Weekly Release #5

Upcoming Schedule
Thu-Sat., Dec. 4-6 -- at U.S. Open (Federal Way, Wash.), 9 a.m. PST
Fri-Sat., Dec. 5-6 -- at Eastern Michigan Invitational (Ypsilaniti, Mich.), 6 p.m.

This Week
Eastern Michigan Invitational -- The Wolverines will travel up the road to Ypsilanti, Mich., to compete in the EMU Invtational Friday and Saturday (Dec. 5-6) at Jones Natatorium. Michigan will compete against Toledo, Calvin, Buffalo, Wyoming, Allegheny, Kalamazoo, Wayne State and the host Eagles.

Last Meet
The Wolverines placed second out of 10 teams at the Nike Cup (Nov. 20-22) at North Carolina's Koury Natatorium. Michigan earned 748 points during the three-day event, falling shy of the host Tar Heels' winning total of 884 points.

Michigan had a strong start to the tournament, claiming victories in five of the six events contested on day one (Nov. 20). The Wolverines got an early leg up, as the quartet of freshman Kaitlyn Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant HS), senior Anne Weilbacher (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales HS), junior Tracy Egnatuk (Albion, Mich./Albion Senior HS) and sophomore Abby Seskevics (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) captured first place in the 200-yard freestyle relay with an NCAA consideration time of 1:33.31. Freshman Susan Gilliam (Los Angeles, Calif./Bolles HS) posted an NCAA consideration time of 4:48.51 to claim a victory in the 500-yard freestyle, while Weilbacher earned her first individual win in the 50-yard freestyle race, clocking in at an NCAA consideration time of 23.25. Michigan continued its strong showing in the relay events, as Brady, senior Kelli Stein (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Waterson HS), Weilbacher and freshman Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) teamed for a first-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay with an NCAA consideration time of 3:43.20. Rounding out the U-M winners on the opening day was senior Tealin Kelemen (Riverton, N.J./Moorestown Friends School), who claimed the one-meter diving title with a score of 546.80.

Michigan started off day two (Nov. 21) with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, as the quartet of Brady, freshman Annie Stein (Longmont, Colo./Germantown Academy), Weilbacher and Seskevics beat out Louisiana State's relay team by more than a second to claim the title (1:43.36) and 40 points for Michigan. Weilbacher followed her relay performance with a spectacular showing in the 100-yard butterfly, posting an NCAA automatic qualifying and Koury Natatorium record time of 53.56 in the victory. Kelli Stein also posted an NCAA consideration time in the 100-yard breastroke, clocking in at 1:02.89 to claim the first-place prize.

Michigan took top honors in two events on the final day (Nov. 22), as Weilbacher, Smith, Gilliam and Seskevics won the 400-yard freestyle relay with an NCAA consideration time of 3:24.25. Kelemen provided the Wolverines with their second win of the day, scoring 521.45 on the three-meter diving board to take first place.

Weekly Honors
Seniors Anne Weilbacher and Tealin Kelemen collected Big Ten Conference weekly awards last Tuesday (Nov. 25) after outstanding performances at the Nike Cup. Weilbacher garnered Swimmer of the Week accolades after capturing two individual titles and swimming on four winning relay squads during the three-day event. Kelemen, who was named Diver of the Week, won the one- and three-meter titles over the weekend. It marks the first conference honor of the season for Weilbacher, while Kelemen was named the Big Ten's top diver for the second time in three weeks.

Working Together
The relay teams have made quite a splash for the Wolverines, as Michigan has claimed first-place finishes in 11 relay races this season. The Wolverines have claimed three victories each in the 200-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relays, while winning two 400-yard medley relay races. At the Nike Cup, Michigan posted three NCAA consideration times in its four relay wins.

Weilbacher Fares Well Out East
Anne Weilbacher collected season-best times in three events at the Nike Cup. The senior tri-captain clocked in with an NCAA consideration time of 23.25 to win the 50-yard freestyle event on the first day before posting an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 53.56 to win the 100-yard butterfly on day two. Weilbacher swam to a season-best time of 2:02.53 in the preliminary race of the 200-yard butterfly on the final day.

