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Wednesday, September 5, 2001- The Michigan Daily - New Student Editio - 9E
Records nothing new for men
By Courtney Lewis
Daily Sports Writer
His heart was pounding, he was
sweating, and the race hadn't even
started yet. When Michigan junior Tim
Siciliano lined up for the 400-yard
individual medley Friday night in Col-
lege Station, Texas he was nervous.
Really nervous.
"Probably more nervous than I've
ever been in my whole life," Siciliano
said.
Never mind that he was the two-time
defending champion and he had
already swam a personal best in the
preliminaries. This was the NCAA
Championship - the biggest meet of
the year and the one he'd been working
towards since the beginning of the sea-
son. He was going up against the best
collegiate swimmers in the nation and
they were all gunning for him. He was
the one to beat
As if that wasn't enough pressure,
Siciliano looked over and saw Eric
Vendt, a 2000 Olympic silver medal-
list.
Facing a swimmer of that caliber
"really does intimidate me," Siciliano
said. "You're sitting next to a silver
medallist and one of the best swim-
mers in the world. But it also gives you
confidence"
So when the race finally started,
Siciliano jumped out to an early lead
and then fought through the final laps
to edge out Vendt with a time of
3:40.77. He became only the fourth
swimmer to win three consecutive
NCAA titles in the event.
After three consecutive second-place
finishes in previous NCAA Champi-
onships, senior Chris Thompson put
enormous importance on winning a
championship in his final collegiate
race.
He was favored to win both the 500
freestyle and the 1,650 free, but he
missed the 500 title by three tenths of
a second on Thursday night.
Thompson's hopes of an NCAA
championship rested Saturday night's
performance in the mile. But he
brushed off the pressure and blew away
his competitors, setting a personal best
of 14:26.62 in the 1,650 and smashing
Michigan alum Tom Dolan's NCAA
and American record of 14:29.31.
With outstanding performances by
Klete Keller and Troy Dumais, power-
house Texas dominated the meet and
earned 597.5 points on its way to
claiming the national title for the §ec-
ond year in a row. Stanford took -et-
ond, 140 points behind the Longhorth.
Michigan came in 10th with 161
points - achieving its pre-meet goal
of placing in the Top 10.
Siciliano also swam an outstanding
race and finished second to Thompson
in the 1,650 freestyle, and freshman
Dan Ketchum came in 13th. Ketchum
also had two seventh-place finishes, in
the 200 and the 500 freestyle. Also
earning points, senior captain Scott
Werner had a strong showing in the
200 breaststroke, finishing tenth.
The 800-yard freestyle relay teanI of
Siciliano, Thompson, Ketchun' and
Garrett Mangieri clinched third place,
and Ketchum and Mangieri teamed up
with Werner and Jordan Watland to
earn points in the 400 medley with
15th place.
Michigan's finish was even more
impressive because while several elite
teams took as many as 17 swimmers,
only nine Wolverines qualified.
"The whole Michigan performance
was a success," head coach Jon
Urbanchek said. "We had a very small
team, but it was pretty mighty."
FILE PHOTO/Daily
In its first season, Water Polo saw Incredible success. Ranked In the top 25 almost all season, it just missed
making the NCAA Championships.
Expectations eXCeeded in
Water Polo inaugural season
Dy J. Brady McCoelough
ThiySportsWriter
It wasn't complacency, it wasn't nerves, it wasn't
inexperience, and it wasn't a lack of execution.
Saturday, the No. 15 Michigan water polo team fell
to No. 20 Brown 7-4 in the first round of the Eastern
Conference Championships in Providence, RI.
Michigan offered no excuses for its loss to Brown -
the Wolverines were just beaten, plain and simple.
"Brown just played a great game," Michigan coach
ber Drury-Pinto said. "They just rallied under their
home crowd and we were unable to respond offensively
or defensively."
The Wolverines jumped on the Bears early in the
game, and took a 4-1 lead to halftime. But just like at
other key times this season, Michigan's offense couldn't
find its rhythm for an extended period of time. This
time, that period covered the entire second half. The
Bears ran off a string of six unanswered goals after half-
tme, and there was nothing the Wolverines could do
,out it.
"(Brown was) playing out of their minds,"junior cap-
lain Delia Sonda said. "Going into the second half win-
ping 4-1, in my mind, the game was sealed. But we
didn't score. We just stopped playing offense in the sec-
ond half"
Contributing to Michigan's lack of offensive punch
was the performance of its power play, which has been
a key to the Wolverines' success all year long. Michigan
was 1-10 with the one-woman advantage against
Brown's defense, which was unlike anything the
Wolverines had seen this season.
