Michigan
SMU Classic
Michigan Leads After Day One of SMU Invite
1/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Event: SMU Invite
U-M Team Standing: 1st Place of 6 Teams (181 points) After Day 1
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 17 -- SMU Invite (Dallas, Texas), 7:30 p.m. CST
DALLAS, Texas -- The No. 2-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming team recorded 181 points on Friday (Jan. 16) to sit in first place after day one of the two-day SMU Invite at Perkins Natatorium. U-M earned victories in five of the nine events.
In the first event of the evening, U-M's 400-yard medley relay quartet of junior Alon Mandel(Netanya, Israel/Eldad), sophomore Neal Kennedy(Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska), junior Chris Brady(Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant) and senior Bobby Savulich (Edison, N.J./Saint Joseph) took second with an NCAA consideration time of 3:12.21. The Maize and Blue foursome trailed only Florida in the event.
In the individual events of the SMU Invite, each school selects one swimmer to participate in the championship heat and one swimmer to compete in the consolation heat, and team points are awarded for finishes in each heat.
U-M swimmers swept the first individual event -- the 400-yard individual medley -- as sophomore Tyler Clary(Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) won the championship heat and junior Andr Schultz (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Palmares) was victorious in the consolation heat. Clary touched the wall in 3:42.35, an NCAA automatic qualifying time, and held the lead at every 25-yard split of the race. Schultz took top honors in the consolation heat with an NCAA 'B' time of 3:48.27. Schultz trailed by eight-tenths of a second at the midway point of the heat before a strong final 200 yards gave him a win by 1.74 seconds.
The Wolverines also won both the championship and consolation heats in the 200-yard freestyle. Senior Matt Patton(Matthews, N.C./Butler) earned top honors in the championship heat with a winning time of 1:37.29 and junior Charlie Houchin(Raleigh, N.C./William G. Enloe) was first to the wall in the consolation heat, clocking in at 1:37.82. Patton dueled with Balazs Gercsak of Florida, trailing by one one-hundredths of a second at the midway point and by three-tenths of a second after 150 before a strong final 50 gave Patton a win by 0.81 seconds.
In the 50-yard freestyle, Brady was second to the wall in the championship heat and Savulich was a winner in the consolation heat of the splash and dash. Brady clocked in at 20.39 to earn second place, while Savulich took the consolation heat in a time of 20.31.
Michigan once again won both heats in the 100-yard butterfly, with Brady earning top honors in the championship heat and Patton winning the consolation. Brady earned U-M a victory with an NCAA consideration time of 46.42, taking first by nearly two full seconds over Oman Pinzon of Florida (48.36). Patton's time of 49.26 took the top spot in the consolation heat.
U-M also swept the 100-yard backstroke as Mandel and Schultz won the heats for the Wolverines. Mandel took the championship in a consideration time of 47.91, edging Pontus Renholm of SMU by six one-hundredths of a second. Schultz took the consolation heat in a time of 48.39.
The Maize and Blue concluded the swimming events with a win in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Savulich, Houchin, Patton and Schultz combined to clock in at 6:24.33, an NCAA consideration time and meet record, breaking the record of 6:28.32 set by the Texas All-Stars last year. The Michigan quartet was dominating in the relay, winning by more than 15 seconds over second-place SMU (6:39.54).
In the only diving event of the evening -- the one-meter -- senior Kyle Schroeder(Milan, Mich./Milan) took fifth with 285.15 points.
Michigan will return to the pool on Saturday (Jan. 17) for the second day of the SMU Invite. The meet's final day of competition is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. CST.
Team Standings
1. MICHIGAN 181 2. Florida 143 3. SMU 140 4. North Carolina 134 5. Arizona State 111 6. USC 107
Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 1)
400-yard Freestyle Relay 1. Florida 3:10.63 2. MICHIGAN 3:12.21# (Alon Mandel, Neal Kennedy, Chris Brady, Bobby Savulich)
400-yard Individual Medley 1. Tyler Clary, U-M 3:42.35* 7. Andr Schultz, U-M 3:48.27#
200-yard Freestyle 1. Matt Patton, U-M 1:37.29 7. Charlie Houchin, U-M 1:37.82
50-yard Freestyle 1. Luka Vrtovec, SMU 20.20 2. Chris Brady, U-M 20.39 7. Bobby Savulich, U-M 20.31
100-yard Butterfly 1. Chris Brady, U-M 46.42# 7. Matt Patton, U-M 49.26
100-yard Backstroke 1. Alon Mandel, U-M 47.91# 7. Andr Schultz, U-M 48.39
100-yard Breaststroke 1. Clark Burckle, Florida 54.74 3. Neal Kennedy, U-M 56.36 11. Tyler Clary, U-M 57.61
800-yard Freestyle Relay 1. MICHIGAN 6:24.33# (Bobby Savulich, Charlie Houchin, Matt Patton, Andr Schultz)
One-meter Diving 1. Mick Benedetti, Arizona State 387.40 5. Kyle Schroeder, U-M 285.15
* NCAA Automatic Qualifying Time
# NCAA Consideration Time
Contact: Jeremy Reid (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
