Michigan
NCAA Championships
Wolverines Place Seventh at NCAA Championships
3/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Three more All-America performances led the 10th-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team on the final day (Saturday, March 17) of the NCAA Championships at the University Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn. U-M finished seventh overall with 207 points as Auburn University (566 points) captured its fifth consecutive NCAA title. It was the seventh straight time that the Wolverines finished in the top 10.
Dauw earned All-America with a seventh-place mark of 1:44.50 in the 200-yard butterfly.
The Wolverines began the night with an All-America performance from sophomore Matt Patton (Matthews, N.C./Butler) in the 1,650-yard freestyle after recording a personal best time of 14:49.10. The honor was Pattons third of the weekend, tying him with junior Alex Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams) for the team lead.
Tired from his performance in the 1,650-yard freestyle, Patton would have to turn right back around and swim in the very next event, the consolation final of the 200-yard backstroke. Patton clocked a time of 1:51.88 to place 16th in the event. His career-best time of 1:43.89 in prelims allowed him to compete at night and score for the Wolverines. Freshman Andr Schultz (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Palmares) also swam in the consolation final, clocking a time of 1:45.33 to place 15th. Schultz also recorded a faster time in prelims, touching the wall in 1:43.97.
The next All-America performance for Michigan would come from freshman Scott Spann (Austin, Texas/Westlake) in the 200-yard breaststroke. Spann took eighth place, clocking 1:56.53, after setting a new personal record of 1:56.00 earlier in prelims.
U-Ms' strongest event of the evening was the 200-yard butterfly, where three Wolverines were able to add points to the team total. Sophomore Curtis Dauw (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) earned the first All-America recognition of his career when he placed seventh with a time of 1:44.50. Dauw clocked a career best 1:44.37 in prelims. Also scoring for the Wolverines were Vanderkaay, who won the consolation final with a time of 1:43.97 to claim ninth place, and junior Dane Grenda (Hockessin, Del./Salesianum), who placed 15th with a time of 1:46.04.
Heading into the final event of the meet, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Michigan held a four-point lead over Northwestern for sixth place in the team standings. The U-M squad of sophomore Bobby Savulich (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph), sophomore Evan Ryser (Katy, Texas/James E. Taylor), Dauw and Vanderkaay clocked 2:54.74 to take 10th place and score 14 points. However, in the championship final, Northwestern took third place and gained 32 points to pass the Wolverines for sixth place.
Championship award information and complete results can be found at www.NCAAsports.com.
Final Team Standings (Top 10)
1. Auburn 566 2. Stanford 397 3. Arizona 371 4. Florida 321 5. Texas 296 6. Northwestern 221 7. MICHIGAN 207 8. California 176 9. USC 145 10. Minnesota 131
Top Eight/U-M Finishers (Day 3)
(Preliminary time in parentheses if faster than finals time)
1,650-yard Freestyle 1. Larsen Jensen, USC 14:26.70% 2. Shaun Phillips, Stanford 14:37.62 3. Sebastien Rouault, Georgia 14:47.50 4. MATT PATTON, U-M 14:49.10+ 5. Jean Basson, Arizona 14:52.17 6. Charles Peterson, North Carolina 14:55.53 7. Kyle Young, Florida State 14:57.21 8. John Millen, Virginia 15:00.86 24. CHARLIE HOUCHIN, U-M 15:22.43 27. CHRISTIAN SPRANG, U-M 15:29.56 200-yard Backstroke 1. Matt Grevers, Northwestern 1:38.71 2. Hongzhe Sun, Stanford 1:40.78 3. Lucas Salatta, Florida 1:41.86 4. Roland Rudolf, Florida 1:42.14 5. David Plummer, Minnesota 1:42.75 (1:42.41) 6. James Wike, Auburn 1:42.92 (1:41.93) 7. Jake Tapp, Arizona 