Michigan Women's Swimming and Diving Team: Brunemann Wins National Title in 1,650-Freestyle

from http://www.mgoblue.com/

Site: Columbus, Ohio (McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion)

Event: NCAA Championships

U-M Team Standing: 9th Place (130 points)

Next U-M Event: Season Completed

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COLUMBUS, Ohio. -- Junior Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) of the No. 11-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team claimed the national title in the 1,650-yard freestyle relay with a time of 15:53.69 -- a full four seconds ahead of the field -- Saturday (March 22) at the NCAA Championships in McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Her title helped boost Michigan to a ninth place finish with 130 points, besting all other Big Ten teams. Arizona was crowned champions with 484 points.

Brunemann clinched the first national title for the Wolverines since 1995 and is the only U-M swimmer in program history with a distance championship to her name. It was the tenth national championship for Michigan, all coming under head coach Jim Richardson. Richardson also led the Wolverines to their 13th top ten finish at the NCAA Championships.

The Wolverine junior carried a narrow lead over North Carolina's Whitney Sprague through the first 500-yards. Her lead slimmed to as little as two-hundredths of a second at 500-yards as Sprague launched a comeback bid. Brunemann regained the lead at 800 yards and, even when it seemed the two were going stroke-for-stroke, Brunemann would emerge from the turns with a lead that grew every time down the pool. With 200 yards remaining, Brunemann created a body-length lead and would not relinquish it until after the national title was hers.

In the process of picking up her third All-America honor, Brunemann's 1000-yard split of 9:36.67 marks a new program record for that distance. Junior Emily Hanson (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) also scored in the mile, placing 13th on a time of 16:13.41.

Senior Justine Mueller (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) claimed victory in her last individual race for the maize and blue, winning the consolation final in the 200-yard breaststroke. A personal-best time of 2:10.64 earned her an All-America honorable mention. Mueller's certificate comes in the third different individual event for the senior who has also earned the status in the 200- and 400-yard individual medleys.

Michigan continued its domination of the consolation finals in the 200-yard butterfly. Fifth-year senior Melissa Jaeger (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) missed her personal-best by two-hundredths of a second en route to a second place finish in the 'B' final. Her 10th place finish earned her an All-America honorable mention in both butterfly events. With a tight pack of swimmers screaming down the pool toward the finish line, only Jaeger was able to bring her split time under 30-seconds in the final 50-yards. In the end, Jaeger couldn't overcome the race leader, touching the wall second.

The foursome of sophomore Margaret Kelly (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), junior Hannah Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter), Jaeger and Mueller touch the wall in 3:18.39 to conclude the championships with a 13th place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The relay clinched its spot in the consolation finals on a time of 3:17.08, the second-fastest run in program history.
Complete meet results along with postseason awards can be found at the NCAA Championships website: http://www.ncaasports.com/.

Michigan All-Americans

Emily Brunemann (3): 1,650-yard Freestyle (1st), 500-yard Freestyle (4th), 400-yard Individual Medley (6th),Margaret Kelly (1): 200-yard Individual Medley (7th)

Michigan Honorable Mention All-Americans

Emily Brunemann (1): 800-yard Freestyle Relay (14th)Emily Hanson (1): 1,650-yard Freestyle (13th)Melissa Jaeger (6): 100-yard Butterfly (9th); 200-yard Butterfly (10th), 200-yard Freestyle Relay (11th), 400-yard Freestyle Relay (13th), 400-yard Medley Relay (13th), 800-yard Freestyle Relay (14th)Payton Johnson (1): 200-yard Freestyle Relay (11th)Margaret Kelly (5): 200-yard Freestyle Relay (11th), 100-yard Butterfly (13th), 400-yard Freestyle Relay (13th), 400-yard Medley Relay (13th), 800-yard Freestyle Relay (14th)Elyse Lee (1): One-Meter Diving (14th)Justine Mueller (3): 200-yard Breaststroke (9th), 400-yard Freestyle Relay (13th), 400-yard Medley Relay (13th)Hannah Smith (4): 200-yard Freestyle Relay (11th), 400-yard Freestyle Relay (13th), 400-yard Medley Relay (13th), 800-yard Freestyle Relay (14th)

