Jan. 13, 2005
The 21st-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team (4-2) will close out its home schedule this weekend by welcoming #13 Michigan (2-1) and Illinois (3-2) to the Rolfs Aquatic Center for a three-session, championship-style meet on Friday and Saturday. Action will begin on Friday at 7 p.m. (EST) and will continue on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. (swimming begins at 5 p.m.). The Fighting Illini will compete against both teams, but Notre Dame and Michigan will not score against each other, as the squads will meet in a dual meet in Ann Arbor later this month.
MEET FORMAT: The meet will be scored as two dual meets occurring in the same pool, with traditional dual-meet scoring (9-4-3-2-1 individual; 11-4-2 relays). The first session, beginning at 7 p.m. (EST) on Friday will feature the 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, one-meter diving, and 400 medley relay. Session two, beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, will have the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, and 800 free relay. The final session will have three-meter diving beginning at 4 p.m. and then swimming starting at 5 p.m. with the 1,650 free, followed by the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 400 free relay.
SIX SENIORS SET FOR FINAL HOME MEET: This weekend will mark the final home meet for the six members of Notre Dame’s class of 2005: Kelli Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral H.S.), Katie Eckholt (Omaha, Neb./Marian H.S.), Georgia Healey (New York, N.Y./Trinity School), Meghan Perry-Eaton (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale H.S.), Kristen Peterson (Wichita, Kan./Bishop Carroll H.S.), and Brooke Taylor (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep School). Throughout the last four years, this group has helped the Irish to a 31-5-1 (.851) dual-meet record, as well as three BIG EAST championships and a trio of top-35 finishes at the NCAA meet. The class will be honored with a ceremony prior to the commencement of the final session of the meet.
LAST TIME IN THE POOL: Freshman Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.) won the 100-meter backstroke, and the 400 freestyle relay notched a victory, as the Notre Dame began the new year by finishing second in the Saint Lucia Invitational Sunday at the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia. The Irish scored 170 points, while 13th-ranked Michigan took first with 209. The meet was part of Notre Dame’s winter training and competition trip to the Caribbean island. Johnson, who ranks 34th in Division I in the event, registered Notre Dame’s only individual victory by finishing the 100 back in 1:05.40 to defeat runner-up Kaitlyn Brady of Michigan, an NCAA relay qualifier last year. In the 400 free relay, it was sophomores Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy), Rebecca Grove (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown H.S.), Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy), and junior Christel Bouvron (Singapore, Singapore/Raffles Girls’ Secondary School) who triumphed, finishing in a time of 3:59.18 that was more than a second quicker than the Wolverines, who took 15th at last year’s NCAA Championships in the event.
IRISH TIED FOR 21st in CSCAA NATIONAL RANKINGS: Notre Dame is tied with Florida State for 21st in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America National Dual Meet Rankings, released on Thursday. The Irish were 23rd in the first poll, but they dropped a spot after losing to then-#21 Arizona State and then-#25 Purdue in a triangular meet. Wins in a triangular with Pittsburgh and Michigan State then vaulted the Irish to 21st in mid-November, and they have stayed in that position since then.
