Feb. 17, 2006
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will enter the final day of competition at the BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships in first place. The Irish men have a comfortable 127.5-point lead over Pittsburgh (511-383.5) and the rest of the 11-team field, while the Irish women hold a narrow five-point edge over Rutgers (496.5-491.5) in their field. The men are trying to claim back-to-back titles after winning the program’s first-ever BIG EAST championship last season and the women are in search of their 10th straight conference title. The meet’s final two sessions will take place on Saturday in the Nassau County Aquatic Center.
The Notre Dame women entered the night trailing Rutgers by six points, yet a strong performance that featured a win by Katie Carroll in the 400-IM and several all-BIG EAST performances put them in the lead. Carroll defended her 400-IM title in a time of 4:14.37. She is now an 11-time BIG EAST champion, which ranks her in a tie with Elizabeth Barger (class of 2000) for third all-time in program history.
Freshman Christa Riggins came through with a strong showing in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.12) to take second overall and earn all-BIG EAST honors. Notre Dame also locked up key points in the diving competition as Lucy Hirt and Tara Hyer placed second and third, respectively.
Senior co-captain Jamie Lutkus made it a sweep for the Irish in the 400-IM as he took the men’s competition in a school-record and NCAA `B’ cut time of 3:52.07. Lutkus reclaimed the title after winning it as a sophomore in 2004 and placing third one year ago.
Fellow senior Tim Randolph bested his own school record in the 100-yard breaststroke for the second time on the day as he swam 54.47 to place third overall. He was one of five Irish men to earn all-BIG EAST honors on the night.
FRIDAY EVENING SESSION RECAP (all events are finals):
Women’s 400-Yard IM: Junior Katie Carroll claimed her second straight BIG EAST title in the 400-IM by lowering her NCAA `A’ cut time to 4:14.37. The win gives Carroll a total of six individual BIG EAST titles and 11 total in her Irish career. Freshman Claire Hutchinson placed second and lowered her NCAA `B’ cut in a career-best time of 4:22.28 to earn all-BIG EAST honors for the first time in her career.
Men’s 400-Yard IM: Senior co-captain Jamie Lutkus captured the BIG EAST 400-IM title for the second time in his career by breaking his own school record with a mark of 3:52.07. Lutkus won the championship as a sophomore in 2004, claimed third-place last season and defeated last year’s runner-up Pablo Marmolejo in this year’s race. Lutkus is now a five-time all-BIG EAST honoree. Sophomore Jay Vanden Berg earned all-BIG EAST honors by placing third in a career-best time of 3:54.93. The sophomore now has three all-conference honors during his Irish career. Junior Justin Barber placed fifth in 3:57.47.
Senior Patrick Heffernan and freshman Daniel Rave both collected career-best times in the consolation final with respective times of 3:59.88 and 4:00.47.
Women’s 100-Yard Butterfly: Notre Dame junior Ann Barton recorded a career-best time of 55.44 to secure all-BIG EAST honors for the first time in her career. Ann Degenstein from Cincinnati won with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 53.63.
Men’s 100-Yard Butterfly: The Fighting Irish were shutout of the top-three spots, yet defending BIG EAST champ Tim Kegelman posted a season-best and NCAA `B’ cut time of 48.47 to place fourth. Louis Cavadini also swam a season-best mark of 49.35 to finish seventh and Steve Shomberger was eighth in 50.35. West Virginia’s Andrew Langenfeld took first in 47.82 to break Kegelman’s record in the event, which was established last season.
Women’s 200-Yard Freestyle: Notre Dame freshman Christa Riggins touched the wall in a time of 1:49.12 to place second and establish an NCAA consideration time. Riggins now has three all-BIG EAST honors so far during this meet. Fellow freshman Casey Wagner came in fifth with a time of 1:50.51 and Ellen Johnson placed eighth in 1:52.24. Pittsburgh’s Kristin Brown took first in 1:47.88.
