).
Brendan Neligan joins Jeff Hopwood, Tim Siciliano and Dan Ketchum as swimmers on the Michigan roster who have earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.
Michigan set two school records at the 2002 Big Ten Championships and Dan Ketchum was part of both of them. In the 200-yard freestyle, Ketchum broke Gustavo Borges' record of 1:34.31 by swimming a time of 1:34.19. Ketchum then anchored the 400-yard freestyle relay that posted a time of 2:54.47, beating the previous mark of 2:54.62, which was set by Borges, John Piersma, Derya Buyukuncu and Jason Lancaster in 1995.
Dan Ketchum tied Northwestern's Anthony Swanson for the individual point lead with 57 apiece. Brendan Neligan and Tim Siciliano finished in a tie for fourth with 51 points each.
Contact: David Crabtree (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
