Jaeger, Lee Named Big Ten Swimmer, Diver of the Week
11/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- For the first time since the 2004-05 season, the University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team swept the Big Ten Conference weekly awards. Fifth-year senior Melissa Jaeger(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) was named Swimmer of the Week and senior Elyse Lee(Albion, Mich./Albion) earned Diver of the Week honors, the league office announced Tuesday (Nov. 20).
In her final individual race of the Texas A&M Invitational (Nov. 16-18), Jaeger etched her name into the history books, smashing the Big Ten and U-M records in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:56.77. She chopped more than a second off of a two-year old conference record set by Ohio State's Gulash Gunenc in 2006. Junior Payton Johnson(Champaign, Ill./Centennial) held the previous school record of 1:57.90, set at the 2007 NCAA Championships.
Jaeger's success was not limited to only her record setting trip into the pool, which proved as merely punctuation on a weekend that saw her rack up three NCAA consideration times to go with the NCAA 'A' time in the 200-yard butterfly. Jaeger hit 'B' cut times in the 100-yard butterfly (53.90), 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.25) and 200-yard individual medley (2:01.93). Despite this being her first Big Ten weekly laurel, Jaeger is no stranger to the honor as she earned six Mid-Continent Conference Swimmer of the Week honors during her time at Oakland.
Lee earned a pair of victories off the springboard, separating herself by at least 34 points from the rest of the pack. She never strayed from zone qualifying marks through the weekend, starting things off with a season-high 330.30 off the one-meter board. When the competition shifted to the three-meter event, Lee posted a 332.90 in the preliminary round before downing the opposition with a 331.15 in the evening session.
A 2007 NCAA Honorable Mention All-American diver, Lee has now earned three Big Ten Diver of the Week awards. Her first such accolade was Michigan's last sweep of the awards when she shared the honor with Kaitlyn Brady (2004-07) on January 18, 2005.
After a weekend break, the Wolverines will head across town to the Eastern Michigan Invitational Friday and Saturday (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Contact: Ryan Sosin (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
