The Michigan Wolverine men and women combined to win 23 of 24 events Tuesday at the Orange Bowl Classic in Key Largo Florida. The Wolverines topped 5 other women’s programs and 3 other men’s teams to win both team titles.
The short course meters event took place at the Jacobs Aquatics Center, with 11 total meet records falling.
Women’s Meet
The Wolverine women made it a clean sweep, winning all 12 events. That include 9 overall meet records and 4 different double-event winners.
Freshman Vanessa Krause and junior Emily Kopas were most dominant, each winning dual individual titles and setting meet records in both. Krause won the 50 fly (27.84) and 100 fly (1:00.92) in new meet records. Kopas completed a similar breaststroke sweep, going 31.93 to win the 50 and 1:09.37 to win the 100. Krause and Kopas were both a part of the record-setting 200 medley relay, going 1:53.45 along with Clara Smiddy and Catie DeLoof. Meanwhile Krause joined Catie DeLoof, older sister Gabby DeLoof and Siobhan Haughey to win the 200 free relay in a new meet record of 1:42.94.
Haughey and Smiddy were the other two dual individual winners. Haughey took the 100 free (55.25) and 200 IM (2:17.14), setting a meet record in the free but missing her own 2016 record in the IM. Smiddy swept the backstrokes, going 1:01.39 in the 100 and 29.15 in the 50. She was just two tenths off the meet record in the 100.
Other meet records went to Rose Bi (4:10.80 in the 400 free) and Gabby DeLoof (26.22 in the 50 free).
Team Scores:
- Michigan – 292.5
- Florida International – 105
- Duquesne – 37
- T-4 George Mason – 37
- T-4 Northeastern – 36.5
- Middlebury – 10
Men’s Meet
The Michigan men dropped just one event and broke two meet records. Those came from Vinny Tafuto (23.79 in the 50 fly) and Tristan Sanders (54.07 in the 100 back). Tafuto went on to sweep the butterfly races, going 53.86 to win the 100.
That 100 back was one of the best races of the day. Sanders just touched out Texas A&M’s Brock Bonetti 54.07 to 54.29. Bonetti was the only opposing swimmer to steal an event from Michigan, beating Sanders in the 50 back 24.68 to 25.42.
In addition to Tafuto’s fly sweep, Jacob Montague won both breaststroke events. The freshman was 28.35 in the 50 and 1:01.28 in the 100, leading twin 1-2-3s for the Wolverines in the process. Sanders, Montague and Tafuto teamed up with star sprinter Paul Powers to win big in the 200 medley relay. Their 1:38.97 was only about a second off the meet record Michigan set with its NCAA Championship team back in 2013.
Powers, James Jones, Tafuto and Luke Papendick went 1:30.38 as a 200 free relay to cap off the meet in a win. That was a narrow touchout of two tenths over A&M. Jones and Powers traded off sprint wins, with the freshman Jones going 50.43 to win the 100 free and Powers tying for the 50 free win in 22.53. Also hitting that time was Texas A&M’s Corey Bolleter, with Jones third.
Team Scores:
- Michigan – 275
- Texas A&M – 183
- George Mason – 48
- Middlebury – 12
also Jason Chen is an important missing piece from the team this year
Don’t think he swims anymore. Heard he violated team rules????
Even if it is true that anyone violated team rules (I hear he has a medial issue) why would you speculate about a violation of rules? Is that where we are in the blogoshere?
Pay attention to us pay attention to us pay attention to us nobody pays enough attention to us!
*they do something wrong*
Is this what the world has come to? Talking about college swimmers? Why are we talking about college swimmers? Are they even newsworthy?
#smh
Whatever happened to Aaron Whitaker ?