Brunemann and Wolverines Race Past Notre Dame

Oct. 10, 2009

Site: South Bend, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)
Event: at Notre Dame (Dual Meet)
U-M Results: U-M 165, Notre Dame, 133
Next U-M Event: Friday Oct. 23 (vs. Toledo, Univ. of Toronto)

• Final Results

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team kicked off the 2009-10 dual meet slate on a positive note, knocking off the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 165-133, on Saturday (Oct. 10). Fifth-year senior and 2008 NCAA Champion Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) led the Wolverines with three wins, showing no rust after redshirting last season.

Brunemann won three races: the 500-yard freestyle, 1000-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle, all by large margins. She won the 1000-yard freestyle by seven seconds and close to five seconds in the 500-yard freestyle. Brunemann and senior Emily Hanson (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) finished 1-2 in both races over the rest of the field.

Michigan came into Saturday morning's dual meet looking to build off its momentum from yesterday's dominant performance at the Dennis Stark Relays. The dual meet kicked off with the 200-yard medley relay, and the Wolverines picked up right where they left off, taking first place with a time of 1:43.25. Freshmen Mattie Kukors (Auburn, Wash./Mountainview) and Julia Andracki (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) started things off, while sophomore Caitlin Dauw (St. Charles, Ill.) and senior Natasha Moodie (Miramar, Fla./Miramar) swam the third and fourth legs, respectively.

Moodie continued her surging start, winning the 100-yard freestyle, in addition to assisting on two first-place relays. Dauw won the 100-yard butterfly by an extremely slim margin (.05 seconds) while sophomore Liz Johnson (Milford, Mich./Milford) earned points in the 100-yard backstroke with a first-place finish.

Over in the diving well, sophomore Amanda Lohman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) scored some crucial points for the Wolverines, taking top honors in one-meter diving (285.60) and second in three-meter diving (286.05).

Michigan returns to the pool Friday, Oct. 23, when it opens up Canham Natatorium for the first home meet of the season against Toledo and the Univ. of Toronto. Meet time is 3 p.m.

N O T E S

• Kukors won the first individual race of her collegiate career (200-yard backstroke).

• Michigan began to surge towards the end of the meet as the Wolverines won four of the last five events.

• On Friday, the 200-yard medley relay team of Kukors, Andracki, Dauw and Moodie swam the race in 1:45.61. The quartet shaved more than two seconds off that time Saturday, finishing at 1:43.25.

• Redshirt freshman diver Sarah Suprise (Portage, Mich./Hackett Catholic Central) competed in a dual meet for the first time in her collegiate career. She finished seventh in both one-meter (214.49) and three-meter (203.24).

Q U O T E S

Head Coach Jim Richardson
On team's performance in first dual meet of season ... "Swimming fast was a struggle today, but if we hadn't had close races with them, I don't think we would have won. All in all, it was a really good competition for where we were in our training cycle. We've got two more weeks left in the dry-land training phase, and we're going to have to make adjustments because some people are really beat up."

On Emily Brunemann's return to the pool this weekend ... "It is good to have her back again, that goes without saying. She is a tough competitor, and she likes to race and likes to win. That girl is going to compete. You're always better when you have a competitor like that swimming with her. It was good to see her win back-to-back races and get two pretty good times."

On the performance from the freshmen ... "They want to contribute. They want to make a difference. They see areas where they can find a niche and compete and they are focused on that every day in practice. When we get to the meets, it's like 'time to show this meet isn't a fluke'."

Contact: Brad Rudner (734)763-4423