1:43.40 (1:42.75) 8. Ben Hesen, Indiana 1:43.95 (1:42.37) 15. ANDRE SCHULTZ, U-M 1:45.33 (1:43.97) 16. MATT PATTON, U-M 1:51.88 (1:43.89+) 100-yard Freestyle 1. Cesar Cielo, Auburn 41.17#$% 2. Ben Wildman-Tobriner, Stanford 41.90 3. Garret Weber-Gale, Texas 41.94 4. Nick Nilo, Arizona 42.37 5. Adam Ritter, Arizona 42.43 6. Matt Targett, Auburn 42.71 (42.44) 7. Bruno Barbic, Northwestern 42.86 (42.79) 8. Nathan Adrian, California 43.12 (42.57) 19. BOBBY SAVULICH, U-M 43.46 33. EVAN RYSER, U-M 43.96 200-yard Breaststroke 1. Vlad Polyakov, Alabama 1:52.71% 2. Nate Cass, Stanford 1:53.36 3. Paul Kornfeld, Stanford 1:54.52 4. Neil Versfeld, Georgia 1:54.54 5. Bill Mrazek, Florida 1:55.37 6. Bradley Alley, Florida 1:55.85 7. Hunor Mate, Alabama 1:55.99 (1:55.95) 8. SCOTT SPANN, U-M 1:56.53 (1:56.00+) 200-yard Butterfly 1. Patrick Oneil, California 1:42.98 2. John Scott, Auburn 1:43.47 3. Gil Stovall, Georgia 1:43.54 4. Logan Madson, Auburn 1:43.97 5. Shaune Fraser, Florida 1:44.08 (1:43.95) 6. Hongzhe Sun, Stanford 1:44.39 (1:44.09) 7. CURTIS DAUW, U-M 1:44.50 (1:44.37+) 8. Patrick Cary, U-C Santa Barbara 1:44.55 (1:44.15) 9. ALEX VANDERKAAY, U-M 1:43.97 15. DANE GRENDA, U-M 1:46.04 (1:45.92) 30. CHRIS BRADY, U-M 1:49.98 Platform Diving 1. Steven Segerlin, Auburn 414.90 2. Michele Benedetti, Arizona State 412.10 3. Eric Sehn, Texas A&M 387.25 4. Ruben Ross, Miami 369.15 5. Kenny Jenkins, USC 365.45 6. Kelly Marx, Auburn 352.35 7. Zach Schultz, Purdue 347.50 8. Daniel Mazzaferro, Auburn 332.05 400-yard Freestyle Relay 1. Auburn 2:46.56#*$% 2. Arizona 2:47.86 3. Northwestern 2:51.14 4. Stanford 2:51.67 5. Texas 2:52.09 6. Tennessee 2:54.41 7. Florida 2:55.08 (2:53.12) 8. California DQ (2:51.28) 10. MICHIGAN 2:54.74 (Bobby Savulich, Evan Ryser, Curtis Dauw, Alex Vanderkaay)
# U.S. Open record * American record $ NCAA record % University Aquatics Center record + Career-best time
Michigan All-Americans Sal Barba (1): 800-yard Freestyle Relay (5th) Curtis Dauw (1): 200-yard Butterfly (7th) Dane Grenda (1): 400-yard Individual Medley (6th) Matt Patton (3): 500-yard Freestyle (4th) Bobby Savulich (1): 800-yard Freestyle Relay (5th) Scott Spann (1): 200-yard Breaststroke (8th) Alex Vanderkaay (3): 500-yard Freestyle (6th) Sal Barba (1): 200-yard Freestyle (12th) Chris Brady (3): 100-yard Butterfly (15th) 200-yard Freestyle Relay (11th) Curtis Dauw (3): 100-yard Butterfly (15th) 200-yard Freestyle Relay (11th) 400-yard Freestyle Relay (10th) Dane Grenda (1): 200-yard Butterfly (15th) Matt Patton (2): 200-yard Backstroke (16th) 400-yard Medley Relay (9th) Evan Ryser (2): 200-yard Freestyle Relay (11th) 400-yard Freestyle Relay (10th) Bobby Savulich (3): 200-yard Freestyle Relay (11th) 400-yard Freestyle Relay (10th) Andr Schultz (2): 400-yard Individual Medley (12th) Scott Spann (2): 100-yard Breaststroke (13th) Alex Vanderkaay (2): Q U O T E S Michigan Head Coach Bob Bowman
1,650-yard Freestyle (4th)
800-yard Freestyle Relay (5th)
400-yard Individual Medley (1st)
800-yard Freestyle Relay (5th)
Michigan Honorable Mention All-Americans
400-yard Medley Relay (9th)
400-yard Medley Relay (9th)
200-yard Backstroke (15th)
On the overall performance of the team ... "I think that the group really exceeded our best expectations this weekend. It's a real tribute to the guys that they can come back from the Big Ten Championships and swim even faster after such an emotional meet. We had a national champion with Alex Vanderkaay, which is always great because now you are performing at the very top level. We also had ten different people score points, and that's what you have to do at the NCAAs."
On the youth of the team and how much they can improve ... "We have the potential to be a very strong team next year. I think if we can improve next year as much as we did this year, we will be a force at this meet. I think it will be a lot of fun."
Contact: Tim Trunzo (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