Men’s 200-Yard Freestyle: Ted Brown bettered his third-place finish from 2005 by taking second in a career-best time of 1:38.54. The junior now has six all-BIG EAST accolades during his collegiate career. Rob Seery went 1:40.22 to place fifth, while freshman Daniel Lutkus clocked in at 1:40.43 to win the consolation final. Darryl Washington took the final in 1:38.34.
Women’s 100-Yard Breaststroke: Junior Julia Quinn lowered her NCAA `B’ cut, which was established during Friday’s prelims, by going a career-best 1:03.02 to take second and claim all-BIG EAST honors. Jessica Stephens posted a time of 1:04.04 to place fourth and Courtney Choura was sixth in 1:04.16. Heather Meng from Louisville topped the field in 1:02.78.
Men’s 100-Yard Breaststroke: For the second time on the day, Tim Randolph bettered his school record in the event. The senior went 54.86 this morning before going 54.47 in the final to lower his NCAA `B’ cut and take third-place. He now has seven all-BIG EAST honors during his Irish career. Vali Preda from Louisville was first in 53.66.
Women’s 100-Yard Backstroke: For the first time all night, the Irish were kept out of the top-three as Caroline Johnson placed sixth in 56.45 and Rebecca Grove was eighth in 57.13. Rutgers’ sensation Kelly Harrigan took first in a meet-record and NCAA `A’ cut time of 53.84.
Men’s 100-Yard Backstroke: Senior Doug Bauman swam a season-best time of 50.12 to take third and captured the seventh all-BIG EAST honor of his career. Fellow senior Steve Shomberger was eighth in 51.15. Thomas Bird from Pittsburgh won in 49.77.
Women’s Three-Meter Diving: The Irish went 2-3 to collect some crucial points in pursuit of the title. Freshman Lucy Hirt and sophomore Tara Hyer posted respective point totals of 422.95 and 416.25 to earn all-BIG EAST honors. Hyer is now a two-time all-BIG EAST honoree. Pittsburgh’s Kristin Caiazzo took the title with 425.50 points.
Women’s 400-Yard Medley Relay: The Notre Dame quartet of Caroline Johnson, Julia Quinn, Katie Carroll and Rebecca Grove clocked an NCAA `B’ cut time in 3:43.98 to take second-place. The team from Rutgers was first in a meet-record time of 3:40.60. The previous record was held by the Irish from the 2002 season.
Men’s 400-Yard Medley Relay: The Irish appeared to take second-place, yet were disqualified due to an early jump. West Virginia claimed the title in 3:15.95.
Saturday’s action will feature the 1,650-free, 200-yard back, 100-free, 200-breast, 200-fly, the men’s three-meter diving competition and the men’s and women’s 400-free relay. Prelims begin at 10:30 a.m., while finals are scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.
For more information on the 2006 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships, including results from each day’s action, please log onto bigeast.org.
Stay up-to-date on the Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams by logging on to und.com or by calling the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Team Rankings - Through Event 27
Women - Team Scores Place School Points =================================================================== 1 University of Notre Dame ND 496.5 2 Rutgers University RU 491.5 3 University of Pittsburgh UP 337 4 University of Louisville UL 271 5 Villanova University VU 233 6 University of Connecticut UC 209 7 University of Cincinnati CIN 185 8 West Virginia Univeristy WV 174.5 9 Syracuse University SU 144.5 10 Seton Hall University SH 75 11 Georgetown University GU 53
Men - Team Scores Place School Points =================================================================== 1 University of Notre Dame ND 511 2 University of Pittsburgh UP 383.5 3 West Virginia Univeristy WV 327.5 4 Rutgers University RU 273.5 5 University of Cincinnati CIN 227 6 University of Louisville UL 226 7 University of Connecticut UC 191.5 8 Syracuse University SU 169 9 Seton Hall University SH 78 10 Villanova University VU 60 11 Georgetown University GU 56
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