Dec. 1, 2006
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.- The No. 19 Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team (3-0) received a strong performance from senior Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy), on the opening day of the prestigious U.S. Open Swim hosted by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. on Thursday, Nov. 30.
Among the other full squads competing at the U.S. Open are No. 3 Auburn, No. 9 Florida and No. 13 Indiana. The meet also includes selected members of several ranked teams including No. 6 Florida State, No. 8 Southern Methodist, No. 14 UCLA, No. 17 Tennessee, No. 23 Arizona State and No. 25 Kentucky. The Irish are also competing against numerous national teams including Mexico, Bahamas and Scotland.
Carroll began the afternoon by placing 14th in the preliminaries of the 400-meter freestyle, with a time of 4:22.07, to qualify for the finals. In the finals, Carroll improved her time and placing and moved up to 12th with her time of 4:20.71.
Three other Irish athletes competed in the 400-meter freestyle. Sophomores Christa Riggins (Phoenix, Ariz./Sunnyslope) and Claire Hutchinson (Baltimore, Md./ McDonogh) placed 28th (4:25.51) and 43rd (4:28.41), respectively in the 400-meter freestyle. Senior Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) finished 50th (4:29.59) in the same event.
The 200-meter individual medley saw four Notre Dame athletes compete, as freshmen Megan Farrell (Hopkinton, Ma./Hopkinton) and Ashlee Edgell (Cincinnati, Ohio/Madeira) finished 48th and 58th,, respectively in their times of 2:24.61 and 2:25.55. Rounding out the event finishers were seniors Julia Quinn (Evanston, Ill./Evanston) and Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) who had 76th and 83rd place finishes..
Next, Notre Dame continues competing in the U.S. Open Swim on Friday, Dec. 1. The Irish divers will also begin competition in the Ohio State Invitational in Columbus, Ohio on the same day.