No. 13 Michigan Women Tops Northwestern, 152-134

Northwestern traveled to No. 13 Michigan Saturday for its next-to-last dual-meet competition of the season, getting several solid swims but falling, 152-134, to the Wolverines.

Northwestern (5-4) kicked off the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay, swimming a 1:45.11. Katie Eschenburg (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), Hayley Fry (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar), Katie Braun (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Andrea Hupman (Lawrenceville, Ga./Brookwood) comprised the relay for NU.

In the first individual event, sophomore Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C./St. David's School) blew away her previous season best in the 1,000 free by nearly six seconds to earn second place with a time of 9:57.78.

Hupman was NU's lone top-five finisher in the 200 free with a third-place time of 1:54.93, then the Wildcats' sizzling freshman backstroke tandem of Liza Engstrom (Reno, Nev./Robert McQueen) and Eschenburg took second and third in the 100 back with times of 57.15 and 57.78, respectively.

Fry registered a third-place finish in the 100 breast, turning in a 1:05.89. Braun then took second in the 200 fly with a 2:03.85. Sophomore Rachel Rys (Goleta, Calif./Dos Pueblos) held off a hard-charging Emily Christy from Michigan to earn third in the event behind Braun, giving NU a 2-3 finish with a 2:06.26.

Northwestern's sprint free group went nuts in the 50 free, winning four of the top five spots. Sophomore Emily Wong (Nepean, Ontario/St. Joseph's) won the event with a 23.63, besting teammate Teisha Lightbourne (Nassau, Bahamas/Peddie School (N.J.)) by .64 of a second. Freshman Erin Reilly (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) was .06 of a second behind Lightbourne to take third, finishing in a dead heat with UM's Noelle Martin.

During the first diving break, senior Leanne Dumais (Ventura, Calif./Buena) tied for third on the 1-meter board with a 263.40.

Out of the diving break, Wong and Hupman took second and third in the 100 free with times of 51.22 and 51.68, respectively. Northwestern again finished second and third in the 200 back, with Genny Szymanski (Haines, Alaska/Haines) turning in a 2:01.75 following by Engstrom in third with a 2:03.13.

Fry was third in the 200 breast with a 2:22.19, then Shishkoff blazed to an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying and season-best time of 4:50.11 to blow away the field in the 500 free by more than 14 seconds. Shishkoff split under a 29.60 in each 50 of the race, coming home in 27.31 to finish strong.

Braun recorded first-place points in the 100 fly with a 55.81 coming into the second diving break, where Dumais again finished third, this time with a score of 297.68 on the 3-meter board.

Shishkoff's 2:04.82 claimed first-place points in the 200 IM, then NU's team of Hupman, Wong, Fry and Shishkoff were awarded top points in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:26.98.