Weekly Release #3

10/31/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving

Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sat., Nov. 3-4 -- at #5 Georgia (Athens, Ga.), 6 p.m./11 a.m.
Friday, Nov. 10 -- vs. Ohio State (Canham Natatorium), 5 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 11 -- vs. Princeton (Canham Natatorium), 11 a.m.
Fri.-Sun., Nov. 17-19 -- at Texas A&M Invitational, 6 p.m./9 a.m.

This Week
The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team (1-1, 1-0 Big Ten) travels south to take on fifth-ranked Georgia for a two-day meet at Gabrielsen Natatorium. This will be the Wolverines second meeting this season with an SEC program ranked in the top five nationally.

Schedule of Events

Friday, Nov. 3 (Long Course Meters)
400-yard medley relay
400-yard freestyle
200-yard breaststroke
200-yard butterfly
Three-meter diving
200-yard backstroke
100-yard freestyle
400-yard individual medley
200-yard freestyle relay

Saturday, Nov. 4 (Short Course Yards)
200-yard medley relay
1,650-yard freestyle
50-yard freestyle
100-yard backstroke
100-yard breaststroke
One-meter diving
100-yard butterfly
200-yard freestyle
200-yard individual medley
400-yard freestyle relay

Scouting the Opponents
Georgia -- The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back conference wins over Florida and Kentucky. Ann Arbor native Kara Lynn Joyce is the top returning swimmer for Georgia, having won the 2005-06 NCAA Swimmer of the Year after posting an American record in the 50-yard freestyle and swimming on three national champion relays at last season's national meet. As the host of the 2006 National Championships, UGA fell just three points shy of Auburn for the national title. Head coach Jack Bauerle is in his 28th year as head coach of the Georgia women's swimming and diving program, and currently holds a streak of consecutive wins dating back to 2002-03. Michigan is winless in three meets all-time against the perennial top five Bulldogs.
Georgia on the Internet: www.georgiadogs.com.

Wolverines 10th in First National Poll
After a stellar showing against No. 2 Florida (Oct. 14) and a win against Michigan State (Oct. 25), Michigan has earned the No. 10 spot in the second CSCAA poll, released Friday (Oct. 27). U-M holds the highest spot of the six Big Ten programs that rank in the poll.

RANK, TEAM PTS. 1. California (7) 239 2. Florida 230 3. Auburn (1) 226 4. Arizona 214 5. Georgia 204 6. Stanford 203 7. Southern Cal 188 8. SMU 186 9. Texas A&M 175 10. MICHIGAN 165 11. Texas 162 12. UCLA 154 13. Wisconsin 142 14. Florida State 136 15. Tennessee 133 16. Minnesota 118 17. Indiana 106 18. Penn State 99 19. Rutgers 97 20. Notre Dame 91 21. Virginia 69 North Carolina 69 23. Kentucky 52 24. Princeton 45 25. Purdue 43

Lee, Mueller Lead Wolverines to Victory Over Spartans
Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) was the Wolverines' top swimmer in their 153-85 victory over Michigan State Wednesday evening (Oct. 25) at Charles McCaffree Pool. She earned the top time in two individual events, including a consideration mark in the 400-yard IM (4:19.52) in addition to competing on the first-place 200-yard medley relay team that set a pool record. Mueller's winning time of 4:19.52 in the 400-yard individual medley also broke a facility record. In addition, Elyse Lee (Albion, Mich./Albion) collected zone-qualifying and first-place scores in both the one-meter (295.50) and three-meter (323.56) diving events, helping seal the win for Michigan, who owned the top time or score in 12 of 13 events.

Top Times for 2006-07
50-yard Freestyle: Kaitlyn Brady, 23.55
100-yard Freestyle: Lindsey Smith, 50.51#
200-yard Freestyle: Lindsey Smith, 1:49.64#
500-yard Freestyle: Emily Brunemann, 4:55.21
1,000-yard Freestyle: Emily Brunemann, 9:55.13
100-yard Butterfly: Payton Johnson, 57.33
200-yard Butterfly: Emily Christy, 2:02.39#
100-yard Backstroke: Kaitlyn Brady, 56.37r
200-yard Backstroke: Hannah Smith, 2:01.19#
100-yard Breaststroke: Justine Mueller, 1:04.87
200-yard Breaststroke: Justine Mueller, 2:17.48#
200-yard Individual Medley: Justine Mueller, 2:02.95#
400-yard Individual Medley: Justine Mueller, 4:19.52#
200-yard Freestyle Relay: 1:35.04 (Brady, Leigh Cole, H. Smith, L. Smith)
400-yard Freestyle Relay: 3:23.74# (Brady, Margaret Kelly, Cole, P. Johnson)
200-yard Medley Relay: 1:44.70 (Brady, Mueller, Kelly, L. Smith)
400-yard Medley Relay: 3:43.01# (Brady, Mueller, Kelly, L. Smith)
One-Meter Diving (Dual): Elyse Lee, 301.28^
Three-Meter Diving (Dual): Elyse Lee, 323.56^

