Oct. 12, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team kicked off the 2012-13 season in style on Friday night at Rolfs Aquatic Center as the Irish blew past the field to claim the team title at the 48th Dennis Stark Relays.
The Irish scored 220 points to outdistance second place Cleveland State (142) by 78 points. Notre Dame won nine of the 10 swimming events and both diving events. Illinois State (138), Oakland (136) and IUPUI (90) rounded out the field.
Notre Dame returns to action in two weeks when it heads to Auburn, Ala., and a dual-meet showdown with the Tigers on Friday, Oct. 26. Last year a nationally-ranked Auburn squad defeated the Irish at Rolfs, 167-125.
EVENT-BY-EVENT RESULTS
200 Free Relay: The Irish squad of Catherine Galletti, Lauren Scott, Genevieve Heidkamp and Christen McDonough picked up 20 points with a first place finish in the 200 free relay, finishing in a time of 1:35.34. Galletti opened up with a time of 23.47 to get the Irish off on the right foot.
400 Medley Relay: The team of Kelly Ryan, Emma Reaney, Kim Holden and Suzanne Bessire rolled past the field in the 400 medley relay. Their time of 3:45.38 was over 10 seconds faster than second place Oakland.
800 Free Relay: The Irish team of Genevieve Bradford, Bridget Casey, Courtney Whyte and Erin Foley won the 800 free relay in 7:42.44 to earn 20 more points for Notre Dame. The time was just over five seconds faster than second place Oakland.
400 IM Relay: Reaney, Scott, Bessire and Lauren Stauder won the 400 IM relay by just under a second and a half (4:00.02).
300 Fly Relay: Galletti, Sarah Dotzel and Scott claimed victory by just under a second a half over Cleveland State. The Irish touched the wall in 2:51.84, while the Vikings finished in 2:53.18.
300 Back Relay: Holden, Anna Grainger and Gracie Fredlake won the 300 back relay with a time of 2:52.24, almost two seconds faster than second place Oakland. Holden got the Irish off to a good start with a 55.62 opening leg.
300 Breast Relay: Reaney, Stauder and Sydney Golic won the 300 breast relay as they finished in 3:19.32. Reaney set the stage with a time of 1:03.77 for the first 100 meters. The threesome finished just over two seconds faster than second place Illinois State.
1,000 Free Relay: Erin Foley and Casey teamed up to take the 1,000 free relay crown as the pair won by over nine seconds (10:12.76).
200 Medley Relay: Holden, Stauder, Galletti and Ryan won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:45.76. The time was three and a half seconds faster than second place Cleveland State. Ryan closed out the race with an impressive 23.37 split. Galletti swam the fly for the third leg and went 25.25.
400 Yard Freestyle Relay: The Irish failed to complete the meet sweep as the squad’s top team was disqualified for a false start. Holden, McDonough, Dotzel and Casey exhibitioned the event and finished in 3:35.68, which would have put them in third place for the event.
1M Diving Relay: Freshman Emma Gaboury teamed with senior Jenny Chiang to win the 1M diving relay with a total score of 584.35.
3M Diving Relay: In the synchronized 3M diving relay, Gaboury teamed with Oakland’s Tricia Grant as the duo outdistanced the field by scoring 236.75. Chiang and Casareto (217.30) were exhibitioned, but would have finished second.
–ND–