Kelemen Continues to Shine
Tealin Kelemen, who already had two diving titles under her belt this season, swept the one- and three-meter events at the Nike Cup. A two-time Big Ten Diver of the Week this year, Kelemen posted a score of 546.80 on the one-meter springboard on the first day before taking the top spot in the three-meter board on the final day with a score of 521.45. Earlier this season, Keleman earned winning scores of 267.35 in the one-meter event and 304.80 on the three-meter board in a double dual meet against Florida State and Michigan State at Canham Natatorium.

Gilliam Makes Immediate Impact
Freshman Susan Gilliam leads the Wolverines with eight individual titles this season. Gilliam picked up her first career win in the 500-yard freestyle (4:53.26) at the tri-meet against Florida and Florida Atlantic (Oct. 17). She picked up two titles in Michigan's win over Toledo (Oct. 21), posting first-place times in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:48.46) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:59.47). Gilliam led U-M to victory in its home opener against Florida State and Michigan State, winning three individual races. She clocked in at 9:57.51 to win the 1,000-yard freestyle before a win in the 200-yard freestyle event (1:51.13). Gilliam closed with a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (4:53.24). She won two individual titles in a win over Ohio State (Nov. 14), the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:57.76) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:55.42). Gilliam helped Michigan to a second-place showing at the Nike Cup (Nov. 20-22), picking up a win in the 500-yard freestyle with an NCAA consideration time of 4:48.51.

Here's the Story...
Freshman Kaitlyn Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant HS) has also made some noise early in the season, swimming to first-place finishes in six races. Brady won the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.08) in the season opener against Florida and Florida Atlantic (Oct. 17) and claimed the 100-yard backstroke title (57.47) the following day at the Florida Invitational (Oct. 18). Brady claimed three events to help U-M defeat Toledo (Oct. 21), winning the 100-yard backstroke (58.29), the 50-yard freestyle (24.50) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:07.10). In U-M's meet against Florida State and Michigan State at Canham Natatorium (Nov. 7), Brady won the 200-yard backstroke race (2:03.67).

Let's Look at the Polls
The Wolverines received the No. 17 ranking in the most recent College Swim Coaches Association of America Top 25 dual meet poll, released Nov. 26. The Wolverines have already competed against two squads in the poll -- No. 3 Florida and No. 19 Florida State -- while the Big Ten boasts a total of five teams on the list.

CSCAA Top 25 Dual Meet Poll (Nov. 26)

Rank, Team Pts. 1. Auburn (8) 200 2. Georgia 191 3. Florida 184 4. Stanford 177 5. Texas 167 6. Arizona 158 7. Southern Cal 151 8. Califonia 138 9. SMU 137 10. UCLA 131 11. Wisconsin 120 12. Indiana 111 13. Penn State 103 14. North Carolina 92 15. Texas A&M 91 16. Arizona State 81 17. MICHIGAN 71 18. Virginia 59 19. Florida State 53 20. Maryland 47 21. Notre Dame 39 22. Missouri 24 23. Hawaii 23 24. Minnesota 12 Washington 12

Introducing the Captains...
The Wolverines have named three captains for the 2003-04 season, as Sara Johnson (West Bloomfield, Mich./Lahser HS), Anne Weilbacher and Alexis Goolik (Highland, Ind./Highland HS) have been selected to lead the Maize and Blue. Johnson earned an All-America Honorable Mention last season in the 800-yard freestyle relay, while Weilbacher is one of the most decorated Wolverines with one NCAA All-American selection and three NCAA All-America Honorable Mentions in 2002-03. Goolik, a junior diver, took 15th in the platform at the 2003 NCAA Diving Zones.

The Leader of the Wolverines
Michigan head coach Jim Richardson is in his 19th year 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 victory, against Indiana University on Jan. 30. Since Richardson took over the program in 1985-86, Michigan has finished in the NCAA top 10 all but seven years. In 1995, Michigan finished in second place as a team and followed that in 1996 by hosting the NCAA Championships and finishing third.

On the Horizon
Michigan is not scheduled to compete again until Jan. 2, 2004, when it races at the Rainbow Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii, as part of its annual winter training trip.