Michigan
NCAA Championships
Distance, Sprint Relay Boost Wolverines on Day Two at NCAA Championships
3/22/2018 9:42:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
» Three swimmers scored in the 500-yard freestyle: sophomore Felix Auböck finished runner-up, Ricardo Vargas was eighth and PJ Ransford was 12th.
» The 200-yard freestyle relay of Paul Powers, Luiz Gustavo Borges, James Jones and James Peek finished eighth, and set new Big Ten and school records (1:16.30).
» Four swimmers earned points out of consolation finals: PJ Ransford in the 500-yard freestyle (12th), Evan White in the 200-yard IM (14th), Tommy Cope in the 200-yard IM (15th) and Paul Powers in the 50-yard freestyle (15th).
Site: Minneapolis, Minn. (Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 2 of 4)
U-M Team Standing: 8th of 31 teams (70 points)
Next U-M Event: Friday, March 23 -- at NCAA Championships - Day Three (Minneapolis, Minn.), 10 a.m./6 p.m. CDT
• Photo Gallery
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Sophomore Felix Auböck finished runner-up in the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle set Big Ten and school records for the University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team on the second day of the NCAA Championships, held Thursday (March 22) at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. After two days, the Wolverines moved up to eighth place (70 points).
"To have success at meets like these, you have to do well in the morning and that's what we did," said head coach Mike Bottom. "We put guys in position to score points for the team, which is what we're here to do. We had three score in the 500 freestyle and had one last year. We didn't have anyone in the 200 IM last year and had two this year. And to set a Big Ten record on the relay was a great way to start the session. We have to carry that momentum over into tomorrow."
Auböck spent much of his race trying to track down eventual winner Townley Haas (Texas) in the next lane, but simply ran out of time, to finish less than a half-second behind. He wasn't alone in scoring points in the 500-yard freestyle; Big Ten Freshman of the Year Ricardo Vargas took the last spot out of preliminaries and held it in finals, finishing eighth (4:17.23), while senior PJ Ransford got into the consolation final, taking 12th (4:15.35).
The Wolverines grabbed some momentum early with an eighth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:16.30), and the foursome of senior Paul Powers, freshman Luiz Gustavo Borges, sophomore James Jones and graduate student James Peek earned All-America honors on the podium. Their time is a new Big Ten and school record; Indiana had set the Big Ten record in the prior heat at 1:16.31, but a 19.01 split by Peek on the anchor leg gave it right back to Michigan -- by one one-hundredth of a second.
The swim represented a big jump for the Big Ten champions after they finished 20th and did not score in the event last season. Michigan is one of only four schools to put both their men's and women's 200-yard freestyle relays on the podium at this year's NCAA Championships to join Stanford, Texas and California.
Two swimmers qualified for the consolation final in the 200-yard IM, headlined by senior Evan White, who vanquished three years of heartbreak. After missing a second swim by one spot in both 2015 and 2016 and by two spots last year, White finally got his opportunity to swim the event in his last collegiate meet, coming in 14th (1:42.63). Sophomore Tommy Cope set a career-best in the morning -- his time of 1:42.74 is seventh-best in school history – to finish 15th (1:42.94) in the final.
Powers returned to the pool for the consolation final in the 50-yard freestyle, taking 15th (19.39). He was the busiest member of the team on Thursday, swimming a total of five times.
The 400-yard medley relay of senior Tristan Sanders, sophomore Jacob Montague, White and Powers finished 19th (3:07.06). Montague, who scratched out of the 200-yard IM earlier in the day, split 51.78 on the breaststroke leg.
The NCAA Championships continue tomorrow (Friday, March 23) with the third day of competition at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. Preliminaries are at 10 a.m. CT, with finals following at 6 p.m.
TEAM STANDINGS (After Day 2)
1. Indiana 169 2. North Carolina State 165 3. Texas 159 4. Florida 154 5. California 152.5 6. Stanford 116 7. USC 79 8. MICHIGAN 70 9. Georgia 64 10. Louisville 62200-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Florida 1:14.39 (Caeleb Dressel, Jan Switkowski Enzo Martinez-Sarpe, Mark Szaranek) 8. MICHIGAN 1:16.30M (Paul Powers, Luiz Gustavo Borges James Jones, James Peek)500-yard Freestyle
1. Townley Haas, Texas 4:08.60 2. Felix Auböck, U-M 4:09.03 8. Ricardo Vargas, U-M 4:17.23 (4:12.87) 12. PJ Ransford, U-M 4:15.35 (4:14.06)200-yard IM
1. Jan Switkowski, Florida 1:39.54 14. Evan White, U-M 1:42.63 15. Tommy Cope, U-M 1:42.94 (1:42.74) 19. Charlie Swanson, U-M 1:43.1550-yard Freestyle
1. Caeleb Dressel, Florida 17.63AN 15. Paul Powers, U-M 19.39 (19.08) T28. Luiz Gustavo Borges, U-M 19.39 39. James Peek, U-M 19.63400-yard Medley Relay
1. Indiana 3:01.07B (Gabriel Fantoni, Ian Finnerty Vini Lanza, Blake Pieroni) 19. MICHIGAN 3:07.06 (Tristan Sanders, Jacob Montague Evan White, Paul Powers)A American Record
N NCAA Record
B Big Ten Record
M University of Michigan Record & NCAA Championships Record
Players Mentioned