IRISH-ILLINI SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Illinois will meet for the ninth consecutive season and 10th time overall, with the Irish having won each of the last seven to hold a 7-2 advantage in the all-time series. The schools first met on Nov. 23, 1991, with Illinois claiming a 79-68 win at home. The current series – which has featured a dual meet in mid-January every year – began in 1996-97, with the Fighting Illini claiming a 193-107 victory in their own pool. On Jan. 17, 1998, Notre Dame gained its first win over Illinois, a 175-125 decision in the Rolfs Aquatic Center, and the Irish have been perfect since then. The closest meet during the streak of Notre Dame dominance came in 2002-03, when the Irish won 192.5-172.5 in Champaign-Urbana. This will be Illinois’ fourth trip to Notre Dame. The 50-point margin in the ’98 meet was the closest the Illini have come to winning in the Rolfs Aquatic Center. This will be the fifth consecutive year – and seventh time in nine – that the teams will be in a triangular, along with another Big Ten squad. It will be the third straight year and fourth time in five that Michigan has joined Notre Dame and Illinois for the meet, while others to take part have been Indiana (1996-97), Ohio State (1998-99), and Iowa (2001-02), while the schools’ first-ever meeting also included Southern Illinois. Last year, Notre Dame rallied for a 197-173 victory in Ann Arbor, Mich. Marie Labosky led the way by winning the 200 IM, 400 IM, and 200 backstroke and leading off the victorious 800 free relay. Other winners for the Irish were Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) in the 100 free, Lisa Garcia in the 200 butterfly, and Meghan Perry-Eaton (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale H.S.) in three-meter diving.
NOTRE DAME-MICHIGAN, PART 2 OF 3: In continuing a recent tradition, Notre Dame and Michigan will see a lot of each other this season. In fact, the teams will compete in the same pool on three different occasions in the month of January. Both took their winter training trips to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia and competed in the Saint Lucia Invitational on Jan. 2, with the Wolverines taking first and the Irish second. The teams will both swim against Illinois this weekend in the Rolfs Aquatic Center, but will not score against each other. Finally, on Jan. 28, the squads will participate in a traditional dual-meet matchup in Ann Arbor.
IRISH AMONG THE NATION’S BEST: The most recent set of CollegeSwimming.com Division I top times, released Jan. 10, featured 19 Notre Dame entries among the top 100 swimmers in each individual event and top 50 relays. The top individual ranking for the Irish belongs to freshman Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.), who is 33rd in the 100 back (55.93). Sophomore Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg H.S.) is mentioned four times in individual events, coming in 45th in the 200 breast (2:18.31), 58th in the 100 fly (56.07), 78th in the 400 IM (4:25.76), and 96th in the 100 breast (1:05.10). Notre Dame has multiple people among the top 100 in five events, including three in the 400 IM: sophomore Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) at 49th, sophomore Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain H.S.) at 65th, and Stephens. Barton is one of four swimmers to be mentioned in multiple events, as she is also ranked 80th in the 200 back (2:02.96). Sophomore Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) is also in the listing twice, at 91st in the 500 free (4:54.86) and 94th in the 200 back (2:03.54), while junior Christel Bouvron (Singapore, Singapore/Raffles Girls’ Secondary School) ranks 47th in the 200 butterfly (2:02.22) and 64th in the 100 fly (56.16). Senior Brooke Taylor (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep School) also is mentioned in the 200 fly, at 96th (2:04.40). The Irish have two in the leaders of the 1,650 free, as well, with sophomore Abby Strang (St. Simons Island, Ga./Bolles School) coming in 84th (17:06.28) and senior co-captain Kelli Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral H.S.) right behind in 85th (17:07.20).
