Speedy Relays Launch U-M into First at Hawkeye Invitational

Friday, December 2

Iowa City, Iowa

11:00 AM CT

Michigan

Hawkeye Invitational (Day 1)

Speedy Relays Launch U-M into First at Hawkeye Invitational

12/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving

Dec. 2, 2011

Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Campus Recreation and Wellness Center)
Event: Hawkeye Invitational (Day 1 of 3)
U-M Place: 1st Place of 8 Teams (269 Points) after Day 1
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Dec. 3 -- at Hawkeye Invitational - Day Two (Iowa City, Iowa)

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team set pool and meet records in each of its three event wins to lead the field after the first day of the Hawkeye Invitational on Friday (Dec. 2) at Iowa's Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. The Wolverines, who scored 269 points on the first day of competition, also had four second-place finishes and six NCAA provisional qualifying times.

The Wolverines started the meet quickly, taking top honors in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of senior (and Iowa native) Alexa Mehesan (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley), junior Ashley Cohagen (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), junior Deirdre Jones (Nashville, Tenn./University School of Nashville) and senior Caitlin Dauw (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) placed first with a time of 1:31.50, setting new meet and pool records. The time also met the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.

Michigan dominated the 500-yard freestyle, placing five swimmers in the "A" final, led by junior Adrienne Bicek (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North). Bicek finished second with a time of 4:45.35, meeting the NCAA provisional qualifying standard, as did senior Kristyne Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), who finished third (4:46.47). Junior Kally Fayhee (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary) and freshman Michelle Stefandl (Princeton, N.J./Stuart Country Day School) finished fourth (4:48.15) and fifth (4:54.03), respectively, with freshman Savannah Hatt (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) rounding out the finalists in seventh (4:56.59).

More points were scored in the 200-yard individual medley. Sophomore Angela Chokran (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) finished second (2:02.07) and junior Melissa Lang (Edison, N.J./Bishop George) finished right behind in third (2:02.29). Junior Val Barthelemy (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) was also an "A" finalist, placing seventh (2:04.72).

Mehesan added another win to her season-long unbeaten streak in the 50-yard freestyle, touching the wall first at 22.74, an NCAA provisional qualifying time as well as meet and pool records. Dauw was right behind in second with a provisional qualifying time of her own (22.89). Cohagen also scored points with a sixth-place finish (23.57).

The first session was capped by another Michigan victory, this time in the 400-yard medley relay. The quartet of Cohagen, Chokran, Dauw and Mehesan set meet and pool records with a time of 3:38.03, good enough to meet the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.

Senior Amanda Lohman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) was one of three Michigan divers to make the trip to Iowa City and was the team's highest finisher, taking second on the one-meter springboard (305.40).

The Hawkeye Invitational continues tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 3) with preliminaries at 10 a.m. CST and finals at 6 p.m. inside the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

Team Standings (After Day 1)

 1. MICHIGAN            295 2. Iowa                169 3. Denver              142 4. Washington State    128 5. UW-Milwaukee         98 6. UW-Green Bay         74 7. Minnesota            42 8. Nebraska             15

Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 1)
(Preliminaries time in parentheses if faster than finals time)

200-yard Freestyle Relay 1. Michigan 'A'                 1:31.50#MP    (Alexa Mehesan, Ashley Cohagen,     Deirdre Jones, Caitlin Dauw) 6. Michigan 'B'                 1:35.28    (Katherine Carl, Geneviève Aubé,     Claudia Lau, Liz Johnson)15. Michigan 'C'                 1:38.96    (Sam Pearson, Julia Andracki,     Val Barthelemy, Alisa Zoltowski) 500-yard Freestyle 1. Becky Stoughton, Iowa        4:43.79#MP 2. Adrienne Bicek, U-M          4:45.35# (4:46.05) 3. Kristyne Cole, U-M           4:46.47# 4. Kally Fayhee, U-M            4:48.15 5. Michelle Stefandl, U-M       4:54.03  (4:53.19) 7. Savannah Hatt, U-M           4:56.5910. Megan Craig, U-M             4:56.6312. Liz Koselka, U-M             5:00.07  (4:59.95) 200-yard Individual Medley 1. Emily McClellan, UWM         2:00.00#MP 2. Angela Chokran, U-M          2:02.07 3. Melissa Lang, U-M            2:02.29 7. Val Barthelemy, U-M          2:04.72  (2:03.84)13. Erin Cameron, U-M            2:05.94  (2:05.71) 50-yard Freestyle 1. Alexa Mehesan, U-M             22.74#MP 2. Caitlin Dauw, U-M              22.89# 6. Ashley Cohagen, U-M            23.57  (23.51)11. Claudia Lau, U-M               23.80  (23.75)12. Deirdre Jones, U-M             23.8515. Geneviève Aubé, U-M            23.92  (23.89)18. Liz Johnson, U-M               23.7838. Katherine Carl, U-M            24.4541. Liz Koselka, U-M               24.4951. Michelle Stefandl, U-M         25.4553. Sam Pearson, U-M               26.1455. Alisa Zoltowski, U-M           27.3356. Julia Andracki, U-M            28.58 400-yard Medley Relay 1. Michigan 'A'                 3:38.03#MP    (Ashley Cohagen, Angela Chokran,     Caitlin Dauw, Alexa Mehesan) 3. Michigan 'B'                 3:44.04    (Claudia Lau, Julia Andracki,     Kally Fayhee, Deirdre Jones) 6. Michigan 'C'                 3:46.46    (Sam Pearson, Melissa Lang,     Adrienne Bicek, Liz Johnson) One-meter Diving 1. Veronica Ryzde, Iowa          308.95 2. Amanda Lohman, U-M            305.4017. Brianna Maroukis, U-M         220.0022. Marina Nazario, U-M           206.05 # NCAA Provisional Qualifying StandardM - Meet RecordP - Pool Record

N O T E S

• Head swimming coach Jim Richardson did not make the trip to the Hawkeye Invitational due to illness.

• Adrienne Bicek got the team's first NCAA provisional qualifying standard of the season after getting clocked at 4:46.05 in the preliminaries of the 500-yard freestyle. Her preliminaries time set new meet and pool records, but they were both broken in the finals by Iowa's Becky Stoughton (4:43.79).

• It was the Wolverines swimmers' first meet in nearly a month. They last swam in the Florida/Stanford double-dual meet back on Nov. 4-5 in Ann Arbor.

• The Campus Recreation and Wellness Center is in its second season of hosting competitions. It opened during the summer of 2010.

Contact: Brad Rudner (734) 763-4423