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Michigan Wolverines Capture Big Ten Championship

Feb 18, 2001

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team came from behind Saturday (Feb. 17) to earn its 13th Big Ten Conference Championships title. The No. 16-ranked Wolverines finished with 582 points to overtake Penn State, which slipped to second place with 557 points. Host Indiana (460.5) took third while two-time defending champion Minnesota (340.5) finished in sixth place.

Looking for its first conference championship since 1998, Michigan began the final day of competition down 10 points to Penn State (413-403) but quickly took over first place with 48 points in the first event, the 1,650-yard freestyle. Emily Fenn (Westport, Conn./Staples HS) and Lori Eberwein (Maple Glen/Upper Dublin HS) led the charge, placing fourth (16:30.39) and fifth (16:30.59), respectively, with NCAA consideration times.

The Wolverines widened their advantage over the Nittany Lions to 41 points (494-453) with three top-eight finishes in the 200-yard backstroke. Lindsay Carlberg (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) placed second (1:58.21), Erin Abbey (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield HS) finished fifth (1:59.71) and Jennifer Arndt (Green Bay, Wis./Ashwaubenon HS) claimed eighth (2:00.32), all with NCAA consideration times.

Michigan also had a solid showing in the 100-yard freestyle as Missy Sugar (Newburgh, Ind./Evansville Day School) and Samantha Arsenault (Peabody, Mass./Gardner HS) placed 2-3 in NCAA consideration times of 49.74 and 50.09, respectively.

With two individual events and one relay remaining, U-M held a 59-point lead (527-468) over Penn State, but the Nittany Lions closed the gap by outscoring Michigan 65-15 in the 200-yard breaststroke (48-15) and 200-yard butterfly (17-0). The Wolverines' only points in the two events came from Traci Valasco (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS), who finished fourth in the 200 breaststroke in an NCAA consideration time of 2:14.90.

With Michigan leading 542-533 going into the final event, that left it up to the Wolverines' 400-yard relay team, and the group came through. Jennifer Crisman (Hudsonville, Mich./Jenison HS), Annie Weilbacher (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales HS), Arsenault and Sugar sealed the victory for the Wolverines as they took first place while setting a Counsilman and Billingsley Aquatics Center record with an NCAA consideration time of 3:19.61. It marks the sixth straight year U-M has won the 400 freestyle relay, with Crisman swimming on the last four championship teams.

Up next for Michigan is its Last Chance Invitational on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 23-24) at Canham Natatorium. The NCAA zone diving meet is scheduled for March 9-10 in Bloomington, Ind., with the NCAA Championships the following week (March 15-17) in Long Island, N.Y.