IRISH IN BIG EAST LEADERS: As you might expect from the eight-time defending BIG EAST champions, Notre Dame is well-represented in the latest edition of conference top times, released Dec. 10. In the 14 individual swimming events, the Irish have 11 top-three entries, as well as 27 top-eight representatives and 45 top-16 times. Leading the way is sophomore Jessica Stephens (Bloomsbug, Pa./Bloomsburg H.S.), who is tops in the BIG EAST in both the 200 breaststroke (2:18.31; Pittsburgh’s Lindsey Tiberio is second at 2:19.72) and the 200 individual medley (2:05.61; Connecticut’s Ryan Smith is second at 2:05.89). Fifth-year senior Meghan Perry-Eaton (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale H.S.), the BIG EAST Championships Most Outstanding Diver in 2003 and ’04, ranks first in both diving events by considerable margins. Her six-dive one-meter score of 303.90 is more than 30 points better than the next-best tally, 270.53 by Pittsburgh’s Colleen Kristobak, while Perry-Eaton’s 536.55 for 11 dives off the three-meter board is nearly 80 points clear of the second-best diver in the conference, Irish rookie Laura Rings (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls), who had a score of 455.25 in the Notre Dame Invitational. Notre Dame junior Christel Bouvron (Singapore, Singapore/Raffles Girls’ Secondary School), a 2004 Olympian in the event, is the BIG EAST’s leader in the 200 butterfly, with a time of 2:02.22 (Rutgers’ Sarah Bicknell is next at 2:02.83). Notre Dame has three of the top four in the 400 IM, with Pittsburgh’s Kathy Siuda (4:20.46) leading Irish sophomores Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) (4:22.93), Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain H.S.) (4:24.26), and Stephens (4:25.76). In the 100 butterfly, Kelly Harrigan of Rutgers (54.65) is first, but Stephens (56.07) and Bouvron (56.16) are right behind. The Irish also hold three of the top five spots in the 200 breast, with senior co-captains Kelli Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral H.S.) and Georgia Healey (New York, N.Y./Trinity School) coming in behind Stephens in fourth (2:20.98) and fifth (2:21.05), respectively. In relay action, the Irish rank second in the 400 free and 800 free, as well as third in both medleys.
Katie Carroll, Caroline Johnson NOTCH NCAA “B” CUTS: Heading into the second half of the season, two Notre Dame swimmers – sophomore Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) and freshman Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.) – have notched NCAA “B” cuts, meaning they will be considered for berths to the NCAA Championships, set for March 17-19 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. In the very first race of the first meet of the 2004-05 season, Carroll – who broke the Notre Dame record and finished 14th in the NCAA meet last year – notched a “B” cut of 4:22.93 in the 400 individual medley on Oct. 1 against Evansville. An injury caused her to miss nearly two months of action after that meet, and that still remains the only time she has swum the 400 IM this season. Johnson turned in a “B” cut in the 100 backstroke, taking third in the Georgia Fall Invitational last month in a time of 55.93.
PERRY-EATON POSTING ANOTHER SEASON OF DOMINATION: Fifth-year senior diver Meghan Perry-Eaton (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale H.S.) has been nearly unbeatable in her final two collegiate campaigns. Last season, she was defeated just one time before the NCAA Zone C Championships (going undefeated in three-meter action) before winning the one-meter competition in that meet and then taking third at the NCAAs. In 2004-05, she has again been impressive, taking first in 13 of the 14 competitions she has entered. Perry-Eaton was first off both boards in the Notre Dame Invitational (her third title in a row in one-meter action), while also registering double dual-meet victories against Evansville, Arizona State, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, and Bowling Green. Her lone blemish came off the one-meter board against Purdue on Oct. 29, when 2004 Big Ten Diver of the Year Carrie McCambridge came out on top by a score of 308.20-297.55. Perry-Eaton did gain revenge in the three-meter competition, though, winning by more than 30 points and setting a pool record with her score of 327.40. Perry-Eaton heads into this weekend with a 20-meet winning streak in three-meter action in dual meets. The last time she was defeated in a dual meet off the higher board was Nov. 8, 2002, when Michigan State’s Stephanie Anisko edged Perry-Eaton 262.87-261.155.
