Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Michigan Third After Day One of Big Ten Championships
2/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Site: Columbus, Ohio (McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion)
Event: Big Ten Championships
U-M Team Standing: 3rd Place of 11 Teams (64 Points) After Day 1
Next U-M Event: Thu-Sat., Feb. 16-18 -- at Big Ten Championships (Columbus, Ohio)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 22-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team placed second in the 200-yard medley relay and fourth in the 800-yard freestyle relay during the first day of the Big Ten Championships Wednesday (Feb. 15) at the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavillion. The Wolverines earned 64 points on the first day of competition, which places them in third in the team standings behind No. 24-ranked Minnesota (70 points) and No. 10 Wisconsin (72 points).
Senior Carolina Sierra (Medellin, Colombia/Colegio Palermo de San Jose), sophomore Valeria Silva (Lima, Peru/Alexander von Humboldt), junior Kaitlyn Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant HS) and senior Abby Seskevics (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) clocked in second with a NCAA consideration and season-best time of 1:40.70 in the 200-yard medley relay. Wisconsin finished ahead of the Wolverines, breaking a conference record with a time of 1:38.89.
After the Wolverines fell behind early, Brady swam the fastest butterfly third leg in the field to bring Michigan close, but Wisconsin pulled away in the final leg and Michigan settled for a runner-up finish.
In the second of two events on the night, the quartet of junior Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter), freshmen Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) and Hannah Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter), and sophomore Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) finished fourth in 7:16.23 to surpass an NCAA consideration mark in the 800-yard freestyle relay. U-M's time set a new season best, besting the previous mark of 7:28.00 by nearly 12 seconds.
Lindsey Smith kept Michigan close with a time of 1:47.31 to open the race. The time was the second quickest behind Penn State's 1:47.30. U-M fell behind in the next two legs and could not catch up in the final leg. The Gophers touched the wall first with the second-fastest time in Big Ten history (7:09.15).
The Big Ten Championships continue tomorrow as preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. and will run to 1 p.m. The diving finals will follow at 1 p.m. and the final swimming heats will start at 7 p.m.
Team Standings (After Day 1)
1. Wisconsin 72 2. Minnesota 70 3. MICHIGAN 64 4. Indiana 56 5. Purdue 54 6. Ohio State 50 7. Illinois 46 8. Iowa 40 9. Northwestern 36 10. Penn State 34 Michigan State 12
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 1)
200-Yard Medley Relay 1. Wisconsin 1:38.89*$%! (Susan Johnson, Amalia Sarnecki, Sarah Hernandez, Jackie Vavrek) 2. Michigan 1:40.70# (Carolina Sierra, Valeria Silva, Kaitlyn Brady, Abby Seskevics) 800-Yard Freestyle Relay 1. Minnesota 7:09.15*% (J. Shaughnessy, Y. Kobayashi, K. Hardt, C. Jennings) 4. Michigan 7:16.23# (Lindsey Smith, Emily Brunemann, Hannah Smith, Justine Mueller) * NCAA automatic qualifying time # NCAA consideration time ! Big Ten Conference record $ Big Ten meet record % Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion record
N O T E S
The Wolverines' three-race winning streak in the 200-yard medley relay was snapped after a runner-up finish tonight. Their time of 1:40.70 is the third-fastest in program history. U-M set the school record with a time of 1:40.20 at the 2004 Big Ten Championships.
Michigan's time of 7:16.23 is the sixth-quickest time ever by a Wolverine foursome in the 800-yard freestyle. U-M set a record in the event in 2004 with a time of 7:07.40 at the Big Ten Championships.
The Wolverines had won the 800-yard freestyle at the Big Ten Championships in each of the last three seasons. Susan Gilliam and Lindsey Smith swam on both of the winning teams in 2004 and 2005, while Justine Mueller anchored the team in 2005.
Having already automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200-yard freestyle, Lindsey Smith missed an automatic qualifying mark by just 0.22 seconds with her time of 1:47.31 in the first leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay.
U-M placed second in the 200-yard medley for the third straight season and fourth time in the past five seasons.
Contact: Matt Baumer (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
