Weekly Release #9

Upcoming Schedule
Thu-Sat., March 28-30 -- at NCAA Championships (Austin, Texas), 11 a.m./7 p.m. CST

This Week
The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan will send four swimmers to the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held Thursday through Saturday (March 21-23) at the University of Texas in Austin. Senior Lindsay Carlberg (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS), sophomores Annie Weilbacher (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales HS) and Kelli Stein (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Waterson HS), and freshman Amy McCullough (West Bloomfield, Mich./Mercy HS) will represent the Maize and Blue at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, with preliminaries beginning at 11 a.m. CST and finals at 7 p.m. CST each day.

Schedule of Events

Thursday, March 28	200-yard Freestyle Relay 500-yard Freestyle* 200-yard Individual Medley 50-yard Freestyle One-meter Diving 400-yard Medley Relay*
Friday, March 29	200-yard Medley Relay* 400-yard Individual Medley 100-yard Butterfly* 200-yard Freestyle* 100-yard Breaststroke* 100-yard Backstroke* Three-meter Diving 800-yard Freestyle Relay
Saturday, March 30	1,650-yard Freestyle* 200-yard Backstroke* 100-yard Freestyle* 200-yard Breaststroke* 200-yard Butterfly Platform Diving 400-yard Freestyle Relay
* indicates events in which U-M has entrants

Carlberg Returns to NCAA Competition, Part Four
Senior Lindsay Carlberg, who qualified for both backstroke events, will compete in her fourth consecutive NCAA Championships when competition opens on March 21. Last year, Carlberg earned her fourth All-American Honorable Mention and first in an individual event with a 1:59.19 time in the 200-yard backstroke. She turned in a time of 56.65 seconds for a 30th-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke and placed 39th overall in the 200-yard individual medley (2:06.10).

Weilbacher Heading to Austin
After earning four NCAA All-American Honorable Mention awards in her first trip to the NCAA Championships, sophomore Annie Weilbacher will look to improve upon last year's successes. A qualifier in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle this season, Weilbacher contributed heavily to the Wolverines' success in the relays last year at the NCAA Championships, including a ninth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:19.56).

Newcomers to the Meet
Sophomore Kelli Stein and freshman Amy McCullough will both be making their first appearances at the NCAA Championships this season. Stein qualified in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, while McCullough earned an automatic time in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a mark of 16:27.76 at the Big Ten Championships and will also swim in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events.

How the Times Stack Up
The following is a list of how Michigan's four qualifiers times stack up with the rest of the competition at the NCAA Championships.

Name	Event (Yards)	Seed	Qualifying Time
Lindsay Carlberg	100 Backstroke	22nd	55.39
	200 Backstroke	21st	1:58.63
Amy McCullough	200 Freestyle	40th	1:48.88
	500 Freestyle	43rd	4:50.87
	1,650 Freestyle	17th	16:27.76
Kelli Stein	100 Breaststroke	23rd	1:02.51
	200 Breaststroke	19th	2:14.67
Annie Weilbacher	100 Freestyle	56th	50.65
	100 Butterfly	19th	54.32

The Relays
Michigan has a nice advantage in that its four qualifiers for the NCAA Championships specialize in four different events. With Lindsay Carlberg in the backstroke, Annie Weilbacher in the butterfly, Kelli Stein in the breaststroke and Amy McCullough in freestyle, the foursome will combine to swim the medley relays at the NCAA Championships. McCullough will be the only newcomer to the relay as she will fill in for junior Laura Kaznecki (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Mercy HS), while the other three were part of the 200- and 400-yard medley relays that placed second and fourth, respectively, at the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 21-23).

Last Year at the NCAA Championships
After taking first place in the Big Ten Championships in 2001, Michigan swam to an 18th-place finish at the NCAA Championships at the Naussau Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y. Michigan was led by NCAA All-American Emily-Clare Fenn (Westport, Conn./Staples HS), who gave the Wolverines their highest finish of the meet with a sixth-place performance in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Fenn also earned All-American Honorable Mention for her performances in the 500-yard freestyle and the 800-yard freestyle relay.

Other individuals to earn All-America Honorable Mention at the meet were Jen Crisman (1997-2001) in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, Traci Valasco (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) in the 200-yard breaststroke and Lindsay Carlberg (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) in the 200-yard backstroke. The Maize and Blue relay teams, however, earned the squad the majority of the points, garnering All-American Honorable Mention in the 200-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley, 400-yard freestyle and 800-yard freestyle relays.

Michigan Under Richardson
This will mark the 17th time that Michigan has appeared at the NCAA Championships under head coach Jim Richardson. Since taking over the program in 1986, the Wolverines have placed in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships 12 times, including a runner-up finish in 1995. Under Richardson's guidance, the program has also produced seven individual NCAA champions.

Michigan in the Lone Star State
The last time the NCAA Championships were held in Austin, Texas, was in 1995, when Michigan posted its best-ever national finish by placing runner-up to Stanford. The Wolverines boasted three NCAA champions as Alecia Humphrey won the 100- and 200-yard backstroke and joined the victorious 400-yard medley relay that also included Talor Bendel, Megan Gillam and Rachel Gustin.

Last Meet Recap
Michigan hosted the Big Ten Conference Championships Feb. 21-23 at Canham Natatorium and posted 343 points en route to a fifth-place finish. Highlighting the meet for the Maize and Blue was sophomore Annie Weilbacher, who finished second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 54.68. Freshman Amy McCullough made an impressive debut in the mile by placing third with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 16:27.76, while senior Lindsay Carlberg closed out her last Big Ten Championships in a nice fashion by placing fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with a mark of 55.79.

In the relays, the Wolverines picked up the most points in the 400-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay with runner-up performances in both events. Weilbacher, juniors Erin Abbey (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield HS) and Laura Kaznecki, and sophomore Sara Johnson (West Bloomfield, Mich./Lahser HS) combined for a time of 3:22.93 in the 400-yard freestyle relay, while Abbey, Weilbacher and Kaznecki joined sophomore Kelli Stein for a mark of 1:41.59 in the 200 medley relay.

The Top 25
Michigan moved up two spots to No. 16 in the latest Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America poll, which was released on March 1. Penn State is the only Big Ten school ranked ahead of Michigan at No. 13, while Wisconsin (No. 17), Northwestern (No. 18), Indiana (No. 21) and Purdue (No. 22) also represent the league.

CSCAA Top 25 Poll (3/1/02)

Rank, Team Points 1. Stanford (8) 200 2. Auburn 192 3. Arizona 175 California 175 5. Texas 169 6. Georgia 167 7. Florida 154 8. Southern Cal 142 9. Southern Methodist 133 10. Notre Dame 128 11. UCLA 113 12. Arizona State 112 13. Penn State 104 14. Virginia 101 15. North Carolina 88 16. MICHIGAN 82 17. Wisconsin 75 18. Northwestern 56 19. Pacific 53 20. Maryland 46 21. Indiana 45 22. Purdue 23 22. Florida State 23 24. Texas A&M 14 Alabama 14

Contact: David Crabtree (734) 763-4423