Michigan
Big Ten Championships (Day 1)
Wolverines Begin Championships in Grand Fashion
2/24/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Michigan Commands Lead After Day One of Big Ten Meet
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan holds down first place with 218 team points after the first day of competition (Thursday, Feb. 24) at the 2000 Big Ten Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships at Canham Natatorium. The first day of action also saw Canham Natatorium pool records set in all five swimming events.
Michigan turned in 12 top-10 finishes and captured first place in two of the six events. The Wolverines hold a 53-point lead over defending champion Penn State (165), with Minnesota (162) close behind heading into the second day of the three-day, 10-team event.
Minnesota claimed the first event of the evening as the Golden Gophers turned in a pool record time of 1:19.31 in the 200-yard freestyle relay to jump out to the early lead. Michigan placed third, as the team of freshman Tony Kurth (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales HS), senior tri-captain Scott Meyer (Lodi, Calif./Lodi HS), sophomore Matt Raines (Owosso, Mich./Corunna HS) and sophomore Jordan Watland (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka HS) finished in an NCAA consideration time of 1:20.58.
U-M stormed back to take the next event as junior All-American Chris Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg HS) set a pool record in placing first in the 500-yard freestyle at 4:20.31. Thompson's finish is also an NCAA automatic qualifying time. The Wolverine trio of senior tri-captain Mike McWha (Windsor, Ontario/Kennedy Collegiate Institute), freshman Garrett Mangieri (Closter, N.J./Mercersburg Academy), and sophomore Chuck Kennedy (Concord, Calif./Northgate HS) placed second, fourth, and sixth, respectively. Michigan racked up 65 points in the 500 freestyle to take over first place.
Junior All-American Scott Werner (Haymarket, Va./Paul VI HS) led the charge in a 1-2-3 U-M finish in the 200-yard individual medley. Werner finished in an NCAA consideration time of 1:47.71. Teammates Tim Siciliano (San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos HS) and Tony Kurth (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales HS) finished second and third, respectively. In the 200-yard individual preliminaries earlier in the day, Kurth set the pool record after clocking in at 1:47.26.
In the one-meter diving event, senior tri-captain and four-time Big Ten Diver of the Week Josh Trexler (Raleigh, N.C./Millbrook HS) led the Wolverines with a fifth-place finish (498.80).
The 50-yard freestyle event witnessed Minnesota's Ricardo Dornelas first-place finish at 19.60, which is both a Big Ten Championships and a pool record. In the final event of the evening, Minnesota set the pool record in the 400-yard medley relay at 3:14.85.
The action continues Friday and Saturday (Feb. 25-26) with preliminaries beginning at noon and finals at 7 p.m.
Team Standings (After Day 1)
1. MICHIGAN 218 2. Penn State 165 3. Minnesota 162 4. Wisconsin 133 5. Indiana 122 6. Ohio State 103 7. Northwestern 81 8. Purdue 74 9. Michigan State 51 10. Iowa 33
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 1)
(Preliminary time in parentheses if faster than finals time)
200-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Minnesota 1:19.31#$ (Ricardo Dornelas, Alex Massura, Grant Butler, Allen Ong) 3. Michigan 1:20.58# (Tony Kurth, Scott Meyer, Matt Raines, Jordan Watland)
500-yard Freestyle
1. Chris Thompson, U-M 4:20.31*$ 2. Mike McWha, U-M 4:21.31# 4. Garrett Mangieri, U-M 4:24.11# 6. Chuck Kennedy, U-M 4:25.04# 17. Mike O'Connor, U-M 4:30.24 18. Justin Drake, U-M 4:30.54 37. Paul Ely, U-M 4:38.52
200-yard Individual Medley
1. Scott Werner, U-M 1:47.71#$ 2. Tim Siciliano, U-M 1:47.94# 3. Tony Kurth, U-M 1:48.32# (1:47.26#) 10. Jason Mallory, U-M 1:49.77# 15. Jeff Hopwood, U-M 1:51.76 (1:50.90) 29. Eric Wilson, U-M 1:52.98 37. Josh Hack, U-M 1:54.61
50-yard Freestyle
1. Ricardo Dornelas, Minnesota 19.60!*$ 10. Scott Meyer, U-M 20.63 12. Jordan Watland, U-M 20.68 (20.60) 17. Matt Raines, U-M 20.84 24. John McLellan, U-M 21.02
One-meter Diving
1. Tom Davidson, Indiana 574.05^ 5. Josh Trexler, U-M 498.80^ 12. Luke Cox, U-M 397.15 20. Bryce Cox, U-M 355.35 22. Carlos Castillo, U-M 345.15
400-yard Medley Relay
1. Minnesota 3:14.85# (Alex Massura, Jeff Hackler, Keam Ang, Ricardo Dornelas) 5. Michigan 3:18.81 (Ryan Earhart, Jeff Hopwood, Tony Kurth, Scott Meyer) * NCAA automatic qualifying time # NCAA consideration time ^ NCAA zone diving qualifying mark ! Big Ten Championships record $ Canham Natatorium record
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Jon Urbanchek
On the first day of the meet ... "We wanted to have a 75-point cushion after today to be in good shape to hold the lead the rest of the two days, and that is what we've done."
On the 200-yard freestyle relay ... "The 200-yard freestyle relay was good. We figured we would be top three, and we are top three, so it came according to the script."
On the Big Ten Championships ... "The Big Tens are three days long with six rounds, so you cannot ease up on any of the rounds or you'll get knocked out. You have to be tough every round."
Contact: Justin Pfauth (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
