Catherine Mulquin swam a personal best in the 50 free Thursday.

Ella Moynihan Breaks School Record in 500 Free at ACC Championship

Feb. 18, 2016

By Lizzie Mikes

GREENSBORO, N.C. ââ’¬” The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming team continued competition Thursday at the ACC Championship. Swimming in the 500 free, the 200 IM, the 50 free and the 200 free relay, no less than eight NCAA B cut times were recorded by Irish swimmers at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

“We caught some fire today, and we’ll need to keep it up,” head coach Mike Litzinger said. “Ella [Moynihan] broke the school record in the 500 free, and Kyra [Sarazen] had a huge drop in the 200 IM. Cath[erine] Mulquin swam a personal best in the 50 free, and the 200 free relay missed the school record by .01 seconds.

“We are in sixth place, and the team is working hard to move up before the week is up,” he stated.

In the 500 free, freshman Ella Moynihan was the only swimmer to advance into the evening finals, earning a spot in the B final with her 4:44.29 time. She finished 15th overall, touching in in 4:46.30. Both times were B-cuts, which should help her in trying to get an invitation to the NCAA Championship.

Other 500 freestylers were Alice Treuth (who finished 25th, 4:52.08), Molly Treble (clocking in at 4:55.58, good for 35th) and Ellie Berdusco, who touched the wall in 5:03.06.

In the 200 IM, freshman Kyra Sarazen swam her way into the B final and junior Katie Miller earned an evening swim in the C final. Sarazen finished in 2:01.17 in the morning, and came in 12th overall (1:59.64) while Miller touched in at 2:01.61 in her preliminary race and finished in 2:02.61 in the evening. Sarazen’s times were both B-cut qualifiers.

Other 200 IMers for the Irish Thursday were Genevieve Bradford (2:04.07), Alyssa Storino (2:04.69), Meaghan O’Donnell (2:04.95), Sherri McIntee (2:06.53) and Paige Kaplan (2:07.42).

In the 50 free, junior Catherine Mulquin had the top time, swimming the lap in 22.93 in the morning to earn a place in the C final, where she swam a personal best and won the heat with her 22.70 time. Narrowly missing the cutoff in the morning was freshman Sofia Revilak, who came in 25th (22.99). Both of Mulquin’s times and Revilak’s were all B-cuts. Also swimming in the 50 free preliminaries was senior Catherine Galletti, who finished 29th overall (23.25) and Danielle Margheret, who touched in 23.74.

In the 200 free relay, the lineup of Mulquin (22.86), Revilak (22.44), Galletti (22.87) and Moynihan (22.85) took eighth place, finishing in 1:31.02. They earned 44 points towards the team standings, which when combined with individual point-earners leaves the Irish in sixth place with 219 points.

In men’s diving, senior Zane Parker finished 17th in the 1-meter competition with his 292.20 score, earning nine points for the men’s team. Junior James Lichtenstein finished 24th (270.85) and earned one point, leaving the men’s team tied for 10th.

The women’s team is back in the water tomorrow for the third day of competition, with results and full recap to be posted on und.com and team social media accounts.

— ND —

Lizzie Mikes serves as Media Services Coordinator at the University of Notre Dame. A 2013 graduate of Johnson & Wales University, she oversees credential management and is the athletic communications director for Fighting Irish men’s and women’s swimming and diving and track and field. She has assisted with numerous NCAA postseason events hosted by Notre Dame, and is heavily involved in the day-to-day tasks of the athletic communications office.