Vanderkaay Wins 500 Free on Opening Day of Big Tens

Thursday, February 23

Bloomington, Ind.

Noon

Michigan

Big Ten Championships (Day 1)

2/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The seventh-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team opened up the first day of competition Thursday (Feb. 23) with 147 points and sits in fourth place at the Big Ten Championships at Indiana's Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.

Brothers Alex Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams) and Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams), along with freshman Matt Patton (Matthews, N.C./Butler) led the Wolverines through day one, posting top times in their respective events. Peter Vanderkaay earned U-M's only victory of the night, winning his fourth straight 500-yard freestyle title, while Patton placed third in the same event in his first career Big Ten finals heat. In the next event, Alex Vanderkaay posted a season best to take second in the 200-yard individual medley.

The quartet of Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn./Webb School), Chris DeJong (Holland, Mich./Holland), Bryan Vessels (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) and Peter Vanderkaay got the Wolverines off to a hot start in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Their time of 1:19.92 touched in third overall, but an Ohio State disqualification pushed U-M into second behind Northwestern, which swam a pool-record 1:18.25 for its second straight win in the event.

Michigan claimed its first Big Ten title of the championships in the 500-yard freestyle. In a pool record and NCAA automatic performance, Peter Vanderkaay swam to his 11th career Big Ten championship, touching the wall in 4:13.02. Patton placed third with a time of 4:22.14, while Johnny Austermann (Huntington Woods, Mich./Berkley) posted the top time in the consolation final, earning ninth place in a personal-best 4:24.16.

Sophomore Alex Vanderkaay earned his first NCAA automatic time of the year in the 200-yard individual medley but was unable to overtake Minnesota's Adam Mitchell, whose time of 1:44.64 set a new conference record. Vanderkaay's time of 1:46.24 will send him to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. Dane Grenda (Hockessin, Del./Salesianum) posted an NCAA provisional time in the consolation final and placed 10th overall in 1:48.77.

Tarwater earned U-M's only points in the 50-yard freestyle, placing ninth overall in an NCAA consideration time of 20.15. Northwestern's Matt Grevers took first in the event for the third straight year with a pool-record 19.39.

Freshman Kyle Schroeder (Milan, Mich./Milan) led the way in the diving pool, scoring 298.65 in six dives for 12th place and adding five points to U-M's score.

In the night's final event, the foursome of DeJong, Andrew Albright (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), Tarwater and Peter Vanderkaay missed the NCAA automatic cut by a half-second as they placed fourth in the 400-yard individual medley.

Championship action continues through Saturday (Feb. 25), with prelims at noon and finals starting at 7 p.m. each day.

Team Standings (After Day 1)

 1. Indiana 187.5 2. Minnesota 177 3. Northwestern 161 4. MICHIGAN 147 5. Purdue 120 6. Ohio State 99.5 7. Wisconsin 80 8. Penn State 68 9. Michigan State 52 10. Iowa 36

Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 1)

200-yard Freestyle Relay 1. Northwestern 1:18.25*% 2. Michigan 1:19.92# (Davis Tarwater, Chris DeJong, Bryan Vessels, Peter Vanderkaay) 500-yard Freestyle 1. Peter Vanderkaay, U-M 4:13.02*% 3. Matt Patton, U-M 4:22.14# 9. Johnny Austermann, U-M 4:24.16# 17. Christian Sprang, U-M 4:27.35#
 20. Jorge Carral, U-M 4:28.54 29. Bobby Savulich, U-M 4:32.64 46. Gunnar Schmidt, U-M 4:35.64 200-yard Individual Medley 1. Adam Mitchell, Minnesota 1:44.64*!$% 2. Alex Vanderkaay, U-M 1:46.24* 10. Dane Grenda, U-M 1:48.77# 20. Curtis Dauw, U-M 1:51.13 (1:50.57) 50-yard Freestyle 1. Matt Grevers, Northwestern 19.36*% 9. Davis Tarwater, U-M 20.15# 19. Bryan Vessels, U-M 20.66 (20.61) 24. Evan Ryser, U-M 21.05 (20.65) 36. Jamie Martone, U-M 20.96 55. Brad Dotson, U-M 21.71 60. Grant Burtch, U-M 21.85 One-meter Diving  1. Mike Alderman, Penn State 354.45^ 12. Kyle Schroeder, U-M 298.65 18. Kyle Howard, U-M 265.55 19. Jon Donadee, U-M 266.40 32. Pat Noyes, U-M 175.00 400-yard Medley Relay 1. Northwestern 3:07.91*!$% 4. Michigan 3:12.45# (Chris DeJong, Andrew Albright, Davis Tarwater, Peter Vanderkaay) * NCAA automatic qualifying time # NCAA consideration time @ Michigan school record ! Big Ten Conference record $ Big Ten meet record % Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center record

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Bob Bowman
Opening statement ... "After a somewhat disappointing morning, we really stepped it up tonight. I thought everybody swam very well. We moved up in places and swam a lot faster. We had an 'A' cut time from Alex Vanderkaay, which is very significant. The 200-yard free relay was very strong, and as the meet continues we should continue to do well."

On Peter Vanderkaay's victory ... "Peter's win was very tough as he had Sergiy ut Fesenko from Indiana on him at the beginning and he had to shake him off. He was pressed early but really showed he was in great shape as he pulled away."

U-M Senior Captain Peter Vanderkaay
On his victory in the 500 ... "I wanted to go out there and get the team fired up with a swim, get the points and get the win for the team."

On the outlook for the rest of the meet ... "I think we really got the ball rolling tonight and I expect better things to come."