BIG EAST QUALIFYING UPDATE: Just past the midway point in the season, Notre Dame has 23 (of 29) swimmers and three (of five) divers who have hit qualifying marks for the BIG EAST Championships, set for Feb. 17-19 in East Meadow, N.Y. Not all of them will compete there, however, due to a new conference rule that limits schools to 23 entries (with divers counting as one-half entry each since they are eligible to compete in just two events). Thus far, Notre Dame is the only team that has exceeded the maximum number of qualifiers. Sophomore Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain H.S.) leads the Irish with BIG EAST “A” cuts (automatic qualifying times) in seven different events: the 200 free, both backstrokes, both butterflys, and both individual medleys. Four other swimmers – senior co-captain Kelli Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral H.S.), sophomores Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) and Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg H.S.), and freshman Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.) – have five “A” cuts, while junior Christel Bouvron (Singapore, Singapore/Raffles Girls’ Secondary School) and sophomores Rebecca Grove (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown H.S.) and Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) boast four apiece. Swimmers can also swim any events in which they have a BIG EAST “B” cut, but no one can match Ann Barton’s seven race qualifications. Kelli Barton, freshman Morgan Bullock (Stamford, Conn./Westhill H.S.), Carroll, Ellen Johnson, and Stephens all have six events to choose from in selecting their BIG EAST programs.
PERRY-EATON, RINGS QUALIFY FOR NCAA ZONE C DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS: Fifth-year senior All-American Meghan Perry-Eaton (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale H.S.) and freshman Laura Rings (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls) have already qualified for the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, to be held March 11-12 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Perry-Eaton, who was first in the zone meet in one-meter action and sixth off the three-meter board a year ago before taking third at NCAAs off the one-meter, has easily made the qualifying standards in both springboard events. Rings punched her ticket with a performance at the Notre Dame Invitational that saw her finish second to Perry-Eaton in three-meter action with a score of 455.25.
STEPHENS HOLDS TEAM LEAD IN POINTS SCORED: Sophomore Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg H.S.), the team leader in four events, leads the Irish in points scored this season, having put up 176.45. Her 141 in individual competition rank behind only fifth-year senior diver Meghan Perry-Eaton (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale H.S.), who has scored 167 en route to 13 first-place finishes. Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.) leads all freshmen and ranks third overall with 160.9, while sophomore Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) is fourth with 146.9.
DUAL-MEET DOMINANCE: Notre Dame currently stands 4-2 this season, with the lone defeats coming against #21 Arizona State and #25 Purdue. Over the past six seasons, the Irish hold a 51-6 (.895) dual-meet record, including 10-0 campaigns in 1999-2000 and 2001-02. In eight years as the Irish head coach, Bailey Weathers has led Notre Dame to an 84-19 (.815) record in dual meets.
SECOND-SEMESTER SUCCESS: Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable in the second semester in recent years. Over the last five seasons, the Irish compiled a 24-1 (.960) dual-meet record in January and February, while also handily winning the BIG EAST championship in each year. The lone blemish was a 166-134 defeat against #16 Michigan on Jan. 31, 2004, in the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
IRISH LOOK FOR ANOTHER PERFECT HOME SEASON: A win this weekend against Illinois would give Notre Dame its fourth undefeated home record in the last six years. The Irish opened the 2004-05 campaign by beating Evansville in the Rolfs Aquatic Center and then beat both Pittsburgh and Michigan State in a home triangular meet on Nov. 12. The Irish have posted a 90-26-1 (.774) record at home since the opening of the Rolfs Aquatic Center in 1985. Notre Dame has posted five undefeated seasons and has lost just one meet or fewer at home in every year since 1994-95 (11 consecutive seasons, including this one).
AGAINST THE BIG TEN: Since the arrival of head coach Bailey Weathers prior to the 1995-96 season, Notre Dame has posted a 22-8-1 (.726) record against Big Ten Conference opponents after the Irish were just 4-15 vs. the league prior to that. But over the past six years, the Irish have lost or tied in dual meets just eight times, and seven of those contests were against Big Ten foes.
KEEPING UP WITH NOTRE DAME SWIMMING & DIVING: For the fastest results of Notre Dame swimming and diving meets, call the Notre Dame Sports Hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #7. The hotline provides schedule and results information for all 26 varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the meet previews and recaps provided on the official athletic website, www.und.com. The hotline is the first medium updated with the results of each Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving meet. In addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting Bo Rottenborn at Rottenborn.2@nd.edu. He also can provide any needed information about the Irish swimming and diving program.