Feb. 19, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – One of the most dominant streaks in BIG EAST Conference history came to an end Saturday evening at Wright Natatorium. After winning 14 straight league titles – the most of any team in any league-sponsored sport – the Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team surrendered the top of the podium to host Louisville, who totaled 820.5 points to earn its first-ever conference crown.
But the Irish did not go down without a fight.
First-year standout Kelly Ryan continued her stellar league debut by having a hand in two more titles as Kim Holden won the 200 back, giving her a clean sweep of the 100 and 200 versions of the race for the second consecutive season.
Ryan was victorious in the 100 free and had a hand in the 400 free relay quartet that ended the evening with a golden effort for another league title.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the ladies on our team, as they’ve shown a tremendous amount of character throughout this meet,” Irish head coach Brian Barnes said. “And Louisville deserves a ton of credit. They came into the meet well prepared and did what it takes to win a championship.
“Looking back on today, we had a lot of personal-best performances with Kim (Holden) and Kelly (Ryan) stepping up in the clutch for us. Samantha Maxwell was very tough today and she’s still got some good swims left in her tank. And by winning the last race, our 400 free relay showed outstanding resiliency and focus.
“I’d like to thank assistant coaches Kate Kovenock and Will Bernhardt for doing a wonderful job in carrying this program throughout the season. The team has shown a lot of maturity and has really grown over the course of the year.”
Notre Dame finished second with 655.5 points. West Virginia (396) was third and Villanova (395.5) took fourth among the 11-team field.
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1,650 Free: Jaime Malandra (17:15.52) took 16th for the Irish to score points.
200 Back: Holden defended her title, earning a fourth individual crown in the last two seasons … she went 1:55.18 for a school record, breaking her own mark of 1:55.79 set in 2010 … Ryan was third in 1:56.00.
100 Free: Ryan added another individual title with a 49.73 … Aileen Cole (49.95) was next in line, taking second for Louisville … Amy Prestinario (50.01) took third, sharing an NCAA B-cut with Ryan … Lauren Parisi (50.01) was seventh and Lauren Scott (51.23) was eighth.
200 Breast: Maxwell went 2:11.79 for an NCAA B-cut while placing third … Lauren Stauder (2:14.63) maxed out by finishing sixth overall.
200 Fly: Katie Casey (2:00.01) posted a fourth-place finish and an NCAA B-cut in front of fifth-place finisher Sarah Dotzel (2:02.57).
400 Free Relay: Louisville came out of the gate with the lead and held its advantage until Kelly Ryan hit the water … Ryan rallied the Irish to the title in 3:19.68 … she was accompanied by Prestinario, Parisi and Scott.
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