Michigan
NCAA Championships
Seventh in 800 Freestyle Relay Helps U-M Maintain 10th
3/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team remains in 10th place with 95.5 points with one day remaining at the 2004 NCAA Championships, held at Texas A&M's Student Recreation Center Natatorium. On Friday (March 19), the Wolverines qualified one relay team and three swimmers for consolation finals before the 800-meter freestyle squad earned All-America recognition to end the evening. Defending national champion Auburn holds down the top spot with 399 points.
Michigan's 200-meter medley relay team earned an All-America honorable mention to start the second evening of competition. Seniors Sara Johnson (West Bloomfield, Mich./Lahser HS), Kelli Stein (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Waterson HS), Anne Weilbacher (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales HS) and sophomore Abby Seskevics (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) touched the wall at 1:52.99 for a 10th-place finish in the final.
Weilbacher then picked up another All-America honorable mention in the 100-meter butterfly. After qualifying for the evening race with a preliminary time of 59.92, Weilbacher finished 14th overall with a 1:00.08 result.
Freshman Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) was U-M's top individual finisher on day two with a 12th-place showing in the 200-meter freestyle. After qualifying for the consolation final with a time of 1:59.39 in preliminaries, Smith finished the evening race in 1:59.43. Junior Amy McCullough (West Bloomfield, Mich./Mercy HS) finished in a tie for 20th (2:00.00), while freshman Susan Gilliam (Los Angeles, Calif./Bolles HS) placed two spots behind McCullough (2:00.06).
Stein earned her second All-America honorable mention of the day with a 16th-place finish in the 100-meter breaststroke with a finals time of 1:10.43. Stein's preliminary mark of 1:08.96 qualified her for the consolation race. Stanford's Tara Kirk claimed first place with a world-record mark of 1:04.79.
Johnson was Michigan's top finisher in the 100-meter backstroke race, clocking in at 1:01.47 in the preliminaries for 25th place. In her first career NCAA individual event, freshman Kaitlyn Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant HS) placed 34th at 1:02.30. In the three-meter springboard diving competition, senior Tealin Kelemen (Riverton, N.J./Moorestown Friends School), took home 21st place with a preliminary score of 456.00.
In the final event of the evening, U-M's 800-meter freestyle relay squad of Smith, Gilliam, senior Emily-Clare Fenn (Westport, Conn./Staples HS) and McCullough gave Michigan its first and only All-America distinction of the day after finishing in 7:58.62 for seventh place.
The NCAA Championships will come to an end on Saturday (March 20) at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium. Qualifying for the championship's final seven events will begin at 11 a.m. CST, and the finals will start at 7 p.m.CST.
Top 15 Teams (after Day 2)
1. Auburn 399 2. Georgia 278 3. Arizona 261 4. California 179.5 5. Florida 171 6. Stanford 157 7. UCLA 126 8. Texas 118 9. Penn State 96 10. MICHIGAN 95.5 11. Southern Cal 94 12. Indiana 93 13. South Carolina 90.5 14. Wisconsin 90 15. Arizona State 70
Top Eight/U-M Finishers (Day 2)
(Prelim time in parentheses if faster than finals time)
200-meter Medley Relay
1. Auburn 1:49.02%*^ (Jenni Anderson, Laura Swander, Margaret Hoelzer, Eileen Coparropa) 2. Georgia 1:49.20 3. Stanford 1:49.80 4. Arizona 1:50.07 5. Penn State 1:50.52 6. Texas 1:51.59 7. UCLA 1:51.60 -- Texas A&M DQ 10. MICHIGAN 1:52.99 (Sara Johnson, Kelli Stein, Anne Weilbacher, Abby Seskevics)