Team Standings (Final)

1. Arizona 484
2. Auburn 348
3. Stanford 343
4. Texas A&M 315
5. Cal 291
6. Florida 277.5
7. Georgia 198
8. Tennessee 179.5
9. MICHIGAN 130
10. Indiana 128

Top Eight/U-M Finishers(Preliminary time in parentheses if faster than finals time)1,650-yard Freestyle
1. Emily Brunemann, U-M 15:53.69
2. Whitney Sprague, UNC 15:57.77
3. Kelsey Ditto, Georgia 15:59.01
4. Maggie Bird, Auburn 15:59.81
5. Lauren Boyle, Cal 16:01.80
6. Laurabeth Guenther, Florida 16:03.74
7. Whitney Hentzen, USC 16:04.45
8. Alcia Aemisegger, Princeton 16:06.14
13. Emily Hanson, U-M 16:13.41

200-yard Backstroke
1. Gemma Spofforth, Florida 1:50.70%
2. Kateryna Zubkova, Indiana 1:53.17
3. Kristen Heiss, Texas A&M 1:53.52 (1:53.37)
4. Stephanie Proud, Florida 1:54.16
5. Leah Retrum, Florida 1:54.22
6. Caitlin Iversen, Arizona 1:54.45
7. Julia Smit, Stanford 1:54.94 (1:54.70)
8. Erica Meissner, Auburn 1:55.92 (1:54.87)
28. Hannah Smith, U-M 1:57.69

100-yard Freestyle
1. Lacey Nymeyer, Arizona 47.50%
2. Julia Wilkinson, Texas A&M 47.56
3. Christine Magnuson, Tennessee 48.15
4. Kara Denby, Auburn 48.20 (47.92)
5. Emily Silver, Cal 48.21
6. Caroline Burckle, Florida 48.26
6. Michele King, Tennessee 48.26
8. Anna Turner, Arizona 48.57 (48.42)

200-yard Breaststroke
1. Rebecca Soni, USC 2:06.32~
2. Elizabeth Smith, Stanford 2:08.73
3. Alia Atkinson, Texas A&M 2:09.48
4. Ariana Kukors, Washington 2:09.78
5. Caroline Bruce, Stanford 2:10.00
6. Jessica Btozum, Virginia Tech 2:10.13
7. Jillian Tyler, Minnesota 2:10.61 (2:10.46)
8. Annie Chandler, Arizona 2:10.64
9. Justine Mueller, U-M 2:10.64
48. Valeria Silva, U-M 2:19.57

200-yard Butterfly
1. Saori Haruguchi, Oregon State 1:52.39~%
2. Elaine Breeden, Stanford 1:53.27
3. Ava Ohlgren, Auburn 1:54.64
4. Elizabeth Shaw, Virginia 1:54.98
4. Dana Vollmer, Cal 1:55.48 (1:55.39)
6. Kelly Nelson, Penn State 1:55.86
7. Annie Broome, Georgia 1:57.35 (1:56.33)
8. Elizabeth Hill, Georgia 1:57.93 (1:56.21)
10. Melissa Jaeger, U-M 1:56.27
30. Payton Johnson, U-M 1:59.60

Platform Diving
1. Brittany Viola, Miami 362.60
2. Margaret Hostage, Stanford 347.20
3. Kara Cook, Purdue 311.00
4. Kristen Asman, Ohio State 291.35
5. Shana Karp, Stanford 280.65
6. Lacey Truelove, Houston 272.35
7. Audra Egenolf, SMU 233.55
8. Monica Dodson, Florida 206.10

400-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Arizona 3:11.34%*&^
2. Cal 3:13.03
3. Texas A&M 3:13.08
4. Auburn 3:13.65
5. Stanford 3:13.77
6. SMU 3:14.86
7. Georgia 3:15.95
8. Tennessee 3:16.58
13. Michigan 3:18.39

(Margaret Kelly, Hannah Smith
Melissa Jaeger, Justine Mueller)

* NCAA record
~ Meet record
& American record
! Big Ten record
^ U.S. Open record
% McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion record
@ Michigan school record
+ Career-best time