Michigan
NCAA Championships
Seven All-Americans Help Wolverines Sit Sixth at NCAAs
3/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Site: Federal Way, Wash. (Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 1)
U-M Team Standing: 6th Place (88 Points) After Day 1
Next U-M Event: Friday-Saturday, March 28-29 -- at NCAA Championships (Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center), Noon/7 p.m.
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team completed the first day of competition at the NCAA Championships Thursday (Feb. 28) in sixth place with 88 points at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. Headlining the night for the Wolverines were sophomores Alon Mandel(Netanya, Isreal/Eldad), Scott Spann(Austin, Texas/Westlake) and Chris Brady(Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant), and junior Bobby Savulich(Edison, N.J./St. Joseph) earning All-America honors in the 400-yard medley relay.
The Wolverines entered the finals of the 400-yard medley relay as the second seed after they posted a time of 3:08.28 in the preliminaries. Mandel was the second fastest off the block to start event, but Arizona and California were able to make up the time and finish first and second in the event, respectively, while Michigan clocked in fourth with a time of 3:08.13. The All-America finish earned 30 points to lead Maize and Blue scoring.
The opening event was filled with Wolverines, as Brady and Savulich were teamed with juniors Curtis Dauw(St. Charles, Ill./East) and Jamie Martone(Troy, Mich./Troy) in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The quad took the fifth spot in the consolation finals with a time of 1:19.35 to claim eight points and place 13th overall in the event.
Following the 200-yard freestyle relay was junior Matt Patton(Matthews, N.C./Butler) and freshman Tyler Clary(Riverside, Calf./ Riverside Poly) in the 500-yard freestyle. Patton finished seventh in the final event, claiming All-America honors by touching the wall with a time of 4:15.38 after he set a new personal record time of 4:14.50 in the preliminaries to enter the finals as the No. 2 seed. Clary won the consolation event to finish ninth overall with a new personal record time of 4:16.89. Junior Sal Barba(Hudson, Mass./St. Johns) took 17th overall with a preliminary time of 4:20.01.
The third event of the night was the 200-yard individual medley, which had a pair of Wolverines in the finals. Senior Alex Vanderkaay(Rochester, Mich./Adams) and sophomore Andr Schultz(Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Palmares) finished fourth (1:44.57) and fifth (1:45.09), respectively, earning All-American accolades and 29 points to solidify Michigan's scoring for the night.
NCAA Championships action will continue Friday through Saturday (March 28-29), with prelims at noon and finals starting at 7 p.m. each day.
Top Teams (After Day 1)
1. Arizona 137 2. Texas 116 3. California 112 4. Auburn 97 5. Stanford 93 6. MICHIGAN 88 7. Indiana 72 8. Georgia 63 9. Florida 55 10. Tennessee 54
Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 1)
(Preliminary time in parentheses for U-M if faster than finals time)
200-yard Freestyle Relay 1. Auburn 1:15.66 13. Michigan 1:19.35 (1:18.96) (Chris Brady, Bobby Savulich, Curtis Dauw, Jamie Martone)
500-yard Freestyle 1. Sebastien Rouault, Georgia 4:09.48 7. Matt Patton, U-M 4:15.38 (4:14.50) 9. Tyler Clary, U-M 4:16.89 17. Sal Barba, U-M 4:20.01 200-yard Individual Medley 1. Darian Townsend, Arizona 1:42.72 4. Alex Vanderkaay, U-M 1:44.57 5. Andre Schultz, U-M 1:45.09 (1:45.00) 19. Curtis Dauw, U-M 1:46.33 30. Scott Spann, U-M 1:47.18 50-yard Freestyle 1. Ceasar Cielo, Auburn 18.52* One-meter Diving 1. Chris Colwill, Georgia 407.25 400-yard Medley Relay 1. Arizona 3:04.43 4. Michigan 3:08.13 (Alon Mandel, Scott Spann, Chris Brady, Bobby Savulich)
* NCAA Record Time
Q U O T E S
Michigan Senior Alex Vanderkaay
On finishing fourth in the 200 IM... "I wanted to come in and do a little better. I wanted to drop a little off the time from Big Ten's, that's really the goal. Still I have come a long way from my sophomore year. It's not a bad time; I just hoped for a little more."
On the rest of the events... "Tonight wasn't really a set-back at all. We trained more for the 400IM and were really excited about that tomorrow and the two freestyles on Saturday. I believe we have to take it one day at a time. I don't think what we do today is going to effect how we feel tomorrow."
U-M Sophomore Andre Schultz
On placing fifth in the 200 IM... "I came a long way since last year when I was like 24th or something, so to come here this year and finish fifth and earn my first All-America is just great."
U-M Head Coach Bob Bowman
On the first day's performance... "The effort was generally good. I think when ever you have a meet that you fully prepare for like our conference meet it's tough to come back and replicate those times and do well and that's pretty much what we're doing. Nobody has swam any faster but they are competing at the same level and I am pleased with that."
On day two's preparation... "It's a great day for us we have the 400 IM, 200 free, 100 fly and breast and the 800 relay which is our thing, so we just need to come in here and do the job."
Contact: Jeremiah Hergott (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
