Michigan
Florida
Michigan Opens Up Season with Home Loss to Florida
10/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team opened its 2004-05 season with a 164-131 loss to Florida Saturday afternoon (Oct. 16) at Canham Natatorium. The Wolverines finished the meet with five first-place finishes in 16 events and achieved three NCAA consideration times during the competition.
The Wolverines got off to a fantastic start to the meet with a victory in the first event, the 400-yard medley relay. The "A" quartet of junior transfer Carolina Sierra (Medellin, Colombia/Colegio Palermo de San Jose), freshman Ashley McLaughlin (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS) and sophomores Kaitlyn Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant HS) and Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) gave U-M 11 points with a winning time of 3:50.33. Michigan used a late charge to make up time in the final two legs to edge Florida's "B" squad, which finished in second at 3:51.46.
In her first race of the season, sophomore Susan Gilliam (Los Angeles, Calif./Bolles HS) claimed top honors in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:50.60, nearly three seconds ahead of Florida's Katie Ball (9:53.57).
The Gators gained some ground on the scoreboard with Caroline Burckle's win in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.52). Smith touched in at an NCAA consideration time of 1:50.64 for second place. Florida then went up by 10 points in the overall standings with another individual title in the 100-yard backstroke. Jamie Reid touched in at 56.59 for first place, just ahead of Brady (57.09).
In their first collegiate individual race, McLaughlin and classmate Valeria Silva (Lima, Peru/Alexander von Humboldt) placed second and third, respectively, in the 100-yard breaststroke. McLaughlin clocked in at 1:05.73 and Silva followed at 1:05.92.
The Wolverines claimed three of the top five times in the 50-yard freestyle, with Brady leading the way with a second-place time of 23.77. On the one-meter springboard, sophomore Ellen Van Cleve (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) was the top U-M scorer at 259.13 for second place. Senior Alexis Goolik (Highland, Ind./Highland HS) took third with a total of 249.15.
Smith collected another NCAA consideration time with her second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (51.26), while junior Elsa Larson (Portland, Ore./Lincoln HS) picked up her first win of the year in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.10). Gilliam earned an NCAA consideration mark of 4:53.95 with her runner-up finish in the 500-yard freestyle event.
In the 100-yard butterly race, Brady held the early advantage with the fastest opening split of 27.00, but Florida's Colleen Healy came away with top honors at 57.56. Brady finished at 57.35 for second place. Goolik was U-M's top scorer on the three-meter springboard with a second-place total of 263.33.
The Gators chose to exhibition their swimmers in the final two events. In all-Michigan finals, freshman Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS) clocked in at 2:06.00 to take first in the 200-yard individual medley, while U-M's "A" team of Smith, junior Abby Seskevics (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS), senior Tracy Egnatuk (Albion, Mich./Albion HS) and Gilliam capped off the scoring with a first-place time of 3:29.79 in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Michigan (0-1) returns to the pool on Oct. 27 for a matchup against Michigan State. The dual meet with the Spartans is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at the Charles McCaffree Pool in East Lansing, Mich.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
