Weekly Release #6

11/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving

Upcoming Schedule
Thu.-Sat. Nov. 30-Dec. 2 -- U.S. Open (West Lafayette, Ind.), 6 p.m./9 a.m.
Fri.-Sat., Dec. 1-2 -- Eastern Michigan Invitational (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 6 p.m./9 a.m.
Fri.-Sat., Jan. 12-13 -- Michigan Invitational (Canham Natatorium), 6 p.m./9 a.m.
Sat., Jan. 20 -- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), 1 p.m.

This Week
The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team (3-2, 2-0 Big Ten) will compete in two events this upcoming weekend. Junior Valeria Silva (Lima, Peru/Alexander Von Humboldt) and transfer senior Melissa Jaeger (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) travel to West Lafayette, Ind., for the U.S. Open. The remaining athletes from the women's swimming and diving team will compete in the Eastern Michigan Invitational (Fri.-Sat., Dec. 1-2) at the Jones Natatorium.

The EMU meet features nine programs: Eastern Michigan, Allegheny, Wayne State, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Toledo, Calvin, Findlay and Waterloo.

The U.S. Open features some of the top swimmers in the nation. Silva will race in the 100-meter breaststroke, where she holds the No. 87 seed time. Jaeger is set to compete in the 100-meter butterfly (No. 18 seed), 200-meter butterfly (No. 16 seed), 100-meter breaststroke (No. 26 seed) and the 200-meter individual medley (No. 78 seed).

EMU Invitational Schedule of Events

Friday (6 p.m.), Dec. 1
1,650-yard Freestyle
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
400-yard Freestyle Relay

Sat. Morning (10 a.m), Dec. 2
200-yard Medley Relay
400-yard Individual Medley
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
800-yard Freestyle Relay

Sat. Evening (6 p.m.), Dec. 2
200-yard Freestyle Relay
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard Individual Medley
50-yard Freestyle
400-yard Medley Relay

U. S. Open Schedule of Events

Thursday, November 30
200-meter Individual Medley
400-meter Freestyle
100-meter Breaststroke
200-meter Backstroke
50-meter Freestyle
800-meter Freestyle Relay

Friday, December 1
100-meter Backstroke
200-meter Freestyle
100-meter Butterfly
400-meter Individual Medley
400-meter Medley Relay

Saturday, December 2
800-meter Freestyle
100-meter Freestyle
200-meter Breaststroke
200-meter Butterfly
400-meter Freestyle Relay

Wolverines Finish Second at Texas A&M Invitational
The 10th-ranked Maize and Blue remained in second throughout the entire weekend in College Station, Texas. In the end, U-M's 1,048 points fell shy of the No. 5-ranked Texas A&M Aggies (1,282.5 points). The Wolverines did, however, upset the No. 9-ranked team in the nation Southern Methodist (685 points), who placed third.

Four Michigan swimmers earned NCAA 'A' cuts: Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) (400-yard individual medley, 4:15.15), Kaitlyn Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant) (100-yard butterfly, 53.24), Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) (200-yard freestyle, 1:46.92) and Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) (1,650-yard freestyle, 16:21.03). Mueller's first-place mark in the 400-yard IM was U-M's lone win of the weekend.

On the diving side, the Wolverines took second in every event. Elyse Lee (Albion, Mich./Albion) scored runner-up in both one-meter (306.00) and three-meter (312.60) diving, while Ellen Van Cleve (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) placed second in platform diving (241.85).

Top Times for 2006-07
Seven different individual swimmers own top individual times this season in yardage events. Kaitlyn Brady and Emily Brunemann each hold a team-high three top times, while Lindsey Smith and Justine Mueller own two apiece. Elyse Lee has two of the top three best scores in diving.

