Nov. 2, 2007
Team Results | Individual Results
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The 22-ranked Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team earned their first win dual-meet win of the season over the Purdue, 158.5-131.5 Friday evening at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Ind. Out of 16 total events, the Irish had 11 victories during the competition and six runner-up performances. On the season, Notre Dame is now 1-2 in dual-meet action. With the strong performance, the Irish bettered their overall record against the Boilermakers to 4-6-1 with head coach Carrie Nixon now 2-1.
“We had some really strong performances tonight and a lot of the girls stepped up,” Nixon said. “We’ve been training hard the past couple of weeks so they battled through being tired and really raced well. We made some positive improvements and swam better times. It was the first win of the season and that’s always fun.”
The Irish started the evening out right with a win in the 400-medley relay. The squad comprised of Caroline Johnson (Springfield, MO/Glendale), Sam Maxwell (Chandler, AZ/Corona de Sol), Katie Casey (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL/Bolles School) and Christa Riggins (Pheoniz, AZ/Sunnyslope) clocked in with a time of 3:48.57 to take the title.
Continuing the success for the Irish was junior Riggins in the 200 free. She swam a time of 1:50.05, solidly beating Leah Henninger of Purdue who came in second with a time of 1:52.72.
Also raking in individual wins for Notre Dame were newcomers Maxwell, Casey and Lauren Sylvester (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown Academy). Maxwell took the title in the 100 and 200 breast with a times of 1:03.96 and 2:19.03, respectively. Casey took first in the 200 fly with a time of 2:03.00 while teammate Sylvester earned a win in the 500 free with a time of 4:54.66, a season best.
In the 50 and 100 free, the Irish had a one-two combination with freshman Amywren Miller (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI/The Peddie School) and Riggins finishing first and second, respectively in the 50. Miller finished with a time of 23.37, a season best, while Riggins clocked in at 23.99 for a tie for second with Ariel Martin of Purdue.
The pair switched spots in the 100 free with Riggins taking the win with a time of 51.33 and Miller finishing right behind her with a time of 51.69.
Despite losing one of the best 400 IM swimmers in Irish history to graduation, Katie Carroll, the Irish dominated in the event against the Boilermakers. Sophomore Megan Farrell (Hopkinton, MA/Hopkinton) took the crown with a time of 4:24.19, a personal record. Teammates Ashlee Edgell (Cincinnati, OH/Madeira) and Claire Hutchinson (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) followed in pursuit, finishing second (4:27.72) and third (4:30.46), respectively.
Just missing a first-place finish was senior Johnson in the 100 back. She finished second with a time of 56.63, while Allie Smith took the victory for the Boilermakers with a time of 56.56. Johnson’s time bettered her performance last Friday at Minnesota, where she clocked in at 56.98.
Natalie Stitt (Holland, MI/West Ottawa) sealed the win for the Irish in the 3-meter diving with a win over Kara Cook of Purdue. Stitt finished with a score of 269.10, just edging out Cook who earned a score of 267.35.
Even with the win in the bag, the Irish ended the night with a final win in the 400-free relay. The team made up of Johnson, Lauren Parisi (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge), Farrell and Miller took the victory with a time of 3:27.73.
Notre Dame women’s swimming will be back in action next Friday when they travel to take on Pittsburgh. Look for more details at und.com.
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