Weekly Release #2

Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, Oct. 25 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 5 p.m.
Fri-Sat., Nov. 3-4 -- at Georgia (Athens, Ga.), 6 p.m./1 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 10 -- vs. Ohio State (Canham Natatorium), 5 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 11 -- vs. Princeton (Canham Natatorium), 11 a.m.

This Week
The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) faces Michigan State on Wednesday evening (Oct. 25, 5 p.m.) at the Charles McCaffree Pool, looking to extend its 21-meet winning streak against the Spartans.

Scouting the Opponents
Michigan State -- The Spartans (1-1) are coming off a 166-134 dual-meet loss to Illinois after defeating Akron 186-114 to begin the season. MSU returns 18 letterwinners from the 2005-06 team which posted a 4-5 record and placed 11th at the Big Ten Championships. The 2006-07 roster features 15 freshmen.

Heather Kiluk, the school record holder in the 400-yard individual medley, is the top returning swimmer. MSU's roster also includes five 2006 NCAA zone diving qualifiers. The Wolverines have won every meet against the Spartans since 1985-86, including last season's 158-128 win on Oct. 28 in Ann Arbor. Michigan State on the Internet: msuspartans.com.

Live Results Again
Follow all home U-M swimming events on the web for the third straight season. MGoBlue.com will provide live results for all of Michigan's scheduled meets at Canham Natatorium.

U-M All-Time vs. Michigan State, Big Ten
The Wolverines hold a 28-2 all-time record against the Spartans in dual-meet competition and have won the past 21 meetings between the two programs. U-M holds a 126-23 all-time Big Ten record in 33 years of existence. The Wolverines went 3-1 in Big Ten dual competition last season.

Wolverines Ninth in First National Poll
After a stellar showing against Florida, which is ranked No. 2, Michigan has earned the No. 9 spot in the first CSCAA poll, released Friday (Oct. 20). U-M holds the highest spot of the six Big Ten programs that rank in the poll.

RANK, TEAM PTS. 1. California (7) 239 2. Florida 230 3. Auburn (1) 226 4. Georgia 204 5. Stanford 203 6. Southern Cal 188 7. SMU 186 8. Texas A&M 175 9. MICHIGAN 165 10. Texas 162 11. Arizona 160 12. UCLA 154 13. Wisconsin 142 14. Florida State 136 15. Tennessee 133 16. Minnesota 118 17. Indiana 106 18. Penn State 99 19. Rutgers 97 20. Notre Dame 91 21. Virginia 69 North Carolina 69 23. Kentucky 52 24. Princeton 45 25. Purdue 43

Michigan Falls Short of Upset in Dual-Meet Action with Florida
Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) and Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) each earned two individual victories and one relay win, and diver Elyse Lee (Albion, Mich./Albion) surpassed zone qualifying marks in the first meet of the season, but Michigan fell five points shy of the Florida Gators in a 124-119 loss Oct. 14 at Canham Natatorium. The Wolverines won both relays and finished with eight wins in 13 events.

Having to finish 1-2 in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Wolverines mustered up the first-place effort but could not pass the Gators for the second and third spots and fell just five points shy in the final standings. The quartet of Kaitlyn Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant), Margaret Kelly (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), Leigh Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and Payton Johnson (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) earned an NCAA consideration time, combining for a first-place time of 3:23.74 in the event.

Top Times for 2006-07
50-yard Freestyle: Kaitlyn Brady, 23.55
100-yard Freestyle: Lindsey Smith, 50.51#
200-yard Freestyle: Lindsey Smith, 1:49.64#
500-yard Freestyle: Susan Gilliam, 4:56.37
1,000-yard Freestyle: Emily Brunemann, 9:55.13
200-yard Butterfly: Emily Christy, 2:02.39#
100-yard Backstroke: Kaitlyn Brady, 56.37r
200-yard Backstroke: Hannah Smith, 2:01.19#
200-yard Breaststroke: Justine Mueller, 2:17.48#
200-yard Individual Medley: Justine Mueller, 2:02.95#
400-yard Freestyle Relay: 3:23.74# (Brady, Margaret Kelly, Leigh Cole, P. Johnson)400-yard Medley Relay: 3:43.01# (Brady, Mueller, Kelly, L. Smith)
One-Meter Diving (Dual): Elyse Lee, 301.28^
Three-Meter Diving (Dual): Elyse Lee, 277.20^

* NCAA automatic qualifying time
# NCAA consideration time
r achieved on a relay

First-Place Wolverines
U-M won both relay events against Florida (Oct. 14), with the quartet of Kaitlyn Brady, Justine Mueller, Margaret Kelly and Lindsey Smith taking the 400-yard medley relay (3:43.01) to open the meet, and the foursome of Brady, Kelly, Leigh Cole and Payton Johnson combining for a top finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:23.74).

