Weekly Release #2

10/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving

Upcoming Schedule
Wed., Oct. 27 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 6 p.m.
Fri-Sat., Nov. 5-6 -- at Purdue Invitational (West Lafayette, Ind.), 6 p.m./11 a.m.

This Week
The No. 16 University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team (0-1) opens its Big Ten Conference slate on the road with a dual meet with Michigan State on Wednesday (Oct. 27). Swimming and diving action will begin at 6 p.m. at McCaffree Pool in East Lansing, Mich.

Scouting the Opponent
Michigan State -- The Spartans (0-1), who fell to Kentucky 150-90 in their season-opener, return 25 of 30 letterwinners from last year's team, which finished 2-9 overall and 0-5 in the Big Ten. MSU is led by second-year head coach Matt Gianiodis. Michigan will look to continue its dominance over Michigan State, as the Wolverines hold a commanding 26-2 record in the all-time series. U-M earned a 194-88 victory over the Spartans in the last meeting at Canham Natatorium on Nov. 7. Michigan State on the Internet: www.msuspartans.com.

Let's Get it Started
The women's swimming and diving team has the first opportunity to put a dent in the Pontiac Challenge Cup scoreboard for the next session, as their meet with Michigan State is the first U-M/MSU event of the winter season.

Last Time in the Pool
The Wolverines opened their 2004-05 season with a 164-131 loss to on Oct. 16 at Canham Natatorium. Michigan finished the meet with five first-place finishes in 16 events and achieved three NCAA consideration times during the competition. U-M began the meet with a victory in the 400-yard medley relay, and sophomore Susan Gilliam (Los Angeles, Calif./Bolles HS) kept things going with a win in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:50.60). Other event winners for the Wolverines included junior Elsa Larson (Portland, Ore./Lincoln HS) in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.10), freshman Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS) and Michigan's 400-yard freestyle team (3:29.79).

Consider It Done (three times)
Michigan concluded the meet against the Gators with three NCAA considerations times under its belt. Sophomore Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) achieved the "B" standard with her second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.64), and then added another consideration time with a runner-up finish in the 100-yard freestyle (51.26). Susan Gilliam earrned an NCAA consideration mark of 4:53.95 with her runner-up finish in the 500-yard freestyle event.

Get Well Soon
Three-time NCAA All-American Amy McCullough (West Bloomfield, Mich./Mercy HS) will sit out part of the season with mononucleosis. McCullough, the Big Ten champion in the 100-yard freestyle in 2004, will be cleared by doctors to return to the pool after a full recovery.

2003-04 Season in Review
The Wolverines finished last season with a 13th-place showing at the NCAA Championships after claiming their 14th Big Ten Conference title on Feb. 21, 2004. The Maize and Blue also finished with a remarkable 8-1 record during the regular season. In additon, seven school records were broken throughout the course of the year.

In one of the most exciting championships in recent history, Michigan placed first in the meet's final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, to clinch the team title over Penn State, 604.50-590-50. Graduated senior Anne Weilbacher (2000-04), Amy McCullough and Lindsey Smith won individual conference championships, while U-M won Big Ten titles in the 400- and 800-yard freestyle relay. Following the meet, Jim Richardson was named the Big Ten Swimming Coach of the Year for the sixth time in his career.

Following Big Ten's, Michigan finished with 114.5 points at the national meet behind All-American performances in the 400-meter medley and 800-meter freestyle races. Susan Gilliam was Michigan's top individual finisher with an eighth-place showing in the 400-meter freestyle. In addition, Michigan swimmers earned a total of 10 All-America honorable mention accolades at the championships.

Outside of the pool, eleven Wolverines earned Academic All-Big Ten distinctions, while the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) selected six athletes as Academic All-Americans and two as honorable mention Academic All-Americans.

Olympic Dreams ...
Eight current and former members of the Michigan women's swimming and diving team took part in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (July 7-12) at the Long Beach Swim Stadium, but none was able to secure a spot on the national roster for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Graduated senior Kelli Stein (2001-04) was the only Wolverine to move past a preliminary round, as she placed 16th in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:34.06 to reach the semifinals. Stein, who earned NCAA All-America honorable mention and was the Big Ten Conference champion in the event in 2003, was unable to advance to the finals after placing 15th (2:33.41) in her second swim later that evening.

Welcome to Ann Arbor
Michigan welcomes 15 newcomers to its 2004-05 roster. Ginn Choe (Troy, Mich./Troy HS), Danielle Eibler (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney HS), Kayla Hack (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea HS), Erica LaBont (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional HS), Elyse Lee (Albion, Mich./Albion HS), Ashley McLaughlin (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS), Samantha Montroy (Trenton, Mich./Trenton HS), Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS), Kaitlin Roach Centerville, Ohio/Centerville HS), Wendy Shieh (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS), Carolina Sierra (Medellin, Colombia/Colegio Palermo de San Jos), Valeria Silva (Lima, Peru/Alexander von Humboldt), Katie Skendrovic (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS), Katie Smith (Plano, Texas/Hebron HS) and Michelle Uhlig (Boalsburg, Pa./State College Area HS) all join the U-M swimming and diving program this season.

Introducing the Captains ...
The Wolverines have named three captains for the 2004-05 season. Fifth-year senior Erica Watts (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS), senior Alexis Goolik Highland, Ind./Highland HS) and junior Abby Seskevics (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) have been elected by their teammates to lead the team as tri-captains in 2004-05. Watts, Michigan's most experienced swimmer at the butterfly position, will be looked upon for leadership during her final season as a Wolverine. Goolik, Michigan's most accomplished returning diver, is serving her second straight season as captain. Seskevics, a freestyle specialist, is carrying the honor for the first time after collecting one NCAA All-American nomination and four NCAA Honorable Mention All-America awards during her first two seasons in Ann Arbor.

The Leader of the Wolverines
Michigan head swimming coach Jim Richardson is entering his 20th year at the helm of the Wolverines. Over that time, his teams have dominated the Big Ten, winning 12 consecutive league titles from 1987-98 and adding the team's 13th in 2001 and 14th last season. Since taking over the program in 1985-86, Michigan has finished in the NCAA top 10 all but eight years. In 1995, U-M finished in second place as a team and followed that in 1996 by hosting the NCAA Championships and finishing third. He holds a career record of 138-46 in dual meet competiton, including an impressive 89-11 mark in Big Ten action.

Richardson has coached seven individual national champions, 120 NCAA All-Americans and 149 Honorable Mention All-Americans. On the conference level, he has guided 135 individual and relay champions and has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year six times. A two-time NCAA Coach of the Year (1993, '95), Richardson's athletes have excelled in the classroom as well as the pool, with 20 CSCAA Academic All-Americans and 170 Academic All-Big Ten nominations.

On the Horizon ...
Michigan will next be in action at the Purdue Invitational Nov. 5-6 at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Ind. Competition will begin Friday evening (Nov. 5) at 6 p.m. and continue Saturday morning (Nov. 6) at 11 a.m.

Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423