Weekly Release #1 (at Florida)
10/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
2007-08 Weekly Release #1
Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sat., Oct. 19-20 -- at Florida (Gainesville, Fla.), 7 p.m./9 a.m.
Friday, Oct. 26 -- vs. Toledo (Canham Natatorium), 5 p.m.
Fri-Sat., Nov. 2-3 -- vs. Indiana, Texas (Bloomington, Ind.), Noon /11:00 a.m.
This Week
The Wolverines' 2007-08 season opener will feature two top-10 teams from the 2007 NCAA Championships, with Michigan (ninth) traveling to Florida (seventh) Friday and Saturday (Oct. 19-20) in Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium. The meet is Swimming World Magazine's Dual Meet of the Week.
Schedule of Events
| Friday, October 19 One-meter Diving (5 p.m.) 200-Meter Freestyle Relay 500-Meter Freestyle 200-Meter Individual Medley 50-Meter Freestyle 400-Meter Medley Relay | Saturday, October 20 200-Meter Medley Relay 400-Meter Individual Medley 100-Meter Butterfly 200-Meter Freestyle 100-Meter Breaststroke 100-Meter Backstroke 800-Meter Freestyle Relay Three-Meter Diving (1 p.m.) 1,500-Meter Freestyle 200-Meter Backstroke 100-Meter Freestyle 200-Meter Breaststroke 200-Meter Butterfly 400-Meter Freestyle Relay |
Scouting the Opponent
Florida -- The Gators (2-0, 0-0 SEC) defeated Minnesota and Virginia to open the 2007-08 season. Florida boasts 24 returning letterwinners -- including nine All-Americans -- from last season's roster. UF also adds eight freshmen and three transfers to a squad that went 10-2 in dual-meet competition last season. Caroline Burckle -- a 13-time All-American -- was recently named to the U.S. National Team in the 800-meter freestyle.
Head coach Gregg Troy is in his tenth season at the helm UF women's swimming and diving program. He has compiled an 85-16 career record. Michigan has fallen in all six dual-meet meetings with the Gators all-time. U-M came close in the 2006-07 season opener, coming up just short in a 124-119 loss at Canham Natatorium. Florida on the Internet: www.gatorzone.com.
Top Returning Times & Scores from 2006-07
50-yard Freestyle: Hannah Smith 23.08#
100-yard Freestyle: Margaret Kelly 49.53r%
200-yard Freestyle: Hannah Smith 1:48.84r
500-yard Freestyle: Emily Brunemann 4:44.50%
1,650-yard Freestyle: Emily Brunemann 16:00.89!@%
100-yard Butterfly: Margaret Kelly 52.78%
200-yard Butterfly: Payton Johnson 1:57.90@%
100-yard Backstroke: Margaret Kelly 55.11#
200-yard Backstroke: Hannah Smith 1:57.26*
100-yard Breaststroke: Valeria Silva 1:03.31#
200-yard Breaststroke: Justine Mueller 2:14.69#
One-Meter Diving (Dual): Erica LaBont 331.28^
Three-Meter Diving (Dual): Elyse Lee 332.55^
Platform Diving: Katie Skendrovic 277.50
* NCAA automatic qualifying time
# NCAA consideration time
^ NCAA zone diving qualifying mark
% at 2007 NCAA Championships
r achieved on first leg of relay
! Big Ten record
@ Michigan school record
2006-07 Season in Review
The Wolverines placed ninth at the 2007 NCAA Championships in Minnesotas University Aquatics Center. Michigan returned to the top 10 for the first time since 1999 when it placed seventh. The squad finished with 191 points -- just seven points shy of eighth-place Texas A&M. Auburn won the national title for the second straight season with a point total of 535. Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) and Emily Hanson (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) became the first two U-M swimmers to earn All-America honors in the 1,650-yard freestyle in the same season. Brunemann claimed fourth with a Big Ten record time while Hanson clocked in sixth. Lindsey Smith capped off her career with a team-high five All-America honors. Margaret Kelly (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) touched the wall in 1:57.56 to set a new Big Ten and school record and win the consolation final for ninth place overall. Kaitlyn Brady also had a strong showing individually, taking 12th in the 50-yard freestyle for her third straight All-America honorable mention in the event. Brunemann netted her first career national honor on the opening day of competition as she took 16th in the 500-yard freestyle to garner All-America honorable mention. Both Brady and Kelly claimed All-America honorable mention honors in the 100-yard butterfly.