With the loss, Michigan, also lost its chance to qualify
for the NCAA Championships in two weeks - the
Wolverines' goal from day one. The Eastern Conference
receives one bid to the tournament, and that bid went to
Brown, the first Eastern Conference Champion.
"Brown just came out ready to play this tournament,"
Drury-Pinto said. "Also, being at home - they have
that advantage."
Michigan recovered well from its first round loss,
beating George Washington 10-6 and arch-rival Indiana
8-2. With their 2-1 record for the tournament, the
Wolverines earned a fifth-place finish in the Eastern
Conference, and will finish the year with a mark of 21-
11-1.
The Wolverines beat the Hoosiers for the fourth time
this season, with one tie in the first match on February
18th. With Indiana joining Michigan as the only other
Big Ten varsity team, the Wolverines' success against
the Hoosiers has been crucial to the program's emer-
gence in its first year.
"(Beating Indiana) was very important at the begin-
ning of the year within the Midwest, just to let everyone
know that we are the team in the Big Ten," Drury-Pinto
said. "And we did that. The 8-2 win was just putting on
the exclamation point."
In its first year as a varsity program, Michigan has
exceeded all expectations. Winning 21 games, placing
second in the Southern Division, and finishing fifth in
the Eastern Conference are all accomplishments that
will give Michigan momentum heading into its second
year. And with one of the top recruiting classes in the
country joining the current Wolverines, the prospects
will be even brighter in Canham Natatorium next win-
ter.
"We have an incredible recruiting class coming in
next fall," Drury-Pinto said" We've got three of the top
ten players in the United States coming here next fall. It
means that Michigan is here to be a force for years to
come."
Women fail to make top 15 in NCAAs
LONG ISLAND, NY - After 14 straight years in the top
15, many would view 18th place as a disappointing showing
for the Michigan women's swimming team, but not coach
Jim Richardson.
"Anywhere in the top 20 is good for this team," Richard-
son said. "Maybe we could have done better, but I like the
way we finished."
The last day of competition provided the team with some
long awaited success.
In an amazing upset performance, freshman Emily Fenn
became the Wolverines' only All-American with a sixth-
place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
Fenn dropped 11 seconds off of her previous personal best
with a time of 16:18.87.
Because she was seeded 18th coming into the event, Fenn
competed in the second of four heats, and could only watch
the final race and hope that her time would hold up.
Finally, more than 40 minutes after she emerged first from
the pool, Fenn realized that her time was good enough to
stand on the winners' podium.
"It's just a shock right now," Fenn said after the race.
"This will keep me motivated for months and years to
come."
The freshman Fenn may have been the All-American, but
the Wolverines' senior captains saved their moment in the
sun for Saturday evening's final event, the 400-yard
freestyle relay.
Both Jen Crisman and Missy Sugar posted lifetime-best
splits in their final race for Michigan - good enough to win
the consolation heat and secure ninth place.
Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the entire meet diant
go as well as those two particular races.
Crisman entered the championships ranked fifth in the
country in both the 50 free and the 100 backstroke.
But she failed to reach the finals in either one, finishing
12th and 13th, respectively. The performance ended her
three-year run as an All-American.
Richardson pointed at two things that kept this teamfron
another top-15 finish - an emphasis on their conference
meet and a lack of star power. .
"We finished in the top 10 here a bunch of times"
Richardson explained. "But those teams were top-heavy."
"We don't have superstars here, but that's okay with me1"
The team's upper echelon was further depleted when
Olympic gold medallist, Samantha Arsenault, opted to sit
out the championships to rest her ailing shoulder.
But even without Arsenault, Michigan was focused from
day one this season, not on the NCAA final, but on a 13th
Big Ten title in 15 years.
"We all realized that we tapered for Big Ten's. That was
our goal all year," Sugar said. "And when you do thatifs
hard to swim well again here."
"I'm not going to let anything that happens here detract
from the great job they did at Big Ten's," Richardson said.
"That was the truly great thing this team accomplished
this year."
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The Michigan Band program has several opportunities for non-music majors
who play an instrument! Whether you are an accomplished musician or
someone who just enjoys playing occasionally there is a place for you at
Michigan.
The Camnus and University Bands are concert arouns for students who wish
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