Notes & Quotes: #11 Michigan at NCAA Championships
3/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
N O T E S
Junior Emily Brunemann clinched the first national title for the Wolverines since 1995, when Alecia Humphrey (1992-95) won both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke and U-M claimed a 400-yard medley relay title.
Junior Emily Brunemann won Michigan's first distance national title.
Junior Emily Brunemann became the first Wolverine to earn three individual All-America honors at one championship since Jennie Eberwein (1996-99) clinched the accolade in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyle events at the 1998 NCAA Championships. Brunemann earned All-American status in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley.
Michigan finished inside the top ten for the 13th time in program history. All of those top ten finishes have come under head coach Jim Richardson.
Junior Emily Brunemann became the first Wolverine to earn two All-America distinctions for the 1,650-yard freestyle in her career.
Junior Emily Brunemann joined Gwen DeMaat (1987-90) as the only other Wolverine to earn All-America honors in both the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle events. DeMaat finished seventh in the 500- and eighth in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the 1989 NCAA Championships. Brunemann became a two-time All-American in the mile with her title run in the mile and placed fourth in the 500-yard freestyle on day oneof this year's championships.
Junior Emily Brunemann completes the 2007-08 season undefeated in the mile. She was a perfect 7-0 when swimming the 1,650-yard freestyle. The last time she wasn't the top finisher came in the form of a fourth place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships.
Senior Justine Mueller became the first Wolverine to earn an All-America Honorable mention distinction in the 200-yard breaststroke since current administrative assistant Kelli Stein (2002-04) placed 15th at the 2003 NCAA Championships.
Michigan's 400-yard freestyle relay clinched a spot in the consolation finals on a time of 3:17.08. It was the second-fastest run in program history, missing the U-M standard from 1999 by half-a-second.
Senior Justine Mueller posted a time of 2:10.64 in the 200-yard breaststroke, good for the second-fastest run in U-M history. She missed the program record by .27-seconds.
Sophomore Emily Hanson picked up points in the mile for the second-straight season. Hanson earned All-America honorable mention with an 13th place finish in the event.
Senior Elyse Lee completed her U-M career with two NCAA All-America Honorable Mention awards and qualified for three-straight NCAA Championships to conclude her career. She clinched her first certificate off of the three-meter board last year and earned the honor off the one-meter board this season.
Senior Justine Mueller finished her career at U-M as an eight-time NCAA All-America Honorable Mention (four individual, four relays). She claimed three of those certificates (one individual, two relays) this year.
Fifth-year senior Melissa Jaeger spent just one season competing for Michigan, but she wracked up six NCAA All-America Honorable Mentions (two individual, four relays) for U-M.
Senior Valeria Silva concluded her career in the Maize and Blue with one NCAA All-America Honorable Mention (relay).
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Jim Richardson
On Emily Brunemann ... "She is everything that you want in a national champion. She has excellent work ethic and gives her best everyday. She has a big heart to other people and knows that that is the most important thing -- she is a joy to work with and have on the team. She is one of those people that other coaches say, if my kid couldn't win it, I am glad she did."
On the top ten team finish ... "We were not really focusing on (the team finish), we were focusing on swimming well. That was the byproduct. Certainly, at the beginning of the season no one picked us to be in the top ten. But we just went to work and were willing to take what the results would be if we worked hard and came here and performed to the top of our ability. This team is very deserving of being a top ten finisher."
U-M Junior Emily Brunemann
On the feeling of a national title ... "It is really exciting to win. It has been my main goal all year and coming in to the meet undefeated (in the mile) made it that much more of a goal. "
On facing her stiffest competition of the year ... "I was just nervous near the end. It hurt a lot more than (at the Big Ten Championships). I think it came down to gut and it is always good to have someone to race with -- especially (North Carolina's Whitney Sprague). I've raced with her so many times and she is such a great competitor so I knew it was going to be a tough race."
On if she knew the national title was hers at the end ... "Yep. When I touched the wall, I looked to either side to see if anyone was there."
U-M Fifth-Year Senior Melissa Jaeger
On her experience at the NCAA Championships ... "It was a lot of fun. It is a lot different than (the Big Ten Championships). Teams were out there to win and here you had one or two people from each school. So that changed the atmosphere. We had a lot of girls come, so that helped keep the team feel for us. We just tried to go out there and perform. It was really cool to be out there with all the fastest swimmers in the country."
On being the lap counter for Brunemann's mile ... "I love to cheer for her before her race, but she never sees me because she is in the zone. I will be holding the counter that says one and telling her she is number one -- but she doesn't even see me. But that is ok, I take my job very seriously and if I have to do it while she is in the zone, I am perfectly happy with that."
U-M Senior Justine Mueller
On winning her last individual race ... "It was exciting. My 200 breaststroke never fails me. I always do better as the meet goes on and my IM wasn't where I wanted it to be but my breaststroke and relays were great. It was a lot of fun to post my best time."
Players Mentioned