50-yard Freestyle: Kaitlyn Brady, 22.98#
50-meter Freestyle: Kaitlyn Brady, 27.06r
100-yard Freestyle: Lindsey Smith, 49.66#
100-meter Freestyle: Lindsey Smith, 56.88#
200-yard Freestyle: Lindsey Smith, 1:46.36*
400-meter Freestyle: Emily Hanson, 4:24.71
500-yard Freestyle: Emily Brunemann, 4:48.80#
1,000-yard Freestyle: Emily Brunemann, 9:55.13
1,650-yard Freestyle: Emily Brunemann, 16:21.81*
100-yard Butterfly: Kaitlyn Brady, 53.69*
200-yard Butterfly: Emily Christy, 2:00.24#
200-meter Butterfly: Emily Christy, 2:18.51#
100-yard Backstroke: Kaitlyn Brady, 55.57#
100-meter Backstroke: Hannah Smith, 1:06.31r
200-yard Backstroke: Hannah Smith, 1:59.30#
200-meter Backstroke: Margaret Kelly, 2:20.60#
100-yard Breaststroke: Valeria Silva, 1:03.47#
200-yard Breaststroke: Justine Mueller, 2:14.69#
200-meter Breaststroke: Justine Mueller, 2:37.24
200-yard Individual Medley: Margaret Kelly, 2:00.63#
400-yard Individual Medley: Justine Mueller, 4:15.15*
400-meter Individual Medley: Justine Mueller, 4:57.42#
200-yard Freestyle Relay: 1:31.29# (Brady, Kelly, H. Smith, L. Smith)
200-meter Freestyle Relay: 1:45.60# (Brady, Kelly, H. Smith, L. Smith)
400-yard Freestyle Relay: 3:20.32# (Brady, Kelly, H. Smith, L. Smith)
200-yard Medley Relay: 1:41.82# (Kelly, Mueller, Brady, L. Smith)
400-yard Medley Relay: 3:43.01# (Brady, Mueller, Kelly, L. Smith)
400-meter Medley Relay: 4:20.73 (Brady, Mueller, Kelly, L. Smith)
800-yard Freestyle Relay: 7:16.19# (Kelly, Brady, H. Smith, L. Smith)
One-Meter Diving (Dual): Elyse Lee, 306.00^
Three-Meter Diving (Dual): Elyse Lee, 323.56^
Platform Diving (Dual): Ellen Van Cleve, 241.85

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

Lee's Impressive Streak Ends
Elyse Lee entered the Texas A&M Invitational on Nov. 17-19 having earning the top Wolverine score in every diving event. Her runner-up finishes in one-meter and three-meter diving gave her 12 straight top scores among Wolverine divers. That streak ended, however, as Ellen Van Cleve posted the best score among U-M divers in platform diving. Lee's streak featured eight winning scores and numerous zone-qualifying marks.

Wolverines Clip NCAA 'A' and 'B' Marks
Following the Texas A&M Invitational, where Michigan earned at least an NCAA consideration time in every event, the Wolverines have now posted an NCAA 'A' or 'B' time in every event this season. Justine Mueller (400-yard individual medley, 4:15.15), Kaitlyn Brady (100-yard butterfly, 53.24), Lindsey Smith (200-yard freestyle, 1:46.92) and Emily Brunemann (1,650-yard freestyle, 16:21.03) have all surpassed NCAA automatic-qualifying marks.

Michigan Earning Top Times, Scores
The Wolverines have claimed the top time or score in 51 of 71 events in 2006 dual meets. U-M opened the season with eight of 13 wins against No. 2 Florida on Oct. 14, then had the best time or score in 12 out of 13 events against Michigan State on Oct. 25, and earned 10 wins out of 19 events against No. 5 Georgia on Nov. 3-4. The day after posting 11 of the top times or scores against Ohio State on Nov. 10, U-M took first in 10 of the top 13 times or scores against No. 24 Princeton on Saturday, Nov. 11.

Michigan Remains 10th in National Poll
The Wolverines remain No. 10 in the most recent CSCAA national poll. U-M has had strong showings in losses to No. 2 Florida and No. 8 Georgia, and dominated Michigan State, Ohio State and No. 24 Princeton. Michigan holds the highest ranking of all Big Ten programs.

RANK, TEAM PTS. 1. Stanford 269 2. Arizona 256 3. Auburn 246 4. California 243 5. Texas A&M 236 6. Florida 231 7. SMU 211 8. Georgia 207 9. Southern Cal 196 10. MICHIGAN 191 11. Texas 176 12. Indiana 175 13. Florida State 165 14. UCLA 153 15. Tennessee 136 16. Penn State 134 17. North Carolina 126 18. Wisconsin 112 19. Virginia 111 20. Notre Dame 94 21. Minnesota 82 22. Rutgers 77 23. Missouri 72 24. Arizona State 61 25. Princeton 52

On the Horizon ...
Michigan's next competition on Jan. 12-13, 2007, sees the Wolverines host the Michigan Invitational. The two-day meet on is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start on Friday, and a 9 a.m. start on Saturday, at Canham Natatorium.

Contact: Matt Baumer (734) 763-4423