A pair of stars are beginning to emerge for head coach Mike Bottom and his first season as the head of the women’s program at Michigan. Angie Chokran and Deirdre Jones each took two individual wins, and they combined on the breaststroke (Chokran) and freestyle (Jones) legs, touching in 3:43.85.
This marked the second-straight win for the Michigan women over a Big Ten rival after they topped Ohio State the week before. This week, they were on the road against Michigan State, where the Wolverines won for the 26th-consecutive time in the series: a streak dating back to the mid-80’s.
The Michigan women then went on a roll; the way their team is built, they perform very well in early dual meet schedules. Sophomore Michelle Steandl kicked that off with a win in the 1000 free. The pace of this swim was overall a bit slower than what we saw against the Buckeyes, which led her to add about three seconds for a 10:10.81 (Adrienne Bicek didn’t swim the event this week after winning the last). Most noticably, Steandl didn’t have quite the same closing kick after coming home in a 57 last time.
Deirdre Jones then won the 200 free in 1:52.39: a good mid-year time for the sprinter. Ali Deloof took the next win with a 55.64, before Angie Chokran won the 100 breaststroke in a new pool record of 1:01.28: her best time of the year and within two-tenths of her lifetime-best.
Ashley Cohagen won the 200 fly in 2:00.55 before Michigan State’s Jenny Rusch broke the streak with a 23.36 in the 50 free to easily top Zoe Mattlingly.
Jones then added another win with a 50.66 in the 100 free, a season best for her as well. Michigan’s times definitely started coming down a little for the Hawkeye Invitational in late November, but to be going down again here will be exciting for Bottom to see. One would imagine that this year, at least, the Wolverine women will be focused on Big Ten’s to build toward NCAA’s in future years.
The next two records saw two more Pool Records. Michigan’s Claudia Lau won the 200 backstroke in 2:00.95 and Chokran in the 200 breaststroke in 2:15.05. That swim for Chokran wasn’t as impressive as her shorter 100, but it will still get her name on the record board in East Lansing.
Michigan State’s biggest advantage was in the diving. On the 1-meter, Cristee Cordes won a tough battle by score of 282.45-276.82 over Sarah Kamstra. On the 3-meter, it was another Spart Alison Menzier who took another close win over Erin Bridgewater.
Though MSU was largely overmatched at this meet, one highlight was the team’s best butterflier Lizzie Brown. She was the runner-up in the 200 fly in 2:03.49, which is a lifetime best for her in her first season swimming in the U.S. (she’s a native of New Zealand).
The Michigan women have one meet left against Toledo, whereas the Michigan State women are done until Big Ten’s in February.