MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — No. 18/18 Notre Dame maintained the lead and won both dual meets at West Virginia Saturday, with the men topping the Mountaineers 271-82 and the women besting WVU 244-127.
After a program record on the platform in Day One courtesy Kelly Straub, David Petrison posted another platform program record on the men’s side, with a 346.80 in the event.
Irish swimmers made their mark, as Madeline LaPorte and Jack Hoagland both set Mylan Park pool records in the 500 Free event. Notre Dame totaled five NCAA B-Cuts on the weekend in the final meet prior to the ACC Championships.
“It was a great session of swimming & diving for our group this morning,” head swim coach Mike Litzinger shared. “Both Madeline LaPorte and Jack Hoagland led the way with Mylan Park Pool records in the 1000 Free, and David Petrison improved his Notre Dame record on the 10-meter.”
On the diving end, Annie Wiese completed her collection of three Zone-A scores in all three events on the meet. On the men’s platform, Dave DeBacker and Petrison led the way.
“It was a good win for Annie on the 3-meter,” head dive coach Mark Bradshaw shared. “[Consistency] is one of Annie’s strong suits; she put together a couple of really nice performances. On tower, [Kelly and Annie] were both very strong, really reminiscent of David Petrison and Dave DeBacker.
“Everybody on tower was competing it for the first time this season,” Bradshaw continued. “I set the bar pretty high for the beginning of the season, and they really brought their game on the tower. On springboard, Austin [Flaute] did very well. Kate [McCahan] had a strong meet, both on springboard and platform.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the women’s 200 Medley Relay, Notre Dame’s Carly Quast, Coleen Gillilan, Cailey Grunhard and Rachel Wittmer brought home the win with a 1:39.39. The Irish men followed suit in the 200 Medley Relay as the team of Brendan Santana, Josh Bottelberghe, Cason Wilburn and Topher Stensby touched the wall first with a 1:26.57.
Sydney Whiting notched the win in the women’s 200 Free with a 1:49.52, as Luciana Thomas followed closely behind at 1:49.91, good for second. On the men’s side, Alec DeLong won the 200 Free with a 1:37.18, as Luke Uttley placed second (1:37.35) and Thacher Scannell took third (1:39.30).
Notre Dame continued the wins with the 200 IM, as Ellie Jew brought home the win in the women’s 200 IM with a 2:02.82, and Sydney Winters finished third with a 2:05.69. Hoagland notched an NCAA B-Cut, finishing first in the men’s 200 IM with a 1:46.49, followed by Andrew Winton in second (1:48.44).
West Virginia’s Emily Haimes (23.40) claimed first in the women’s 50 Free, as Wittmer (23.42) and Grunhard (23.44) placed second and third. Stensby continued his sprint success, clocking a 20.27 to win the men’s 50 Free, as Wilburn claimed third with a 20.62.
The Irish crowded the podium in the women’s 200 Fly, as Megan Deuel (1:58.89), Emma Gleason (2:00.18) and Rhianna Hensler (2:03.50) claimed the top three spots. West Virginia’s David Dixon won the men’s 200 Fly (1:46.79), and Max Miranda (1:48.03) and Ollie Bernasek (1:49.10) followed in second and third.
The Mountaineers won the women’s 100 Back, courtesy Ally Vannetta (54.43), as Wittmer (54.87) and Kallie Chelsvig (55.64) took second and third. On the men’s side, Sadler McKeen won the men’s 100 Back (48.38), as Kaden Smesko finished second (49.00) and Nick Chase third (50.01).
Elizabeth Fry earned her second individual win of the weekend, clocking a 2:16.33 in the women’s 200 Breast. Sammie Eyolfson (2:16.94) and Meaghan Lyons (2:17.29) completed the podium. On the men’s side, Tyler Christianson continued his success in the breaststroke with a 1:56.90 (NCAA B-Cut) in the 200 Breast, as JP Becker finished second (1:58.13) and Andrew Winton third (2:01.80). Becker’s 1:58.13 made him the 10th-fastest performer in program history in the event.
“JP Becker finished his last competition for Notre Dame in style, as his time in the 200 Breast was good enough to place him No. 10 on the all-time Top 10 list,” Litzinger noted. “I can’t think of a better way to end his career. I’m very proud of JP.”
Madeline LaPorte clocked a 9:57.31 in the women’s 1000 Free, a Mylan Park pool record, followed by Allison Kopac in second (10:10.77). Hoagland turned in a pool record in the 1000 Free to match, winning the event with a 8:49.95, followed by Liam Hutchinson in second (9:17.55). Hoagland’s time was a personal best, and improved his time as the second-fastest performer in program history in that event.
To wrap up the racing, the Notre Dame women’s team of Quast, Whiting, Grunhard and Wittmer won the 400 Free Relay with a 3:22.01, as the men’s team of Wilburn, Stensby, DeLong and McKeen won the men’s heat with a 2:56.81.
In the diving well, Straub noted another win, this one in the women’s 1-meter, scoring 338.10, a Zone-A score. Annie Wiese followed suit with a 306.15, also a Zone-A score. On the 3-meter, the two switched places, as Wiese brought home the win with a Zone A score of 347.55 in the event Kelly Straub followed behind with a 330.00 (Zone B). Overall, Wiese noted Zone-A scores in all three events on the weekend.
On men’s platform, Petrison set a new program record with a 346.80 on tower to win. DeBacker placed third with a 333.53. Petrison, the previous record holder, cleared the next closest program record by more than 40 points (305.90, James Lichtenstein, 2016).
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will prepare for the ACC Championships, which take place in Greensboro, North Carolina from Feb. 17-20 for the women and divers, and Feb. 24-27 for the men’s swimmers.