Michigan
Georgia Tech
U-M Sweeps Three Opponents at Georgia Tech Quad
1/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 16, 2016
Gillian Ryan
» Four swimmers -- Ali DeLoof, Gillian Ryan, Clara Smiddy and Siobhán Haughey -- combined for eight individual event wins, and U-M also won both relays.
» The Wolverines also got points from divers Sarah Kamstra (third on three-meter) and Allie Murphy (fourth on one-meter).
Site: Atlanta, Ga. (Georgia Tech Aquatic Center)
Scores: Michigan 174, Indiana 126; Michigan 228, Georgia Tech 72; Michigan 195, Duke 105
Records: U-M (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten), IU (7-6, 1-1 Big Ten), GT (3-6), Duke (7-2)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 30 -- at Ohio State, vs. Buffalo, vs. West Virginia (Columbus, Ohio), 1 p.m.
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Senior Ali DeLoof, sophomores Gillian Ryan and Clara Smiddy and freshman Siobhán Haughey each won two events to lead the No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team to victories over No. 16 Indiana (174-126), Duke (195-105) and host Georgia Tech (228-72) on Saturday (Jan. 16) inside the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
For an in-season meet, Smiddy looked very sharp in both of her events, winning the 100-yard backstroke by more than a second (53.60) and the 200-yard backstroke by more than three seconds (1:55.05). Both times were NCAA "B" cuts.
Her classmate Ryan ruled the distance events, crushing the field by more than 10 seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:51.97) while claiming an NCAA "B" time with an additional victory in the 500-yard freestyle (4:45.97). The Wolverines showed strong depth in that race with freshman Becca Postoll finishing third (4:47.84) and junior Claudia Goswell finishing fourth (4:55.35).
"Gillian was awesome today," head coach Mike Bottom said. "She wasn't scheduled to swim the 200 free, but because she swam so well in the 1,000, we put her in, and she scored points. That's the toughness that we're trying to teach to the women's side of the program. It was a last-minute call, but she stood up and performed and did so without a ton of rest."
DeLoof continued her strong senior season with first-place finishes in both sprint freestyle events, picking up NCAA "B" times with wins in the 50-yard freestyle (22.86) and 100-yard freestyle (49.38). Both of her younger sisters also had strong performances on Saturday, with sophomore Gabby DeLoof finishing second to Smiddy in the 200-yard backstroke (1:58.67) and freshman Catie DeLoof taking third in the 100-yard freestyle (50.70).
Arguably the best team performance of the day came in the 200-yard freestyle, where Michigan went 1-3-4-5, led by Haughey, who surpassed the field by nearly two seconds (1:46.16). Postoll (1:48.82), Ryan (1:48.94) and G. DeLoof (1:49.00) followed. Haughey also won the 200-yard individual medley near the end of the meet (2:00.10), while senior Marni Oldershaw took third (2:02.24).
Sophomore Emily Kopas provided points with a second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:14.63) and a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.11).
Michigan picked up a win in the 200-yard medley relay, thanks largely to great splits on the backstroke leg from A. DeLoof (24.62) and freestyle leg from Haughey (22.33). Kopas and Smiddy rounded out the quartet. Then, at the end of the meet, the Maize and Blue held the top two spots on the podium in the 400-yard freestyle relay, with the foursome of Smiddy, A. DeLoof, G. DeLoof and Haughey getting clocked in first (3:19.88).
In the diving well, senior Sarah Kamstra returned to action with a third-place finish on three-meter (269.10), while junior Allie Murphy was fourth on one-meter (237.50).
"The thing that stuck out today, it was a team win all the way around," said Bottom. We shifted people to cover different events, and we're not talking about the top performers. We're talking about people that maybe finished second, third or fourth but still scored points for the team. That's what put us in a position to win the meet."
Michigan returns to dual-meet action in two weeks (Saturday, Jan. 30) when it faces Ohio State, Buffalo and West Virginia in a combined men's and women's quad meet in Columbus, Ohio. The meet is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
Communications Contact: Brad Rudner
Players Mentioned
