Michigan Out to Early Big Ten Lead

Minnesota leads the conference pack at the 2008 Women’s Swimming and Diving Big Ten Championships with 177.5 points after the first day of competition Thursday at the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. In second is Michigan with 146 points with PennState closely trailing with 145 points.

Ending the first day on a high note with a win in the 400-yard medley relay, Kelly Kremer, Minnesota head coach, was pleased with his team’s performance.

“What a perfect way to finish a session and the day,” Kremer said. “Our team did an outstanding job today from start to finish.”

Minnesota follows the Wolverines just 4.5 points behind.  Penn State (145), Northwestern (139), Wisconsin (138) all stand within striking distance.  Indiana (95), Ohio State (88), Purdue (87), Iowa (51.5), Michigan State (35) and Illinois (30) round out the field.

Wisconsin got out of the gate fast with a championship-record 1:28.51 in the 200 Freestyle.  Seniors Hanna McClurg and Jackie Vavrek got off to a quick start before handing it off to freshmen Maggie Meyer and Kelsey Gergen.  Vavrek and Meyer put the Badgers out of reach.  With the only sub-22 splits of the meet, they left Michigan a body length behind.

"I think we can get even better for the NCAA championships, which is our main focus. We’re happy to set a Big Ten record with the first win,” Eric Hansen, Wisconsin women’s swimming and diving head coach, said. “We had two freshmen on that relay who really stepped up under pressure and we had two seniors who are great leaders that helped bring the two freshmen along. I give them all the credit in the world."

Michigan Junior Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) and sophomore Margaret Kelly (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) claimed Big Ten titles in the 500-yard freestyle (4:39.60 prelim/4:40.32 final) and 200-yard individual medley (1:56.84), respectively , erasing conference and school records in the process.  Fully six swimmers went under the 'A' standard in the 500 freestyle with seven more under the 200 IM mark.

Vavrek added her second win of the night when she got the jump on Northwestern's Andrea Hupman and Minnesota's Stacy Busack. Hupman who established a new championship record 22.26 in the morning mounted a late charge, but it wasn't enough to overcome Vavrek.

The records continued through the 400 Medley Relay with both Minnesota and Michigan sailing under the record.  After 400 yards it was the Gophers who burrowed their way to the win.  Minnesota boasted the fastest splits in the backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle legs to claim the title more than two seconds faster than the previous mark.

Meet Quotes: 

500-yard freestyle winner – Erin Brunemann, Michigan junior
On winning the race
“I was really happy with this morning and I just wanted to come out and repeat that tonight. My splits were a little off this afternoon, but I tried my best. I’m happy with my performance all around.”

On competing against All-American Yuen Kobayashi
“It comes down to gut and what you have left, especially at the end of the 500. She’s a great competitor and I’ve always loved racing against her.”

200-yard individual medley winner – Margaret Kelly, Michigan sophomore
Jim Richardson, Michigan head coach
On Margaret Kelly, winner of the 200-yard individual medley
“Margaret has a wonderful personality and is an extremely hard worker. When she wins, everyone who knows her wins too. She gets in the pool everyday and tries to get better. “

On the day overall
“We couldn’t have asked for a better night from our individual swimmers. We broke our school record in the 400-yard medley relay and our 200-yard freestyle relay never projected to be that fast in the beginning of the year. It was just a fun day.”

50-yard freestyle winner – Jackie Vavrek, Wisconsin senior
On her performance
“It was a good race but I was a little disappointed with it, personally. Setting the 200-yard freestyle rely record makes up for it though.”

Minnesota, 400-yard medley relay winner
Kelly Kremer, Minnesota head coach
On Minnesota’s win in the 400-yard medley relay
“What a perfect way to finish a session and the day. Our team did an outstanding job today from start to finish.”

Diving Finals
1-meter winner – Brittney Feldman, Indiana sophomore
On winning the 1-meter dive
“It feels really good. I was actually nervous coming in because I’ve been out for a while. It feels great to be able to prove to myself mentally that I can still stick in there, even if I haven’t been able to train as much."