Jan. 27, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 17 Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team concluded the Shamrock Dual Meet Invitational on Saturday evening in the Rolfs Aquatic Center with wins over Oakland, 230-139, and Connecticut, 284-86, yet fell to No. 19 West Virginia, 228-142, and Penn State, 221.5-147.5. The three-session meet was scored as a quadruple dual meet and the Irish move to 10-3 on the season with their 2-2 mark in the meet. Saturday’s action featured a morning session and an evening session. The first session of the meet occurred on Friday evening.
The West Virginia men went 4-0 during the invitational by winning 12 of 20 events. Penn State finished 3-1, while Oakland posted a 1-3 mark and Connecticut went 0-4.
Sophomore diver Michael Bulfin (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) captured Notre Dame’s lone victory of the day as he won the three-meter competition with a point total of 378.30, which was 5.55 points away from the school record. During Friday’s session, Bulfin won off the one-meter board by posting a school-record total of 339.40. Juniors Steven Crowe (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) and Chris Kane (San Antonio, Texas/Ronald Reagan) made it a 1-2-3 Notre Dame finish off the three-meter on Saturday as they collected respective point totals of 287.30 and 280.40.
Another highlight for the Irish on the day was the 200-yard freestyle as Notre Dame claimed three of the top five spots. Senior co-captain Ted Brown (Kokomo, Ind./Western) placed second with a time of 1:40.78, while freshman John Lytle (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) was fourth in 1:41.26 and his classmate Andrew Hoffman (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) was fifth in 1:42.44.
That trio teamed with junior Rob Seery (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) to place second in the 800-yard freestyle relay by clocking a time of 6:47.35. Seery also registered a third-place finish in the 1,650-yard free with a time of 15:44.63. Freshman Ross Moore (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central) was third in the 200-yard butterfly by recording a time of 1:51.48.
The Shamrock Invitational was the final home event of the season for the Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. Notre Dame honored both senior classes during Saturday’s evening session.
The Fighting Irish return to the pool on Saturday, Feb. 3 when they travel to BIG EAST foe Louisville for a dual meet scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
SATURDAY MORNING SESSION RECAP:
200-Yard Medley Relay: West Virginia (Ivan Tolic, Kevin Donohue, Nick Delic, Andrew Langfeld) took first in a Rolfs Aquatic Center record-time of 1:29.27. Notre Dame’s Mitchell Sherman, Sam Pendergast, Louis Cavadini and John Lytle teamed up to finish fourth with a time of 1:33.87.
400-Yard IM: West Virginia’s Pablo Marmolejo won the event with a time of 4:00.69. Jay Vanden Berg placed fourth for the Irish in 4:05.93, while his teammate MacKenzie LeBlanc was sixth in 4:06.94.
100-Yard Butterfly: The Mountaineers captured their third straight event as Andrew Langenfeld touched the wall in 49.17 to place first overall. Notre Dame’s Louis Cavadini was fourth in 50.57 and Ross Moore was seventh in 51.16.
200-Yard Freestyle: The Irish took three of the top five spots. Ted Brown placed second with a time of 1:40.78, while John Lytle came in fourth with a time of 1:41.26 and Andrew Hoffman was fifth in 1:42.44. West Virginia won its fourth straight event as Zoltan Povazsai claimed first with a mark of 1:40.38.
100-Yard Breaststroke: The Mountaineer surge continued with Kevin Donohue taking first in a time of 55.34. Freshman Ross Moore was the top finisher for the Irish as he placed seventh in a time of 58.75.
100-Yard Backstroke: Ivan Tolic made it six straight victories for West Virginia as he clocked a time of 49.40. Andrew MacKay registered Notre Dame’s best finish as he took 10th in 53.36.
800-Yard Freestyle Relay: Penn State (Jonathan Cochrane, Patrick Schirk, Sean Biedermann and Spencer Maglich) won the event in 6:45.24. The Fighting Irish quartet of John Lytle, Andrew Hoffman, Rob Seery and Ted Brown placed second with a time of 6:47.35. Notre Dame also placed fourth with Louis Cavadini, Brian Freeman, Pat Lloyd and Jay Vanden Berg posting a time of 6:58.35.
Three-Meter Diving: The Irish went 1-2-3 with Michael Bulfin winning his second event of the meet as he totaled 378.30 points. Steven Crowe was second with a 287.30 total and Chris Kane was third with 280.40 points.
SATURDAY EVENING SESSION RECAP:
1,650-Yard Freestyle: Penn State’s David Kraft won the event with a time of 15:40.33. Rob Seery placed third for Notre Dame in 15:44.63.
200-Yard Backstroke: Patrick Schirk from Penn State won with a time of 1:47.43. Brian Freeman was the top finisher for the Irish as he placed 10th in 1:53.40.
100-Yard Freestyle: The Nittany Lions won their third straight event as Dan Kaiserian posted a time of 45.67. John Lytle took fifth for Notrte Dame in 46.37 and Louis Cavadini was 10th in a time of 47.04.
200-Yard Breaststroke: West Virginia’s Sean Mahoney claimed the top spot by touching the wall in 2:02.79. Freshman Tyler Angelo was Notre Dame’s top finisher in a time of 2:08.20.
200-Yard Butterfly: Pablo Marmolejo took first for the Mountaineers with a time of 1:48.16. Ross Moore was third for the Irish in 1:51.48 and David Cavadini took fifth in 1:52.77.
400-Yard Freestyle Relay: In the final event of the meet, Penn State (Basil Kaaki, Sean Swanepoel, Sean Biedermann and Dan Kaiserian) captured the win in 3:02.09. Notre Dame’s squad of John Lytle, Andrew Hoffman, Louis Cavadini and Ted Brown took third in 3:04.11.