Spartans canned

Women reopen pool with victory

Last night, the Michigan women's swimming team capped off its Big Ten dual-meet season with a 162-144 victory over Michigan State in the newly renovated Canham Natatorium. The victory was the Wolverines' first since they defeated Purdue on Jan. 15.

Michigan did not expect very much competition from the unranked Spartans and was surprised when the Spartans took the lead after a surge in the middle of the meet.

DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily Michigan's Shannon Shakespeare and her teammates reopened Canham Natatorium with a victory over Big Ten rival Michigan State, 162-144. Shakespeare won the 50- and 200-yard freestyle races. She also anchored the 200 free relay.

The Wolverines have suffered from a lack of depth all season because of season-ending injuries and poorly timed illnesses. Michigan's woes continued against Michigan State as freshman Kerrianne Kalbko and junior Amy Fritsch were both out with the flu and senior Jen Eberwein, who has been out most of the season with Epstein-Barr syndrome, missed another meet.

In many events, Michigan only had two swimmers competing while Michigan State had three or four. The Wolverines named the depth problem as the main reason that the meet was so close.

"When you don't have a lot of depth, if the team swims fairly solidly, you've got a couple people who are a little more tired than they normally would be and it swings things," Richardson said. "But that is what makes college athletics interesting and exciting."

Despite swimming a meet in the middle of the week and being plagued with injuries and illnesses leaving the team fatigued, the Wolverines maintained their normal workout routine for the week.

"We decided to swim it straight up and went regular workouts this morning and just did the things we normally do," Michigan coach Jim Richardson said.

The fast start from Michigan State forced the Wolverines to make some lineup changes in the middle of the meet to get the win. They pulled sophomore Jen Crissman out of the 200-yard backstroke and switched her with freshman Lindsay Carlberg in the 100 butterfly.

"Those were both pivotal moves because they gave us a chance to win both events," Richardson said. "If we had gone with the people we originally had it could have made the meet even closer."

Junior Shannon Shakespeare led the way for the Wolverines with first place finishes in the 50 freestyle, the 200 freestyle, and the 200 individual medley. Shakespeare also anchored the first place 200 freestyle relay at the end of the meet that locked up the victory for the Wolverines.

Junior Jenny Arndt was also a major factor for Michigan, winning both the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.

Contributions also came from sophomore Missy Sugar who won the 500 freestyle with the fastest time of her career and Crissman who won 100 yard butterfly and finished second in the 500 freestyle. Crissman also competed for the 200 freestyle and 200 individual medley relay teams, which both took first place.

"This was a great opportunity for some of our less experienced swimmers to have to step up at a point where the meet was tied," Richardson said. "Jenny Arndt did a really nice job of stepping up in the 100 freestyle."

The Wolverines will host their final dual meet of the season this Saturday when they take on No. 22 Notre Dame at 4 p.m. at Canham Natatorium.

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