Women tankers finish 7th in NCAA

MINNEAPOLIS - Throughout last season, Michigan women's swimming coach Jim Richardson said that he was not concerned about where his team placed, how hard they worked and how they fought. According to the placement and the effort put out by the Wolverines at the NCAA championships, one can assume that Richardson's request has been granted.

The Wolverines finished with 249.5 points, good for seventh at the championships, matching their final national ranking. Stanford also lived up to its No. 1 ranking, winning its sixth national championship in seven years. The Cardinals ended up with 422 points, outdistancing runner-up Arizona by 44 points.

"People ask from time-to-time 'Does it ever seem the same?'" said Stanford coach Richard Quick, who has won twelve national championships as the coach of Texas and Stanford. "Each year the chemistry is different, the athletes are different, and it never gets old."

While the Wolverines didn't capture any titles, they did receive two second-place finishes.

Oddly enough, the two Michigan swimmers who were runners-up - senior Talor Bendel and sophomore Shannon Shakespeare - finished second in the same event. They finished behind Southern Methodist's Martina Moracova in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.58.

"It's great for Michigan," Shakespeare said. "It's great to have that kind of competitiveness on a team. It's a strange thing that happened, but you know that you are competing with the best."

The best certainly were on display at the meet, as six NCAA and 12 pool records were set over the three days of competition.

"It's fast isn't it?" Richardson said of the speed. "This meet has really taken a huge step forward. Just to say that you are one of the 235 swimmers here is a major, major accomplishment."

Along with getting to the meet, Michigan provided a rare feat, as junior Jennie Eberwein finished fifth in the 200-free.

Grouped with Bendel and Shakespeare, the Wolverines grabbed three of the top five places in the event. Michigan was the only team to have three swimmers in the championship heat of any event.

"It's great to have three people from the same team in a final period," Shakespeare said. "I don't know if we've ever done it before, but it's a great accomplishment."

Eberwein led the way for the Wolverines, tying for fourth-place in the 50-free and fifth in the 100 and 200-free.

09-08-98