Michigan
Indiana
U-M Comes From Behind Against 11th-Ranked Indiana
1/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Down 133-131 late in its dual meet at No. 11 Indiana, the sixth-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team won the meet's final two events for a 160-140 victory Sunday (Jan. 29) at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. Chris DeJong (Holland, Mich./Holland), Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn./Webb School), and brothers Alex Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams) and Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams) all posted two wins each to help lead U-M (6-0, 4-0 Big Ten) to victory in the back-and-forth battle against the Hoosiers.
The meet began with seniors DeJong, Andrew Albright (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and Tarwater along with freshman Bryan Vessels (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) besting their previous day's time in the 200-yard medley relay by nearly a half-second, finishing in 1:29.54, but it did not prove to be enough as the foursome fell to the Hoosiers' 'A' team.
In an event the team had not swam in competition for nearly two months, Peter Vanderkaay began the turnaround for the Wolverines, posting an NCAA automatic time of 14:58.84 in the 1,650-yard freestyle. However, Indiana was still able to maintain its advantage at 20-16, taking the second through fourth spots.
U-M took its first lead of the day as Tarwater swam a strong second half to overtake teammate Bobby Savulich (Edison, N.J./Saint Joseph) for first in the 200-yard freestyle. Tarwater posted a time of 1:37.85, just 0.18 seconds faster than Savulich as the pair finished 1-2 in the event.
Despite Hoosier Ben Hesen's school-record performance in the 100-yard backstroke (47.98), DeJong put on a show of his own with a team season best and NCAA consideration time of 47.67. Indiana responded in the 100-yard breaststroke, as Indiana's Kevin Swander (55.49) defeated Albright by almost a second, as the Wolverine senior posted a time of 54.47.
In the meet's next event, Alex Vanderkaay posted his first victory of the day with an NCAA 'B' standard time of 1:47.24 in the 200-yard butterfly. Curtis Dauw (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) swam to a personal season best of 1:30.38 to take third in the race. The Hoosiers fought back once again in the 50-yard freestyle with a 1-2 finish of their own to help cut the Wolverines' lead to 67-64. Freshman Savulich rounded out the top three in the event, touching the wall in 21.08.
Indiana took back the lead following the platform diving. The Hoosiers surrounded third-place finisher and U-M diver Kyle Howard (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) (339.83), taking spots one, two and four for the 79-71 advantage. Indiana further increased its lead to 90-79 as Hoosier Todd Patrick edged Tarwater by a mere 0.03 seconds to take first in the 100-yard freestyle.
The 11-point lead by Indiana -- the worst the Wolverines have felt all season this late in a meet -- proved to be just what Michigan needed for motivation as it won the next four events.
A day after posting the Canham Natatorium pool record (1:42.73) against Ohio State, DeJong once again took first in the 200-yard backstroke, this time recording 1:46.45, followed by sophomore Dane Grenda (Hockessin, Del./Salesianum) in second (1:47.99).
In the closest race of the day, Grant Burtch (Holland, Mich./Holland) swam a final split of 31.40 to jump three spots from fourth and squeeze by Indiana's Kevin Swander for first place in the 200-yard breaststroke by just 0.02 seconds. Burtch clocked in a time of 2:03.00, with Swander (2:03.02) and Albright (2:03.10) rounding out the top three and U-M taking a 104-103 edge over Indiana.
Peter Vanderkaay swam to his second victory and NCAA automatic time of the day in the 500-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 4:17.24. Brother Alex took third, just making the NCAA consideration mark by finishing in 4:27.17. In the next event, Tarwater cruised into first in his signature race, the 200-yard butterfly, with a time of 48.10.
The Wolverines walked into the three-meter diving break with a 128-117 lead, but all five Hoosier divers cleared the NCAA zone qualifying mark to claim a top-five sweep and 133-131 advantage.
Michigan quickly answered back with their first 1-2-3 finish of the day in the 400-yard individual medley. Alex Vanderkaay (3:53.61) led the way, followed by brother Peter (3:54.99) and Grenda (3:56.78) to push U-M back into the lead, 147-136.
The quartet of Savulich, DeJong, Sal Barba (Hudson, Mass./St. Johns) and Peter Vanderkaay sealed the deal for the Wolverines, taking first in the 800-yard freestyle relay by just over 11 seconds in 6:34.71
U-M returns to action next Saturday (Feb. 4) as it travels to Evanston, Ill., to face Northwestern in its final dual meet of the season. The Big Ten Championships will be held Feb. 23-25 in Bloomington, Ind.
Contact: Jed Shein (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
