Michigan
NCAA Championships (Day 1)
Kelly Wins All-America on Day One of NCAA Championships
3/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 1)
U-M Team Standing: 22nd Place of 31 Teams (11 Points) after Day One
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., March 20-21 -- at NCAA Championships (College Station, Texas), 11 a.m./7 p.m. CDT
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Junior Margaret Kelly(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) earned All-America honors in the 200-yard individual medley for the second straight season as she finished in eighth place to lead the University of Michigan women's swimming diving team on day one of the NCAA Championships at Texas A&M's Student Rec Center Natatorium. Michigan finished the first day of the competition tied for 22nd place with 11 points, while Arizona leads the overall team standings with 141.5 points after the first day.
Swimming in her second 200-yard individual medley final in as many seasons, Kelly finished in eighth place with a time of 1:56.24. Kelly hit the halfway point in a group just behind the leaders but fell off pace during the breaststroke leg.
In the only other individual event of the day for the Maize and Blue, freshman Kristyne Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) finished in 57th in the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries. Competing in the second of nine heats, Cole touched the wall in fourth place with a time of 4:51.02.
The Wolverines will return to the pool on Friday (March 20) for the second day of the NCAA Championships. Preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. CDT with the finals kicking off at 7 p.m. CDT.
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 1)
200-Yard Freestyle Relay 1. Arizona 'A' 1:26.20*$% (Lara Jackson, Lindsey Kelly, Justine Schluntz, Taylor Baughman) -- MICHIGAN 'A' DQ (Margaret Kelly, Hannah Smith, Kristyne Cole, Caroline Rodriguez)
500-yard Freestyle 1. Allison Schmitt, Georgia 4:35.43Q 57. Kristyne Cole, U-M 4:51.02 200-yard Individual Medley 1. Julia Smit, Stanford 1:52.79*$% 8. Margaret Kelly, U-M 1:56.24 50-yard Freestyle 1. Lara Jackson, Arizona 21.40$ One-meter Diving 1. Anastasia Pozdniakova, Houston 351.15 400-Yard Medley Relay 1. Arizona 'A' 3:28.31*$% (Ana Agy, Annie Chandler, Dana Christ, Taylor Baughmon)
* NCAA Record ! Big Ten Conference record $ NCAA meet record @ Michigan school record % American record
N O T E S
With her eighth-place finish, Margaret Kelly became the 16th Wolverine to earn multiple individual All-America honors in her career.
Kelly is the first Maize and Blue Swimmer to win back-to-back All-America honors in the 200-yard Individual Medley since Shannon Shakespeare won in 1999 and 2000.
This is the seventh straight season that Michigan has earned at least one All-America honor at the NCAA Championships.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Jim Richardson
On the first day of the NCAA Championships... "I thought we swam really well. The relay swam fast; we just made a tactical error in terms of an early take-off. The swimming was great. Margaret (Kelly) did a great job in the 200-yard individual medley. Considering what she has gone through, for her to be a finalist again, is just terrific. Overall, I thought we did a really good job."
On Margaret Kelly's All-American performance... "She has not been able to do any upper body strength work for over a month now, so to be able to do that in a power event like the 200-yard IM is a testament to her toughness, her talent and her perseverance. She is a very special swimmer in that regard, and without that, an average person couldnt have done what she did."
On what he is looking for going forward... "We have very limited opportunities this year due to a number of things. I am not worried about anything other than every time we get up there to swim, we are swimming good races tactically and at the end of the day, how close to our best times we are coming to."
U-M Junior Margaret Kelly
On her performance in the 200-yard individual medley... "I was pretty happy with it, considering all that I have been through with my rib. I was happy to get close to a best time. I always go into meets looking to pick up best times but to be right around it; I was pretty happy with that."
On coming back from injury... "I just always tried to have a positive attitude. Since Big Tens when I was training, it seemed to be getting better everyday so that kept my hopes high. It didnt hurt at all when I was swimming and it hasnt since I have been here so knock on wood that stays the same."
On being at NCAA Championships... "It has been fun. I really like the group of girls we have here. It is only the seven of us but we are all really close so I think that makes it a lot of fun. We are just sticking behind each other and having fun in the relays. It is always great to be at this meet because it is such a high level of competition, especially this year because it is so fast. It is fun to be here with these girls."
On earning back-to-back individual All-America honors... "It is exciting. It is always nice to say that but I just like getting best times and seeing what I can do at the end of the year. If that is being an All-American, then that is pretty cool, too."
Contact: Joe Arancio (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
