Michigan
Texas A&M Invitational (Day 3)
Michigan Places Third at Texas A&M Invitational
11/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Event: Texas A&M Invitational
U-M Team Finish: 3rd Place of 10 Teams (613.5 Points)
Next U-M Meet: Friday, Dec. 5 -- at Eastern Michigan Invitational (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 6 p.m.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team continued its strong weekend on Sunday (Nov. 23) with six more consideration times as the Wolverines finished in third place with 613.5 points at the Texas A&M Invitational at the Student Rec Center. No. 6 California won the event with 1024 points, while No. 8 Texas A&M finished second with 919 points.
Junior Emily Hanson(Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) began the evening with a season-best performance in the 1,650-yard freestyle, touching the wall with an NCAA "B" time of 16:19.94 for a second-place finish. The time was the first consideration time of the season for Hanson, who trimmed just over 26 seconds off her season-best time.
Senior Hannah Smith(Dexter, Mich./Dexter) followed up Hanson's performance with a second-place finish of her own in the 200-yard backstroke. Smith's time of 1:55.00 was not only a consideration time but also a new career best for the senior.
In the 100-yard freestyle, junior Margaret Kelly(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) added her second consideration time of the weekend when she finished in fifth with a time of 49.33, a new personal record.
Two different Wolverine swimmers picked up career-best times in the 200-yard butterfly. Freshman Caitlin Dauw(St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) finished in third place with an NCAA "B" time of 1:58.53. She was followed by junior Emily Christy(Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford Area Senior), who picked up a "B" time of 1:59.24 and a fifth-place finish. The two times in the final are the first sub-two minute times in the 200-yard butterfly by any U-M swimmer this season.
U-M then picked up its third relay consideration time when it placed fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:18.55.
The Wolverines have a weekend off before they head across town to the Eastern Michigan Invitational Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5-6, in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Team Standings (Final)
1. California 1024 2. Texas A&M 919 3. MICHIGAN 613.5 4. Southern Methodist 493 5. LSU 377.5 6. Purdue 204 7. Washington 168 8. Stanford 43 9. UCLA 17 10. Ohio State 13
Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 3)
(Preliminary time in parentheses if faster than finals time)
Platform Diving
1. Audra Egenolf, SMU 262.85^ 11. Rachel Ropeik, U-M 204.60 13. Caitlin Dunphy-Daly, U-M 188.25 14. Katie Faiver, U-M 187.65 15. Jillian Drow, U-M 177.85 15. Stephanie O'Callaghan, U-M 177.85 17. Amanda Lohman, U-M 173.75
1,650-yard Freestyle
1. Lauren Boyle, California 16:15.16# 2. Emily Hanson, U-M 16:19.94#
200-yard Backstroke
1. Emily Neal, Texas A&M 1:54.73# 2. Hannah Smith, U-M 1:55.00# 10. Payton Johnson, U-M 1:59.52 15. Liz Johnson, U-M 2:04.96 (2:01.08) 22. Lori Morton, U-M 2:05.94
100-yard Freestyle
1. Triin Aljand, Texas A&M 47.35* 5. Margaret Kelly, U-M 49.33# 13. Natasha Moodie, U-M 50.65 21. Leigh Cole, U-M 50.86
200-yard Breaststroke
1. Alia Atkinson, Texas A&M 2:12.46# 16. Christine Nichols, U-M 2:24.77 (2:24.23)
200-yard Butterfly
1. Dana Vollmer, California 1:56.24# 3. Cailtin Dauw, U-M 1:58.93# 5. Emily Christy, U-M 1:59.24# 8. Keenan Koss, U-M 2:01.20 (2:01.00) 11. Payton Johnson, U-M 2:01.33 17. Claire Tyler, U-M 2:02.75 22. Courtney Beyer, U-M 2:03.75
400-yard Freestyle Relay
1. California 'A' 3:14.73* 4. Michigan 'A' 3:18.55# (Margaret Kelly, Hannah Smith, Natasha Moodie, Leigh Cole) 8. Michigan 'B' 3:24.75 (Liz Koselka, Kristyne Cole, Liz Johnson, Noelle Martin)
* NCAA automatic qualifying time
# NCAA consideration time
^ NCAA zone diving qualifying mark
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Jim Richardson
On the team's performance... "Our performances today were terrific. I can't remember a better November meet for us. We had so many great swims; all of our relays were excellent. It was a lot of fun to watch them perform. I hope that what they take out of this is that good intelligent hard work is the key to success. If we rest on our laurals from this week we are in trouble. But if we learn from the things we didn't do as well as we could have then we have a chance to be faster at the end of the season and that is our goal, to continually try to get better."
U-M Senior Payton Johnson
On what the team takes from the weekend... "We did an amazing job this weekend. In all my four years here we have never had as great a meet across the board. Everyone was able to walk away saying they did something great. As a whole, we are really proud about what we accomplished this weekend, it is a confidence boost, but our goals are still Big Tens and NCAAs, and we need to keep working and not get complacent. We are proud of what we accomplished, but we know we need to keep working. We did great this weekend. I am excited and everyone I talk to is excited, so it definitely has been fun."
Contact: Joe Arancio (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
