Michigan
Dennis Stark Relays
Wolverines Win Dennis Stark Relays to Open Season
10/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Oct. 15, 2011
Site: South Bend, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)
Event: Dennis Stark Relays
U-M Team Result: 1st of 5 Teams (200 points)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Oct. 15 -- at Notre Dame, vs. Oakland, vs. TCU (South Bend, Ind.), 11 a.m.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team won 10 of the meet's 12 events to take first at the season-opening Dennis Stark Relays on Friday (Oct. 14) at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Wolverines, whose 200 points bested runner-up Notre Dame's 156, claimed the top mark in eight swimming and two diving events for their 43rd victory in their past 44 season-starting meets.
In the diving events that anchored the meet, each team -- Michigan, Notre Dame and TCU -- used two divers for a single score. Sophomores James Ross (Richmond, Va./Collegiate School) and Jack Lee (North Egremont, Mass./Berkshire School) teamed up for a first-place score of 595.10 on the one-meter board, before sophomores Chris Ervasti (Madison Heights, Mich./Lamphere) and Thomas Jahnke (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) combined for a mark of 621.65 to win the three-meter dive.
After the Irish won the 200-yard freestyle relay to open the evening, U-M rattled off five straight relay wins, clocking in first in the 400-yard medley, 800-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley before taking home titles in the unconventional three-person 300-yard butterfly and backstroke events. Senior Jan Konarzewski (Warsaw, Poland/LO im Andersa) led off two of those groups, while sophomores John Wojciechowski (Scottsdale, Ariz./Phoenix Brophy Prep) and Ryutaro Kamiya (Tokyo, Japan/St. Mary's International) each swam on two relays during that stretch.
After Oakland broke the U-M streak in the 300-yard breaststroke relay, two-person teams competed in the 1,000-yard freestyle, with sophomores Sean Ryan (Hixson, Tenn./McCallie School) and Connor Jaeger (Rumson, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven) winning it for the Wolverines. U-M finished off the final two relay events in style, clocking in ahead of the field in the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle races.
Michigan remains in South Bend for a quad meet tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 15), as the Wolverines are set to race Notre Dame, Oakland and Texas Christian at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
