Michigan
Big Ten Championships (Day 3)
Wolverines Finish Second at Big Ten Championships
2/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Senior Chris Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg HS) achieved a rare double-quadruple Saturday (Feb. 24) to help the ninth-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team to a runner-up finish to host Minnesota at the Big Ten Conference Championships. The Wolverines, who began the final day of competition tied for second place with Penn State, finished with 549 points, 11 ahead of the third-place Nittany Lions, while the Golden Gophers were runaway winners (797).
The first event, the 1,650-yard freestyle, proved to set U-M apart from the Nittany Lions as the Wolverines placed four swimmers in the top six and scored 71 points in the event. Leading the charge for the Maize and Blue was Thompson, who swam an NCAA automatic time of 14:31.15 while setting new meet and pool records. The win distinguishes Thompson, a four-time champion in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles, as just the fourth swimmer in conference history to win four titles in two individual events.
Three other Wolverines turned in NCAA automatic qualifying times in the 1,650 freestyle, with Tim Siciliano (San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos HS) finishing second (14:51.63), Justin Drake (Phoenix, Arizona/Arcadia HS) taking fifth (15:03.20) and Dan Ketchum (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore HS) earning sixth (15:05.77). Finishing in the 11th spot was Mike O'Connor (Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS), who turned in an NCAA consideration time of 15:29.85.
Scott Werner (Haymarket, Va./Paul VI) finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke while the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Jordan Watland (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka HS), Tony Kurth (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales HS), Garrett Mangieri (Closter, N.J./Mercersburg Academy HS) and Ketchum finished in fourth place with an NCAA consideration time of 2:57.17.
Carlos Castillo (Brigham, Utah/Box Elder HS) finished seventh in platform diving, a non-scoring exhibition event, with a final mark of 514.30.
Up next for the Wolverines are the NCAA zone diving meet, scheduled for March 9-10 in Bloomington, Ind., and the NCAA Championships two weeks later (March 22-24) in College Station, Texas.
Complete Big Ten Championships results are available at Minnesota's site.
Final Team Standings
1. Minnesota 797 2. MICHIGAN 549 3. Penn State 538 4. Wisconsin 321 5. Northwestern 290 6. Indiana 284 7. Ohio State 278 8. Purdue 269 9. Iowa 196 10. Michigan State 143
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 3)
(Preliminary time in parentheses if faster than finals time)
1,650-yard Freestyle
1. Chris Thompson, U-M 14:31.15*!$ 2. Tim Siciliano, U-M 14:51.63* 5. Justin Drake, U-M 15:03.20* 6. Dan Ketchum, U-M 15:05.77* 11. Mike O'Connor, U-M 15:29.85# 16. Tim Wera, U-M 15:40.56200-yard Backstroke
1. Ben Bartell, Minnesota 1:44.30* 6. Ryan Earhart, U-M 1:45.64# 15. Jason Mallory, U-M 1:48.89100-yard Freestyle
1. Brian Malich, OSU 43.27* 8. Garrett Mangieri, U-M 44:84# (44.44#) 12. Jordan Watland, U-M 44.74# 20. John McLellan, U-M 45.22 27. Matt Raines, U-M 45.45 40. Mike Porth, U-M 46.34200-yard Breaststroke
1. Martin Gustavsson, Minnesota 1:56.04* 3. Scott Werner, U-M 1:58.57# (1:58.23#) 11. Greg Zann, U-M 2:00.62 15. Jeff Lauhoff, U-M 2:03.83 18. Josh Hack, U-M 2:04.46 22. Christian Vanderkaay, U-M 2:05.44200-yard Butterfly
1. Keam Ang, Minnesota 1:44.25*$ 9. Tony Kurth, U-M 1:47.19 13. Heath Novak, U-M 1:49.45 15. Paul Ely, U-M 1:49.94 (1:49.16) 22. Eric Wilson, U-M 1:50.04Platform Diving (exhibition)
1. Dan Croaston, Minnesota 507.80 7. Carlos Castillo, U-M 371.10400-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Penn State 2:54.25*! (Bob Molettiere, Eugene Botes, Todd Minnier, John Retrum) 4. Michigan 2:57.17# (Garrett Mangieri, Jordan Watland, Tony Kurth, Dan Ketchum) * NCAA automatic qualifying time # NCAA consideration time $ University Aquatics Center record ! Big Ten Championships meet record % Big Ten Conference record
Day 1 Results | Day 2 Results
N O T E S
Michigan was represented by five individuals on the all-conference team, made up of event winners and three at-large selections. Wolverines who won events were:
Chris Thompson -- 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle, 800 freestyle relay
Dan Ketchum -- 200 freestyle, 800 freestyle relay
Tim Siciliano -- 400 individual medley
Garrett Mangieri -- 800 freestyle relay
Jordan Watland -- 800 freestyle relay
Two Wolverines earned special conference honors. Chris Thompson was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year for the second time in three years. He shared the honor with Minnesota's Alex Massura in 1999. Dan Ketchum received Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, continuing a long line of Michigan rookie honorees. He is the ninth Wolverine to win or share league Freshman of the Year honors since the award was created in 1988.
Big Ten Awards
Swimming Coach of the Year: Dennis Dale (Minnesota)
Diving Coach of the Year: KZ Li (Minnesota)
Swimmer of the Year: Chris Thompson (Michigan)
Freshman of the Year: Dan Ketchum (Michigan)
Diver of the Year: Dan Croaston (Minnesota)
Swimmer of the Championships: Todd Smolinski (Minnesota)
Diver of the Championships: Dan Croaston (Minnesota)
Contact: Karen Simpson (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