The U-M relay teams put up a strong performance all-around. The U-M foursome of Brady, Kelly, Hannah Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) and Lindsey Smith clocked in at 1:28.80, good for third in the A-final. U-Ms finish also clipped its own Big Ten record-mark and gave the Wolverines their fourth All-America award in the event in five seasons. On day two, Brady, Valeria Silva (Lima, Peru/Alexander Von Humboldt), Kelly and Lindsey Smith placed eighth in the 200-yard medley relay. On the final day, Kelly, Brady, Hannah Smith and Lindsey Smith closed out U-Ms outstanding NCAA Championship performance, scoring fifth in the 400-yard freestyle despite entering the night seeded eighth in the event. The Wolverine foursomes mark of 3:17.20 allowed seniors Brady and Lindsey Smith to close their careers with an All-America finish.
Michigan showcased four divers and its pool, playing host to the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships. Elyse Lee (Albion, Mich./Albion) qualified for the NCAA Championship meet when she placed third in the one-meter diving final. Lee placed fifth in the three-meter springboard. She was joined by Ellen Van Cleve and Katie Skendrovic (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake), who finished 16th and 30th, respectively, in the event. Van Cleve finished eighth in one-meter diving, while Skendrovic placed 17th, and Erica LaBont (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) came in 30th.
Welcome to Ann Arbor
Michigan welcomes seven newcomers to its 2007-08 roster. Sophomore Mary Grace Godfrey (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph's) joined the Wolverines after she transferred from Notre Dame. The freshman class features three divers and three swimmers, including divers Jillian Drow (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea), Katie Faiver (Haslett, Mich./Haslett) and Rachael Ropeik (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron), and swimmers Brett Pedley (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines), Natasha Moodie (Miramar, Fla./Miramar) and Katrin Vetter (Orion, Mich./Lake Orion).
Introducing the Captains ...
Michigan's senior class will serve as captains this season. The 2007-08 senior class: Melissa Jaeger (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), Erica LaBont, Elyse Lee, Ashley McLaughlin (Monroe, Mich./Monroe), Wendy Shieh (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron), Valeria Silva, Katie Skendrovic, Katie Smith (Plano, Texas/Hebron) and Michelle Uhlig (Boalsburg, Pa./State College Area).
Summer Success For Several Wolverines
It was a busy summer for athletes on Michigan's roster that spent time competing on the national or international level.
Brunemann scored an individual national title in the 1500-meter freestyle at the 2007 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships. Sophomores Emily Hanson and Margaret Kelly contributed to a pair of top-five relay finishes. The duo clinched a third-place finish in the 800-meter freestyle relay and fifth-place in the 400-meter freestyle relay. Hanson and Kelly were joined by senior Justine Mueller in a 12th place performance in the 400-meter medley relay. Kelly turned in personal bests in three events, claiming top-20 finishes in each. Fifth-year senior Melissa Jaeger, junior Payton Johnson (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) and Hannah Smith each set a pair of new personal bests. Senior Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) and Hanson each set a new career benchmark in one event.
Senior Valeria Silva represented her native Peru at the FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, in March, and Silva participated in the XV Pan American Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in late July.
Senior diver Katie Skendrovic clinched a second-place finish in the senior womens platform event at the 2007 USA Diving National Preliminary Zone A. Skendrovic's finish earned her a trip to the 2007 Senior National Diving Championships, where she finished in 25th place in the opening round.
Additionally, former U-M swimmer Lindsey Smith (2003-07) clinched a gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay for the United States at the World University Games.
The Leader of the Wolverines
Michigan head swimming coach Jim Richardson enters his 23rd 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 to add to the program's 13th in 2001 and 14th in 2004. Since taking over in 1985-86, Michigan has finished in the NCAA top 10 on 13 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 149-52 in dual meet competition, including an impressive 98-13 mark in Big Ten action. Richardson has coached seven individual national champions, 155 NCAA All-Americans and 179 honorable mention All-Americans. On the conference level, he has guided 155 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's athletes have excelled in the classroom as well as the pool, with 30 CSCAA Academic All-Americans and 206 Academic All-Big Ten nominations.
Chris Bergre enters his sixth season as the head diving coach, and Stefanie Kerska begins her tenth season as an assistant to Richardson.
On the Horizon ...
The Wolverines return home for their home opener Friday (Oct. 26) with a dual meet against Toledo in Canham Natatorium. Action begins at 5 p.m.
Contact: Ryan Sosin (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
