The No. 12-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team dominated No. 19-ranked Purdue on Friday (Jan. 12) for a 153-90 win at Canham Natatorium. The Wolverine freshmen had an excellent night and totaled five of the team's 11 victories. The meet was held in short-course yards.
Sophomore diver Kyle Schroeder (Milan, Mich./Milan) scored a new personal high in the three-meter dive with an NCAA Zone Qualifying mark of 354.22 to finish with the second highest score in the event. Schroeder also finished with the second highest mark in the one-meter event recording another NCAA Zone Qualifying score of 306.37.
Fresh off of being named the National Collegiate swimmer of the week by CollegeSwimming.com on Wednesday (Jan. 10), freshman Scott Spann (Austin, Texas/Westlake) earned a victory in the 200-yard breaststroke. Spann finished the race in an NCAA Consideration 'B' time of 1:59.28 -- more than four seconds faster than the next swimmer.
Michigan took the top two spots in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Junior Alex Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams) captured the victory with a mark of 15:45.26. Sophomore Christian Sprang (Sicklerville, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) recorded the second fastest time in the event clocking 16:01.22. Vanderkaay also won the 200-yard butterfly clocking a time of 1:49.26.
Three other freshmen that had outstanding nights were Charlie Houchin (Raleigh, N.C./William G. Enloe), Chris Brady (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant) and André Schultz (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Palmares). Houchin earned a first place finish when he clocked 4:30.20 in the 500-yard freestyle. Schultz finished shortly thereafter touching the wall in 4:31.33 to take second place. Brady captured victory in the 50-yard freestyle -- an event so close that 0.8 seconds separated the winner from the slowest time -- with a mark of 21.06
Michigan finished with the top two spots in the 200-yard individual medley. Schultz and junior Dane Grenda (Hockessin, Del./Salesianum) were neck-and-neck during the entire race. Schultz was able to pull out the victory touching the wall in 1:50.35, just 0.04 seconds ahead of Grenda (1:50.39).
The Wolverines also swept the top two spots in the 200-yard freestyle. Sophomore Bobby Savulich (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph) captured the victory with a time of 1:38.53. Houchin was right behind to take second place (1:39.43). Savulich captured his second victory of the night in the 100-yard freestyle clocking a time of 45.26.
The Wolverines opened and closed the meet with victories in relay races. The 400-yard medley relay team of Patton, Spann, Brady and Savulich took first place with a time of 3:20.39, while the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Houchin, Vanderkaay, Schultz and sophomore Evan Ryser (Katy, Texas/James. E. Taylor) touched the wall in 3:03.69 for the fastest time.
Sophomore Matt Patton (Matthews, N.C./Butler) won the 200-yard backstroke touching the wall in 1:48.60.
Michigan will take a week long hiatus before traveling to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State and Northwestern on Fri-Sat. Jan. 26-27 at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Friday's action will start at 6 p.m. and Saturday's events will begin at 1 p.m.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Swimming Coach Bob Bowman
On how the team performed after the long western trip ... I think it went very well. You never really know how you're going to come back and adjust to school, after you've been on a long trip like we were. It seems like we're swimming pretty well. We're going to have to do better tomorrow (Jan. 13) if we want to be competitive against Indiana. We're going to be making some tweaks to the lineup and we're going to be ready.
Michigan Head Diving Coach Chris Bergère
On how the divers performed tonight ... I thought they did exceptional. Kyle Schroeder had a personal best of 354.22. There's room for improvement, but he is absolutely spectacular. He's on the verge of becoming really great; I'm very pleased with that. The other guys on the team were very solid and they are getting better. We're right where we need to be at this point in the year.
Michigan Sophomore Diver Kyle Schroeder
On earning a new personal best score in the three-meter dive ... The last couple of weeks, everything started to click. My dives have been better and I've had better entries. I can't wait for the Big Ten Championships. I think that the whole mindset has changed toward putting more focus on the Big Ten and NCAA Zone meets.
Michigan Freshman Swimmer Scott Spann
On being named National Collegiate Swimmer of the Week by CollegeSwimming.com ... It's unbelievable. I didn't think that I deserved it out of all the other people but they gave it to me. It means a lot to start your career off with an award like that.
On how the team is preparing for the Big Ten Championships next month ... We're still training really hard. We were lifting weights right before the meet. We're not going to start resting for another couple of weeks and hopefully we'll see some great results.
