The Michigan Daily- Sports Monday- March 1,1993- Page 7 TANKERS Continued from page 1 when she grabbed her second consecutive title in the 400 individ- ual medley with a time of 4:15.55. She and senior Missy McCracken also picked up second and eighth in the 200 butterfly event. Hooiveld again proved her na- tional quality rating in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:01.63 swim, defending her title and setting a Big Ten-record time. Juniors Tara Hig- gins and Val Hyduk also took third and eighth for Michigan. These Wolverines repeated their stellar performances in the 200 breaststroke. Hooiveld took her sec- ond straight title and broke the Big Ten meet-record in 2:13.74. Higgins placed fourth, and Hyduk took seventh. In the 100 backstroke, Humphrey also defended her title when she placed first in 54.50 seconds. Jackson and sophomore Jennifer Almeida added to the Wolverines' score with their fourth and eighth-place finishes. "It felt pretty good," Humphrey said. "I'm not tapered and I'm get- ting my best times, which makes me really happy. Jim (Richardson) thought I could go right on my best times, and I'm doing a little faster than that. So I'm really psyched for NCAAs." Humphrey, Jackson and Almeida also shined in the 200 backstroke with an exciting one- two-three finish in front of four Northwestern swimmers. Hum- SWIMMING NOTEBOOK "LA SK "'AMN I r ary The women's swimming and diving team celebrates after winning its seventh consecutive Big Ten championship at Canham Natatorium. by Charlie Breitrose and Dave Kraft Daily Sports Writers With less than three weeks to go before the NCAA championships in Minneapolis, Michigan has already met NCAA qualification standards in 11 events, six of which came at the recent conference championships at Canham Natatorium. The individual qualifiers include: Kathy Deibler (500-yard freestyle), Mindy Gehrs (200 and 400 indi- vidual medleys), Lara Hooiveld (100 and 200 breast- stroke), Alecia Humphrey (100 and 200 backstroke, 200 IM), and Kirsten Silvester (500 freestyle). The two remaining qualifications came in the 200 and 400 medley relays, both at Big Tens. Coach Jim Richardson believes that Tara Higgins and Jackson will "probably" qualify in the 100 or 200 breaststroke and 200 backstroke, respectively. While Richardson feels this year's qualifiers will make up a strong squad in Minneapolis, he readily ad- mits that his team will be at a clear disadvantage against perennial powerhouses Stanford, Texas and Florida, all of whom will field significantly larger teams at the NCAA Championships. "We have a chance to finish in the top 10, but it'll be tough without any freestyle relays," Richardson said. SEVEN'S A CHARM: With last Saturday's victory, the Wolverines captured an impressive seventh consec- utive conference title. But even more astounding is the fact that no other women's Big Ten team in any sport has ever captured more than six championships in a row. The previous women's records of six consecutive ti- tles were held by Ohio State basketball (1982-87), Wisconsin cross country (1984-89) and Indiana's tennis squad (1987-present). THERE'S No PLACE LIKE HOME: In attendance throughout last weekend's championships were several Women gear up former Wolverine-swimmers. Representing the class of 1992 was NCAA All-American Katherine Creighton, Big Ten 800-freestyle champion Michelle Swix and NCAA qualifier Lisa Anderson. Crissi Rawak ('9J) also made her usual presence on the sidelines, whre she is in her second year as Michigan's assistant coach. THE VACANT TOWERS OF THE BIG TEN: There is a noticeable difference between the diving events-at the Big Ten and NCAA championship meets. Tower diving is not an official event in the Big Ten confer- ence. The only time the event is held is during the Big Ten championships, where it is still unofficial. This actually inhibits the progress of divers preparing for the NCAA diving championships, according to Michigan diving coach Dick Kimball. "There are a lot of divers that don't bother training for the tower, because it is not a part of the conference," Kimball said. Nine of the 11 teams in the conference have towers in their diving facilities. However, the Big Ten confer- ence decided to keep the event as an exhibition because of the protests from a few coaches. AND THE WINNER IS ...: With their eight individ- ual titles at the Big Tens, the Wolverines surpassed Ohio State for having the most individual champions in conference history. Entering the meet, the Buckeyes had 63 all-time individual victories, two more than Michigan. However, Ohio State could only muster one title, giving the Wolverines a 69-64 edge. NEW LIDS ON THE BLOCKS: The women swim- mers followed the latest trend in Michigan sports by al- tering their swimming attire. First, it was the basketball team's Maize uniforms, then it was the hockey team with their Maize uniforms. Last weekend at the Big Ten championships, the swim team abandoned their tradi- tional 'M' swim caps for "winged" caps, reminiscent of the Wolverine football helmets. phrey again defended her event title and broke her own Big Ten-record of 1:56.53 with a 1:56.15 performance. Freshman Carrie Zarse and junior Cinnamon Woods added to Michigan's victory with strong performances in the three-meter diving event. Zarse scored 473.04 points and Woods 451.95 points, earning them sixth- and seventh- place among the top eight finalists. Many Wolverines said they found this year's event to be the most fulfilling in their careers. "It makes it much more special," Higgins said. "It's the first time we were ever really scared that we wouldn't win. It just makes it ten times better. I can't wait for next year. I hope it's just as close next year." Humphrey claimed further hon- ors by getting named Swimmer of the Year - a title she said she was not expecting. "Everything now is just so excit- ing," Humphrey said. "After the 200-yard backstroke, we were so excited. I've been running around like crazy for the last hour and a half and (then to be named Swimmer of the Year) - it was all over." - Daily Sports Writer David Kraft contributed to this report I SELF-SERVE COPIES 4 - r REG. COPIES 20# White, 8.5x11 " Collate_ _ " Staple " Two-sided e High Speed m Dollar Bill CCOPYIVN G 611 Church Street d I Phone: 665-9200 Fx:9302800 E l Lu l su