* NCAA automatic qualifying time
# NCAA consideration time
r achieved on a relay

First-Place Wolverines
Michigan won all but one event against the Spartans last Wednesday (Oct. 25). The foursome of Kaitlyn Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant), Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe), Margaret Kelly (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) began the winning streak in the 200-yard medley relay (1:44.70). The quartet of Brady, Leigh Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), Hannah Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) and Lindsey Smith earned the fastest time in the only other relay event, as U-M swam exhibition due to its commanding lead. In addition to Mueller's win in the 400-yard IM (4:19.52) and fastest time in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.87), Susan Gilliam (1,000-yard freestyle, 10:12.45), Lindsey Smith (50-yard freestyle, 24.05), Payton Johnson (100-yard butterfly, 57.33), Brady (100-yard freestyle, 51.88), Hannah Smith (100-yard backstroke, 57.06) and Emily Brunemann (500-yard freestyle, 4:55.21) also collected wins.

Elyse Lee dominated the diving side, taking first in the one-meter (295.50) and three-meter (323.56) dives.

Overall this season, Michigan has claimed the top time in 20 of 26 events.

Undefeated Relays
The Wolverines have claimed victory or the top time in all four relay events in the 2006-07 campaign. U-M opened the season with triumphs in both the 400-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays against the Gators. Michigan then took first in the 200-yard medley relay and then swam the fastest time in the 200-yard freestyle relay despite swimming exhibition in the event.

Dominating Divers
The Maize and Blue head into Georgia having taken the top spot or two of the top three spots in all four diving events so far this season, including Elyse Lee's one-meter win against Florida and two-win performance against the Spartans. Lee and Ellen Van Cleve (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) placed 1-2 in the one-meter dive against the Gators on October 14 and Lee, Van Cleve and Katie Skendrovic (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) followed that up with a 2-3-4 effort in the three-meter.

At Michigan State last Wednesday (Oct. 25), Lee took the top spot in the one-meter with Erica LaBont (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) claiming third. In the three-meter event, Lee posted a first-place score while Skendrovic owned the fourth-place score.

Freestyle Sprint Streaks
U-M owns the top time in all four sprint freestyle events this season, claiming first in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle against both the Gators and Spartans. Kaitlyn Brady swam to a 50-yard win against Florida and a 100-yard victory against MSU. Lindsey Smith earned a top finish in the 100-yard freestyle against the Gators and grabbed the best time in the 50-yard freestyle against Michigan State.

The Leader of the Wolverines
Michigan head swimming coach Jim Richardson is in his 22nd season at the helm for the Wolverines. Over that time, his teams have dominated the Big Ten, winning 12 consecutive league titles from 1987-98, adding the program's 13th in 2001 and 14th in 2004. Since he took over in 1985-86, Michigan has finished in the NCAA top 10 on 12 occasions. In 1995, U-M finished in second place as a team, following that in 1996 by hosting the NCAA Championships and finishing third.

Richardson holds a career record of 146-51 in dual meet competition, including an impressive 96-13 mark in Big Ten action. Richardson has coached seven individual national champions, 139 NCAA All-Americans and 163 honorable mention All-Americans. On the conference level, he has guided 150 individual and relay conference champions and has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year six times. A two-time NCAA Coach of the Year (1993, '95), Richardson has seen his athletes excel in the classroom as well as the pool, with 24 CSCAA Academic All-Americans and 193 Academic All-Big Ten nominations.

Chris Bergre enters his fifth season as the head diving coach, and Stefanie Kerska begins her ninth season as an assistant to Richardson.

On the Horizon ...
Michigan will host two dual meets next weekend as Ohio State (Nov. 10, 5 p.m.) and Princeton (Nov. 11, 11 a.m.) travel to Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines at Canham Natatorium.