Weekly Release #12

Upcoming Schedule
Thu-Sat., March 20-22 -- at NCAA Championships (Auburn, Ala.), 11 a.m./7 p.m. CST

This Week: at the NCAA Championships
The University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team will send nine swimmers to the NCAA Championships Thursday through Saturday (March 20-22) at Auburn's James E. Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn, Ala. Competition will begin with preliminary events at 11 a.m. CST each morning, with finals slated to start at 7 p.m. CST. Tickets to the NCAA Championships are sold out.

Schedule of Events

Thursday, March 20 200-Yard Freestyle Relay* 500-Yard Freestyle* 200-Yard Individual Medley*    50-Yard Freestyle* One-Meter Diving 400-Yard Medley Relay*	Friday, March 21 200-Yard Medley Relay* 400-Yard Individual Medley*    100-Yard Butterfly* 200-Yard Freestyle* 100-Yard Breaststroke* 100-Yard Backstroke* Three-Meter Diving 800-Yard Freestyle Relay*	Saturday, March 22 1,650-Yard Freestyle* 200-Yard Backstroke* 100-Yard Freestyle* 200-Yard Breaststroke* 200-Yard Butterfly* Platform Diving 400-Yard Freestyle Relay*
* Events with U-M participants

The NCAA Roster
The Wolverines have a total of nine individuals qualified in 13 events and will field relay teams in four races. Seniors Erin Abbey (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield HS) and Laura Kaznecki (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Western HS) will each return to the NCAA meet after a one-year hiatus. Juniors Kelli Stein (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Gallagher HS) and Anne Weilbacher (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis De Sales HS) and sophomore Amy McCullough (West Bloomfield, Mich./Mercy HS), who each earned NCAA All-America honorable mention last season, will return to the championships for a second consecutive season. Junior Emily-Clare Fenn (Westport, Conn./Staples HS) was an All-American in her previous NCAA appearance (2001), while classmates Lori Eberwein (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin HS) and Sara Johnson (West Bloomfield, Mich./Lahser HS) will also make their second trip to nationals. Freshman Abby Seskevics (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) will gain experience at the NCAA Championships as a part of the 400-yard freestyle relay squad.

MICHIGAN'S INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS
Name	Event	Rank	Time
Erin Abbey	100-yard Freestyle	27	50.04
	100-yard Backstroke	35	55.17
	200-yard Backstroke	29	1:58.42
Lori Eberwein	500-yard Freestyle	52	4:52.02
	1,650-yard Freestyle	37	16:56.95
Emily-Clare Fenn	500-yard Freestyle	14	4:44.43
	1,650-yard Freestyle	11	16:19.99
	400-yard Individual Medley	44	4:21.32
Sara Johnson	100-yard Backstroke	42	55.80
	200-yard Backstroke	23	1:58.42
	200-yard Individual Medley	14	2:00.55
Laura Kaznecki	50-yard Freestyle	32	23.03
	100-yard Backstroke	T-51	56.78
Amy McCullough	100-yard Freestyle	60	50.72
	200-yard Freestyle	3	1:46.05
	500-yard Freestyle	22	4:47.17
Kelli Stein	100-yard Breaststroke	18	1:02.11
	200-yard Breaststroke	9	2:12.90
Anne Weilbacher	100-yard Butterfly	14	53.61
	200-yard Butterfly	21	1:59.17
MICHIGAN'S QUALIFIED RELAYS
400-yard Freestyle Relay	Abbey, McCullough,    Weilbacher, Seskevics	9	3:21.92
800-yard Freestyle Relay	McCullough, Fenn,    Johnson, Eberwein	12	7:15.25
200-yard Medley Relay	Abbey, Weilbacher,    Stein, McCullough	11	1:40.65
400-yard Medley Relay	Abbey, Weilbacher,    Stein, McCullough	11	3:39.82

Last Year at the NCAA Championships
The Wolverines finished in a tied for 27th place, earning 20.5 points, at the 2002 NCAA Championships (March 21-23, 2002) at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin, Texas. Lindsay Carlberg (1998-2002) made the most of her final race as a Wolverine and earned U-M's highest finish at the meet with an 11th-place showing in the 200-yard backstroke. In the event, Carlberg clocked in at 1:57.76 to become the fourth-fastest performer in school history. Anne Weilbacher finished 12th overall in the 100-yard butterfly, as did the 400-yard medley relay which was composed of all four of U-M's NCAA participants -- Carlberg, Weilbacher, Kelli Stein and Amy McCullough. Stein's best finish came in the 200-yard breaststroke, in which she placed 23rd. McCullough swam in four individual events and earned her best finish of the championships with a 28th-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Auburn was the 2002 NCAA champion with a total of 474 points.

Michigan at the NCAA Championships
This will mark the 18th time Michigan has appeared at the NCAA Championships under head coach Jim Richardson. Since he took over the program in 1986, the Wolverines have placed in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships 12 times, including a runner-up finish in 1995. Under Richardson's guidance, the program has also produced seven individual NCAA champions.

