Michigan
NCAA Championships
Michigan Finishes Fourth at NCAAs, Capping Historic Season
3/17/2018 9:05:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
» Michigan finished fourth and secured a team trophy, the program's first top-four finish since 1996. Its 267 points is third-highest in program history.
» The Wolverines were sixth coming into the day, but was able to climb thanks to podium finishes on Saturday from G Ryan (1,650-yard freestyle), Clara Smiddy (200-yard backstroke), Siobhán Haughey (100-yard freestyle), Miranda Tucker (200-yard breaststroke), Vanessa Krause (200-yard butterfly) and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
» Siobhán Haughey became the first woman in Big Ten history to crack 47 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle, besting her Big Ten and U-M records with a fourth-place finish (46.91).
» Vanessa Krause became the third swimmer in program history to final in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing eighth. She lowered her Big Ten and U-M records in the preliminaries (1:53.31).
» Christy Cutshaw finished 10th on platform, the third diver in four years to score points in that event at the NCAA Championships under diving coach Mike Hilde.
Site: Columbus, Ohio (McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 4 of 4)
U-M Team Standing: Fourth of 44 teams (267 points)
Next U-M Event: Season concluded
• Photo Gallery
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Behind a total of 10 scoring performances -- six of them in finals -- the University of Michigan women's swimming and diving capped its most successful season in years, as they finished fourth (267 points) at the NCAA Championships on Saturday (March 17) at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. It is the team's third-highest finish in program history and its first top-four finish since 1996. Stanford won the team title (593 points).
Finishing fourth represents a massive jump for the program and for this senior class, which finished 22nd just three years ago. The Wolverines scored 267 points over the four days in Columbus -- their third-highest point total -- and ended Indiana's three-year streak of being the highest-finishing Big Ten team at the NCAA Championships. Additionally, the 2017-18 squad is the first Big Ten team to record a top-five finish in 22 years (Michigan, 1996).
Michigan had 10 student-athletes (nine swimmers, one diver) and four relays score points, which included national runner-up finishes from the 800-yard freestyle relay (with the third-fastest time in NCAA history), Haughey in the 200-yard freestyle (with the sixth-fastest time in NCAA history) and Tucker in the 100-yard breaststroke.
"I'm so proud of this team for the way they fought for Michigan," said head coach Mike Bottom. "This is a special team that did incredible things this year, and it starts with the leadership from our senior class. They've done so much for this program and I'm thrilled that they get to end their careers like this."
With an extra day of rest under them, all three swimmers in the 1,650-yard freestyle scored to open the finals session, led by senior G Ryan. In the final swim of their career, Ryan made their move around the 1,000-yard mark and went on to win Heat Four (15:50.95) to finish sixth overall. Freshman Sierra Schmidt swam two lanes down from Ryan in heat four, scoring points via an 11th-place finish (15:58.12), while junior Yirong Bi was 15th (16:00.73).
Senior captain Clara Smiddy set the tone in the morning, securing a lane in the evening's 200-yard backstroke final, where she placed fifth (1:50.80). She ends her career as one of the best backstrokers in program history and joined Alecia Humphrey (1993-95) as the only women to final in the event in three consecutive years. Junior Taylor Garcia finished 32nd; her time of 1:54.71 is now sixth on the school's all-time list -- while junior Becca Postoll was 48th (1:57.23).
After finishing runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle on Friday night (March 16), Haughey raced much of the same field in the 100-yard freestyle on Saturday and lowered her Big Ten and U-M records with a fourth-place finish (46.91), cementing her as the first woman in Big Ten history to crack 47 seconds in the event. Senior Gabby DeLoof, in her final individual swim, was in the consolation final and placed 11th overall with a new personal best (47.81).
Another runner-up from yesterday, sophomore Miranda Tucker, made another finals appearance and ended another one of the program's longer droughts when she finished fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:07.85). Tucker is the fourth swimmer in program history to final in both breaststroke events at the NCAA Championships, as she joined Ann Colloton (1988, 1989, 1990), Lara Hooiveld (1993) and Rachel Gustin (1994, 1995). Senior Emily Kopas also swam and closed out her career with a 21st-place showing (2:09.62).
