Michigan Women’s Swimming and Diving Takes Down Iowa; Tucker, Sims, MacNeil Win Two Events

9/28/18 SDW18-Miami (OH) and Oakland University.

Miranda Tucker swept both breaststroke events. Photo Courtesy: Daryl Marshke

Senior Miranda Tucker, sophomore Maggie MacNeil and freshman Kaitlynn Sims each won two individual events to help the No. 11-ranked University of Michigan women’s swimming and diving team defeat Iowa, 173-127, on Friday afternoon (Nov. 1) inside the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

Team Scores:

Michigan 173, Iowa 127

RESULTS

Michigan Women’s Swimming and Diving Press Release

As a team, U-M won nine events, including both relays. The Wolverines were able to keep the Hawkeyes at a comfortable distance thanks to their depth, going 2-3-4 in four events that Iowa individually won.

“Our goal coming into the meet was to study the pool and swim as fast as we could given that we’re pretty deep into training,” said head coach Mike Bottom. “For the first time this season, we have a healthy squad. This first part of the season was riddled with a lot of different challenges, and yet, our whole team was here today fighting for Michigan. We feel like we accomplished our goals.”

Michigan women’s swimming and diving got off to a fast start, winning the 200-yard medley relay (1:40.11). MacNeil (24.88 on backstroke) and Tucker (27.83 on breaststroke) gave Michigan a three-second lead at the halfway mark before juniors Claire Maiocco (24.67 on butterfly) and Daria Pyshnenko (22.73 on freestyle) brought it home.

Sims dominated in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing with the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season (9:44.11). Her splits never dipped below 29.7 seconds. The Wolverines picked up 16 points with a 1-2-3 finish, as junior Sierra Schmidt (9:58.41) and freshman Octavia Lau (10:15.14) came in behind Sims.

The Hawkeyes won the next two events to inch a little closer until Tucker got the Wolverines back on the board with a win in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.58). Iowa also got the 200-yard butterfly but only cut the lead by one point, as U-M went 2-3-4 behind senior Vanessa Krause (2:00.15), junior Emma Cleason (2:02.81) and junior Kate Krolikowski (2:03.00).

Pyshnenko got her hand on the wall first in the 50-yard freestyle (23.44), holding off Iowa’s Hannah Burvill by .03 seconds. Michigan showed its depth on the diving boards to close out the first half of the meet, going 2-3-4 on one-meter with junior Camryn McPherson (second, 310.60), sophomore Allie Klein (300.60) and junior Nikki Canale (292.45). At the halfway point, U-M led by eight points (79-71).

The Wolverines pulled away from there, led by MacNeil. The Canadian won the 100-yard freestyle (49.81) and the 100-yard butterfly (51.43), winning the latter by almost three seconds and lowering her previously-held pool record.

Iowa won the 200-yard backstroke, but U-M held strong once again with a 2-3-4 finish from freshman Mariella Venter (2:00.03), senior Chloe Hicks (2:02.43) and senior Jacqui Schafer (2:02.62).

Michigan women’s swimming and diving seized firm control thanks to a come-from-behind win from Tucker in the 200-yard breaststroke. She outsplit Iowa’s Aleksa Olesiak on the back half to win in 2:17.01, while junior Alex Hughes (2:23.36) and sophomore Victoria Kwan (2:24.78) added crucial points with third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively.

Sims was victorious in the 500-yard freestyle, leading another 1-2-3 finish (4:49.77). Like in the 1,000-yard freestyle earlier in the meet, Schmidt (4:53.85) and Lau (4:57.98) finished behind her in second and third.

Heading into the second diving break, U-M led Iowa, 144-101, outscoring the Hawkeyes, 65-30, in the previous five events. The Wolverines clinched the victory on the three-meter springboard with Canale (second, 339.35), McPherson (fourth, 314.00) and Klein (fifth, 293.00).

“Our diving was awesome today,” added Bottom. “We broke up the swimming events so that our teams could watch and cheer on our divers. It’s early for them, too, with a lot of them learning new dives. For some of them, it was the first time performing those dives in a competitive setting. They’re making great progress.”

The quartet of Krause, freshman Megan Glass, MacNeil and Tucker closed out the meet with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:25.47).

Iowa Press Release

Senior Hannah Burvill (1:49.53) and sophomore Lauren McDougall (1:49.93) topped the podium in the 200 free. Burvill posted another top tier finish in the 50 free (23.47), followed by teammates Maddie Ziegert (24.04) in fourth and Sarah Schemmel (24.10) in fifth. Burvill continued her run of top finishes in the 100 free, touching in 50.58 seconds and earning a second-place finish. McDougall followed suit in third with a time of 51.72.

Freshman Millie Sansome swam to a first-place finish in the 100 back in 55.57 seconds, tabbing her first win of the day. Fellow freshman Julia Koluch touched third in 56.39 seconds. Sansome repeated in the 200 back, taking first with a time of 2:00.03.

Junior Kelsey Drake grabbed Iowa a win in the 100 fly, swimming to a time of 1:59.45. In the 200 fly, Drake took second in 54.36. In the 200 IM, Drake fought to a first-place finish in the 200 IM in a time of 2:03.59.

Iowa made a statement in the 100 breast, taking four of the top five spots in the event. Freshman Aleksandra Olesiak placed second (1:03.42), junior Sage Ohlensehlen took third (1:05.41), while freshman Zoe Mekus (1:05.87) and junior Lexi Horner (1:06.75) rounded out the top five.

Olesiak doubled down in the 200 breast, touching second in a time of 2:17.69.

Junior Jayah Mathews dove to Iowa’s first win on the boards on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 322.20. Sophomore Sam Tamborski stood out on the 3-meter springboard, putting up winning a score of 341.55. Mathews placed third with a score of 319.40.

The 200-medley relay team of Zoe Pawloski, Sage Ohlensehlen, Kelsey Drake, and Maddie Ziegert took second in a time of 1:44.10.

The 400-free relay, comprised of Millie Sansome, Allyssa Fluit, Lauren McDougall, and Hannah Burvill rounded out competition with a second place finish in a time of 3:26.57.

HEARING FROM SENIOR HANNAH BURVILL

“We’ve been on a positive note after doing so well against Michigan and Minnesota. We’re moving in a positive direction and we’re all looking forward to competing. Individually, I was happy to solidify what I did last week. As a team we’re getting stronger and getting into a racing mode. I feel like we have a strong group now and I’m proud of how this team is doing. We’re all looking forward to Rutgers next week.”

HEARING FROM HEAD COACH MARC LONG

“They competed very well. We knew we have a few holes, but we’re proud of how they competed both in the water and on the boards. We’re finding out how people can do with people like Julia (Koluch) coming out today. She blew up in the 200 back even though she was in an exhibition heat. It’s exciting and we always want to win when we can. They’re a great group of women who love to race. We can’t ask for much more.”

On showing improvement…

“There are some things we’ve done with the lineup and several people stepped up today. Next week we have another Big Ten team coming in with Rutgers.”

On a strong freshmen group…

“That depth is just developing constantly. Julia (Koluch) is doing well, Maddie (Ziegert) is battling, too. The group is fun to watch and be part of. We have to get it right as we get to February, but I like the hunger they have. We can’t ask for much more. There are some who aren’t popping up points in meets yet but show a lot of promise in practice, so I think our lineups later in the season will look a bit different.”

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Jeni Battishill-Jodway

4 years ago

Go Blue! Go Mir!