Abbey's Road To the NCAAs
Senior co-captain Erin Abbey will compete in three individual events at the NCAA Championships. Abbey had her best meet of the season at the Nike Cup (Nov. 21-23, 2002) in Chapel Hill, N.C., at which she posted times in the 100-yard freestyle and 100- and 200-yard backstrokes that would stand as some of the fastest in the nation. Abbey qualified for the NCAAs with a time of 50.07 in the 100-yard freestyle, ranking No. 27 in the NCAA field. In the 100-yard backstroke, Abbey swam to a 55.17 finish. She finished the 200-yard backstroke with the nation's 29th-fastest time (1:58.42). At the Big Ten Championships, Abbey tied for sixth in the 100-yard freestyle (50.72) and placed ninth in the 100-yard backstroke (55.93) and 10th in the 50-yard freestyle (23.31).

Wein and Dine 'Em
Junior Lori Eberwein had a strong Big Ten Championships (Feb. 19-22) run to qualify for the NCAA meet. With season-best times in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles, Eberwein made sure she would advance to NCAA competition for the second time in her career. Eberwein's best finish at Big Tens came with her 11th-place performance in the 500 freestyle.

Fenn-ding for Herself
Emily-Clare Fenn returns to the NCAA Championships for the second time of her career. In 2001, Fenn earned All-America laurels with her sixth-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:18.87). This season, Fenn was Big Ten runner-up in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles at the 2003 conference championships (Feb. 19-22). She also showcased her versatility with a seventh-place finish in the 400-yard IM, in which she posted an NCAA consideration time (4:21.32).

Big Time in the Big Ten
Junior Sara Johnson became Michigan's first Big Ten champion since 2001 with the first of two U-M individual titles at the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 19-22). Johnson finished first in the 200-yard individual medley, becoming the fourth-fastest performer in U-M history with her time of 2:00.55. Johnson is U-M's first 200 IM champion since Shannon Shakespeare (1997-2000) won the last of four consecutive titles in 2000.

Simply Solid
Sophomore Amy McCullough was one of the Maize and Blue's most consistent performers at the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 19-22), finishing third in the 200-yard freestyle in addition to posting a pair of sixth-place finishes (in the 100- and 500-yard freestyles). McCullough has held the nation's third-fastest time in the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.05) since the Nike Cup (Nov. 22) and was also eligible for the NCAA meet in the 1,650-yard freestyle though she will not compete in the event. At the 2002 NCAA Championships, she competed in the 100-, 200-, 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles and was an All-America Honorable Mention with the 400-yard medley relay team.

Win (Or Lose) Stein's Money
Junior Kelli Stein won the first Big Ten crown of her career with a win in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2003 Big Ten Championships (Feb. 19-22). With her time of 2:12.90, Stein became the school's fourth-fastest performer and Michigan's first 200 breaststroke champion since Jodi Navata (1994-97) in 1996. Stein's Big Ten time stands as the NCAA's ninth fastest time in the 200 breaststroke field.

She'll Be There A Weil
Junior co-captain Anne Weilbacher is one of the most decorated Wolverines. Weilbacher was a four-time All-America Honorable Mention in her first trip to the NCAA Championships in 2001. Last season, she added another pair of honorable mention awards to her rsum, including her first individual honor for her 12th-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Runner-up in the 100 fly at the 2003 Big Ten Championships (Feb. 19-22), Weilbacher set the school record and became U-M's first sub-54 second performer in the event with her time of 53.61.

Rating the Relays
Michigan will send some of its fastest relay teams ever to compete at the 2003 NCAA Championships. The Maize and Blue's 200-yard medley relay has posted the school's fastest result (1:40.65) at the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 19-22) breaking the previous record of 1:40.97 set in 1995. The Wolverines' 800-yard freestyle relay ranks No. 3 all-time at 7:15.25 and is just 2.24 seconds off the standard set in 1998. The 400-yard medley relay is Michigan's fourth-fastest unit and is only 1.42 seconds behind the school record, having swam a season-best time of 3:39.82 at the conference championships.

Last Meet: at the Big Ten Championships
The Wolverines finished in fourth place, with 460 points, at the 2003 Big Ten Championships (Feb. 19-22) at the Boilermaker Aquatics Center in West Lafayette, Ind. The Maize and Blue boasted two individual champions in Sara Johnson (200-yard individual medley) and Kelli Stein (200-yard breaststroke) and had runner-up performances from Johnson, Anne Weilbacher and Emily-Clare Fenn. Weilbacher added her name to the Michigan record books with her school-record time of 53.61 in the 100-yard butterfly.

Let's Look at the Polls
Michigan remains steady as the No. 19-ranked team in the nation in the most recent College Swimming Coaches Association of America Division I bi-weekly rankings (Feb. 27).

Rank, Team (First-place votes) Pts. Last 1. Auburn (8) 200 1 2. Florida 191 2 3. Georgia 185 3 4. Texas 176 4 5. SMU 168 5 6. Arizona 160 6 7. Stanford 151 8 8. California 145 7 9. Southern Cal 135 9 10. Wisconsin 129 10 11. North Carolina 120 11 12. UCLA 112 12 13. Virginia 104 13 14. Penn State 94 14 15. Arizona State 84 15 16. Indiana 80 16 17. Notre Dame 68 17 18. Alabama 65 18 19. MICHIGAN 57 19 20. Maryland 56 20 21. Missouri 39 21 22. Texas A&M 28 22 23. Washington 19 23 24. Florida State 17 24 25. Purdue 9 T-25

Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423