Michigan
Georgia
Michigan Drops Two-Day Meet to Fifth-Ranked Georgia
11/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
ATHENS, Ga. -- The 10th-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team completed day two of a two-day meet at Gabrielsen Natatorium on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 4), falling to Georgia by a 191-162 margin.
Elyse Lee (Albion, Mich./Albion) took home the top spot in both diving events, scoring 272.70 in the one-meter and 310.87 in the three-meter, surpassing NCAA zone qualifying marks with both scores. Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe), who won two events last night, added a third win with a top finish in the 200-yard individual medley.
Georgia clipped Michigan by 0.11 in the opening event of the day, the 200-yard medley relay. Margaret Kelly (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), Mueller, Kaitlyn Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant) and Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) combined for a runner-up time of 1:43.07.
U-M went 1-2 in the 1,650-yard freestyle to stay close in the standings. Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) took first with an NCAA 'B' time of 16:30.81 and Emily Hanson (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) followed with her own NCAA 'B' time of 16:43.88.
The Bulldogs began to pull away, claiming first in the next three events, including the top three spots in the 50-yard freestyle. Kelly (100-yard backstroke, 56.57) and Mueller (100-yard breaststroke, 1:03.86) each clocked in as runner-up in consecutive events following the sprint freestyle.
Michigan answered with a three-event winning streak of its own. Kelly started the success in the 100-yard butterfly, earning a first-place and NCAA-consideration time of 55.04. Lindsey Smith's top finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:48.92) claimed an NCAA 'B' mark. Mueller then completed the streak, placing first in the final individual event of the weekend. Her time of 2:03.86 in the 200-yard IM surpassed an NCAA consideration cut.
In the day's final event -- the 400-yard freestyle relay -- the Wolverines fell short as the quartet of Brady, Hannah Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter), Leigh Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and Lindsey Smith garnered a second-place time of 3:25.64.
Michigan returns home to host two dual meets next weekend. The Maize and Blue will face Ohio State next Friday evening (Nov. 10, 5 p.m.) and take on Princeton on Saturday morning (Nov. 11, 11 a.m.).
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Jim Richardson
On this weekend's meet ... "We had a couple more of those bang-bang races that could have gone either way, but they were able to get their hand on the wall just ahead of us. We had a couple more races last night that were bang-bang where we didn't get our hand in before them. It started out this morning with the 200 medley relay, and it was a very good medley relay on both sides, but it was a bang-bang finish again that they won. Those bang-bang races were pretty much the meet. We had our opportunities but couldn't finish out races at times in order to take advantage. But I am not really disappointed. We raced against another team that is ranked ahead of us and we raced them head-up and down the line. In the entire meet, I think Georgia really only won one more event than us in the pool. I have a lot of confidence in this team and they are developing the kind of toughness that we are going to need to have at the end of the year."
On his evaluation of the team's performance so far this season ... "It is good to see us competing this well because our training is going very well. We had our best week of training so far this year during the week. I tend to judge our performance on the basis of how well we train during the week. Sometimes at the end of the week you have trained so well that you do not have a whole lot of gas left in the tank. You understand that as a coach because you see the kinds of things they are doing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Overall, I feel like we're training well. We haven't really put it together across the board yet in the competitive environment yet, but we we're hanging tough and racing well with some of the best teams in the country."
On some of the excellent times posted so far this season ... "All of the people who trained with us last summer are starting out the year wonderfully. Lindsey (Smith) was great last night. Her 56.8 in the 100 freestyle was actually faster than she went in the national championships this past summer and it's the second-best time of her life. Margaret Kelly trained with Club Wolverine last summer and raced and went to nationals. Emily Brunemann and Justine Mueller trained all summer as well. In this sport, it is becoming necessary to sacrifice to put in the training and the competition during the summer. If you don't, you are going to be left behind. We are fortunate to have so many people that did compete last summer and did compete at nationals or sectionals. That is helping us a lot in facing really good teams."
Contact: Matt Baumer (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