Smith provided wins in the 100-yard (50.51) and 200-yard (1:49.64) freestyle, while Mueller added two victories of her own in the 200-yard IM (2:02.95) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.48). Elyse Lee (one-meter diving, 301.28) and Brady (50-yard freestyle, 23.55) were the other U-M winners.

Lee Qualifies for Zones, Van Cleve Close
Elyse Lee accomplished one season goal in the opening meet with a qualifying score of 301.38 in the one-meter diving and fell fewer than three points shy of a zone qualifying mark in the three-meter event. Ellen Van Cleve (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) fell five points shy in the one-meter and 14 points in the three-meter of joining Lee as a zone qualifier. Lee and Van Cleve remain a formidable tandem that will add depth to the Wolverines in both the dual-meet and postseason schedules.

Consideration Aplenty: Five Individuals, Two Relays Clip NCAA 'B' Marks
The 2006 season started off successfully as five Wolverines and two U-M relays surpassed NCAA 'B' cut times against Florida (Oct. 14). Lindsey Smith (100- and 200-yard freestyle) and Justine Mueller (200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM) earned consideration times in both of their wins, while Kaitlyn Brady accomplished a consideration time on the first leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay that joined the 400-yard medley relay in the consideration-mark party. Hannah Smith (200-yard backstroke) and Emily Christy (200-yard butterfly) also each collected 'B' times.

Michigan Returns Plethora of All-Americans
Six athletes with national awards under their names return to Michigan, including all but one national-award winner from last season (Abby Seskevics). The Wolverines welcome back four-time All-American Kaitlyn Brady. The senior holds five honorable mention All-America certificates from her three previous seasons. Two-time All-American Susan Gilliam (Los Angeles, Calif./Bolles, Fla.) also returns after missing the 2006 winter semester due to family reasons. Gilliam is joined by Payton Johnson, who has one honorable mention national honor, as well as Hannah Smith, who won her first All-America accolade last season as a freshman. Justine Mueller is in her third season and is looking for her first All-America award after collecting five honorable mention All-America citations thus far. Lindsey Smith returns as the program's active leader in national awards. The Dexter, Mich., native has gathered five All-America and six honorable mention All-America awards in her career.

The Leader of the Wolverines
Michigan head swimming coach Jim Richardson is in his 22nd season at the helm for the Wolverines. Over that time, his teams have dominated the Big Ten, winning 12 consecutive league titles from 1987-98, adding the program's 13th in 2001 and 14th in 2004. Since he took over in 1985-86, Michigan has finished in the NCAA top 10 on 12 occasions. In 1995, U-M finished in second place as a team, following that in 1996 by hosting the NCAA Championships and finishing third.

Richardson holds a career record of 145-51 in dual meet competition, including an impressive 95-13 mark in Big Ten action. Richardson has coached seven individual national champions, 139 NCAA All-Americans and 163 honorable mention All-Americans. On the conference level, he has guided 150 individual and relay conference 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 has seen his athletes excel in the classroom as well as the pool, with 24 CSCAA Academic All-Americans and 193 Academic All-Big Ten nominations.

Chris Bergre enters his fifth season as the head diving coach, and Stefanie Kerska begins her ninth season as an assistant to Richardson.

Eventful Summer for Many Wolverines
Eight Wolverines accomplished feats on the national or international level in summer competition. Valeria Silva (Lima, Peru/Alexander Von Humboldt) represented her native Peru at the eighth FINA World Swimming Championships held in Shanghai, China, in early April (5-9). Silva's best finish came in the 200-meter breaststroke preliminary, when she clocked in at 2:43.53 for a 23rd-place finish.

In late August, Lindsey Smith qualified for the 2007 World University Games roster. The event will be held next Aug. 8-13, 2005. Smith was chosen to compete on the 4x200-meter freestyle relay team, earning the selection after a win in the consolation final in the 200-meter freestyle at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships (Aug. 1-5), during which Ann Arbor-based Club Wolverine took home the national title. Smith's time of 2:00.20 in the 200-meter freestyle won her a ninth-place finish. At the championships, Smith, along with Margaret Kelly, Payton Johnson, Hannah Smith, Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky./Notre Dame Academy), Justine Mueller and transfer senior Melissa Jaeger helped lead their club squad to victory. Lindsey Smith also anchored the Club Wolverine 'A' 400-meter freestyle relay to a fifth-place time (3:49.62). Kelly, Hannah Smith and Johnson were on the Club Wolverine 'B' relay that placed ninth in the same event with a time of 3:51.72. Mueller scored in the 400-meter individual medley with a 14th-place time of 4:52.89 (4:51.51, prelim). Lindsey Smith also scored in the 50-meter freestyle (14th, 26.12).

Finishing off the win, Jaeger, Johnson and Lindsey Smith aided the 400-meter medley relay to a fourth-place finish in the final race of the event to solidify the title.

On the Horizon ...
Michigan travels next to Georgia for a two-day dual meet. The event will be held Nov. 3-4 at Gabrielsen Natatorium with a start time of 6 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 3) and 1 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 4).