Minnesota finished 16th with 70 points at the 2016 NCAA Championships in Atlanta, Ga., with five Gophers earning All-American honors.
The finish is the team’s lowest since not participating in the NCAA meet as a team in 2005.
“I’m happy for the team; they did a nice job starting on Thursday and kept fighting. Everything didn’t go perfect for us,” head coach Kelly Kremer said. “When things didn’t go our way, they continued to battle as a team, and overall, I’m really pleased with the finish.”
Sophomore Brooke Zeiger finished sixth in the 400 individual medley with a season-best 4:05.38, eighth in the 1650 freestyle with a personal-best 16:00.64 and 15th in the 500 free with a time of 4:41.08.
Zeiger earned All-American honors in the 400 individual medley and 1,650 freestyle and was an honorable mention All-American in the 500 free.
“Brooke really led us in the pool,” Kremer said. “She continues to be one of the best swimmers in the country in [the 400 individual medley] and did a great job. To see her get eighth in the 1,650 tonight was just outstanding.”
Junior diver Yu Zhou finished as the runner-up on platform diving with 331.90 points and took fifth in the 3-meter event with a score of 365.45. She earned the fourth and fifth All-American honors of her career after her performance.
“She didn’t have a perfect meet, but she’s a perfect example of someone [who] just kept fighting and kept doing everything she could for our team,” Kremer said.
Divers Jessica Ramberg and Lexi Tenenbaum both earned their first honorable mention All-American honors on the platform dive.
Senior Lauren Votava also earned honorable mention All-American honors in the pool by finishing 13th in the 200 free with a personal-best time of 1:45.09.
“I think it was a really good opportunity for our team to learn and to grow,” Kremer said. “This is a year that is going to be a springboard for us going into a really bright year next year.”