400-meter Individual Medley
1. Kaitlin Sandeno, USC 4:30.44 -- No U-M entries --
100-meter Butterfly
1. Natalie Coughlin, Califorina 56.88@ 2. Dana Kirk, Stanford 57.16 3. Mary Descenza, Georgia 57.79 4. Whitney Myers, Arizona 58.06 5. Demera Christianson, Auburn 58.75 6. Georgina Lee, SMU 59.38 7. Tricia Harm, Georgia 1:00.04 8. Jana Krohn, USC 1:00.23 14. Anne Weilbacher, U-M 1:00.08 (59.92)
200-meter Freestyle
1. Margaret Hoelzer, Auburn 1:56.16% 2. Jennifer Vanassen, South Carolina 1:57.66 3. Jessi Perruquet, UNC 1:57.96 4. Ashley Chandler, California 1:57.99 5. Heather Kemp, Auburn 1:58.24 6. Jessica Hayes, Arizona 1:58.30 7. Carly Piper, Wisconsin 1:58.57 8. Melissa Johnson, Arizona 2:00.42 12. Lindsey Smith, U-M 1:59.43 (1:59.39) T20. Amy McCullough, U-M 2:00.00 T20. Petra Banovic, ASU 2:00.00 22. Susan Gilliam, U-M 2:00.06
100-meter Breaststroke
1. Tara Kirk, Stanford 1:04.79%!*^ 2. Sarah Poewe, Georgia 1:06.02 3. Birte Steven, Oregon State 1:06.82 4. Vipa Bernhardt, Florida 1:07.08 5. Lindsey Ertter, Georgia 1:07.24 6. Agnes Kovacs, ASU 1:07.37 7. Kristen Woodring, PSU 1:07.62 8. Emma Dutton, FSU 1:07.97 16. Kelli Stein, U-M 1:10.43 (1:08.96)
100-meter Backstroke
1. Natalie Coughlin, California 57.51@ 2. Magaret Hoelzer, Auburn 58.54 3. Sarah Haupt, PSU 59.45 4. Brielle White, Virginia 59.80 5. Jessica Hayes, Arizona 1:00.38 6. Jenna Gresdal, Arizona 1:00.44 7. Marshi Smith, Arizona 1:00.54 8. Erin Volcan, Auburn 1:01.00 25. Sara Johnson, U-M 1:01.47
34. Kaitlyn Brady, U-M 1:02.30
Three-Meter Diving
1. Lane Bassham, Alabama 557.75 2. Mandy Moran, Arkansas 541.95 3. Jessica Wantz, LSU 540.15 4. Allison Brennan, South Carolina 536.65 5. Ashley Rubenstein, Auburn 525.20 6. Lauren McCalley, Tennessee 524.55 7. Azul Almazan, Houston 510.85 8. Alida DiPlacido, Texas A&M 507.85 21. Tealin Kelemen, U-M 456.00
800-meter Freestyle Relay
1. California 7:50.94%^ (Natalie Coughlin, Erin Reilly, Ashley Chandler, Lauren Medina) 2. Georgia 7:53.32 3. Arizona 7:54.27 4. Auburn 7:55.50 5. Florida 7:57.90 6. Southern Cal 7:58.20 7. MICHIGAN 7:58.62 (Lindsey Smith, Susan Gilliam, Emily-Clare Fenn, Amy McCullough) 8. Arizona State 8:00.69 % NCAA record @ NCAA Meet record ! World record * American record ^ U.S. Open record
N O T E S
Lindsey Smith earned her first career NCAA All-America (800-meter freestyle relay) award and second career NCAA All-America honorable mention (200-meter freestyle) honor.
Susan Gilliam collected her second career NCAA All-America award (800-meter freestyle relay). Her first came during Thursday's (March 18) competition, as she finished eighth in the 400-meter freestyle.
Emily-Clare Fenn's NCAA All-America award (800-meter freestyle relay) is the second of her career. She previously earned the honor at the 2001 national meet, taking sixth in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
Amy McCullough's NCAA All-America recognition in the 800-meter freestyle relay is her second of the championships and the third of her career.
With a 14th-place finish in the 100-meter butterfly and a 10th-place showing in the 200-meter medley relay, Anne Weilbacher collected her second and third NCAA All-America honorable mention awards of the championships and now has 12 for her career.
Kelli Stein earned her fifth and sixth career NCAA All-America honorable mention awards in the 200-meter medley relay and the 100-meter breaststroke.
Sara Johnson's and Abby Seskevics' NCAA All-America honorable mention award in the 200-meter medley relay is the third of their careers.
Day 1 Results
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