Sophomore Vanessa Krause put up a gutsy swim in the preliminaries of the 200-yard butterfly, where she recorded the third-fastest closing split of the field to sneak into eighth and lowered her Big Ten and U-M records (1:53.31). Occupying an outside lane in the final, she finished eighth, a seven-place improvement over last year. Krause is just the third swimmer in school history to final in the event and joined Mindy Gehrs (1992-93) and Talor Bendel (1995).
Freshman Christy Cutshaw added some crucial bonus points toward the team total with a berth in the consolation final on platform, as she moved up four spots from preliminaries to take 10th (264.25). She is the third Michigan diver in the four years under diving coach Mike Hilde to score at the NCAA Championships on platform, joining Carey Chen (2015) and Kristen Hayden (2017).
The foursome of Gabby DeLoof, junior Catie DeLoof, Haughey and freshman Daria Pyshnenko closed out the meet with a fifth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay to re-set their Big Ten and U-M records (3:10.73) and clinched the fourth-place finish and team trophy. Michigan qualified for the final of all three freestyle relays at the NCAA Championships, a feat last achieved in 1999.
ALL-AMERICANS
Siobhán Haughey -- 100-yard Freestyle (4th), 200-yard Freestyle (2nd)
Vanessa Krause -- 200-yard Butterfly (8th)
G Ryan -- 500-yard Freestyle (8th), 1,650-yard Freestyle (6th)
Clara Smiddy -- 200-yard Backstroke (5th)
Miranda Tucker -- 100-yard Breaststroke (2nd), 200-yard Breaststroke (4th)
200-yard Freestyle Relay -- Catie DeLoof, Gabby DeLoof, Siobhán Haughey, Daria Pyshnenko (6th)
400-yard Freestyle Relay -- Gabby DeLoof, Catie DeLoof, Siobhán Haughey, Daria Pyshnenko (5th)
800-yard Freestyle Relay -- Catie DeLoof, Siobhán Haughey, Yirong Bi, Gabby DeLoof (2nd)
ALL-AMERICA HONORABLE MENTIONS
Yirong Bi -- 500-yard Freestyle (13th), 1,650-yard Freestyle (15th)
Christy Cutshaw -- Platform Diving (10th)
Catie DeLoof -- 200-yard Freestyle (11th)
Gabby DeLoof -- 100-yard Freestyle (11th), 200-yard Freestyle (9th)
Siobhán Haughey -- 200-yard IM (9th)
Sierra Schmidt -- 500-yard Freestyle (14th), 1,650-yard Freestyle (11th)
400-yard Medley Relay -- Clara Smiddy*, Miranda Tucker, Vanessa Krause, Gabby DeLoof** (10th)
* Replaced Taylor Garcia from preliminaries
** Replaced Siobhán Haughey from preliminaries
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Stanford 593 2. California 373 3. Texas A&M 299 4. MICHIGAN 267 5. Louisville 232 6. Texas 221.5 7. Tennessee 180.5 8. Indiana 169 9. Virginia 161 10. Minnesota 1571,650-yard Freestyle
1. Katie Ledecky, Stanford 15:07.57 6. G Ryan, U-M 15:50.95 11. Sierra Schmidt, U-M 15:58.12 15. Yirong Bi, U-M 16:00.73200-yard Backstroke
1. Kathleen Baker, California 1:47.30AN 5. Clara Smiddy, U-M 1:50.82 32. Taylor Garcia, U-M 1:54.71 48. Becca Postoll, U-M 1:57.23100-yard Freestyle
1. Simone Manuel, Stanford 45.65 4. Siobhán Haughey, U-M 46.91BM 11. Gabby DeLoof, U-M 47.81200-yard Breaststroke
1. Lilly King, Indiana 2:02.60AN 4. Miranda Tucker, U-M 2:07.85 21. Emily Kopas, U-M 2:09.62200-yard Butterfly
1. Ella Eastin, Stanford 1:50.01 8. Vanessa Krause, U-M 1:54.08 (1:53.31BM)Platform Diving
1. Olivia Rosendahl, Northwestern 346.15 10. Christy Cutshaw, U-M 264.25400-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Stanford 3:07.94 (Janet Hu, Ella Eastin Katie Drabot, Simone Manuel) 5. MICHIGAN 3:10.73BM (Gabby DeLoof, Catie DeLoof Siobhán Haughey, Daria Pyshnenko)
A American Record
N NCAA Record
B Big Ten Record
M University of Michigan Record
& NCAA Championships Record
Players Mentioned
