Oct. 15, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – On the strength of six victories out of 16 events, the Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team cruised to a pair of victories over TCU and Oakland on Saturday at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
The Irish (2-0) topped the Horned Frogs, 173-127, and knocked off the Golden Grizzlies, 207-93.
Earning victories on the day were the 200-medley relay team, Amy Prestinario (200 free), Kelly Ryan (100 and 200 back), Lauren Stauder (200 breast) and Jenny Chiang (1-meter dive).
Also showing continued improvement were a host of freshmen, including Bridget Casey, who earned a pair of second-place finishes in the 500 and 1,000 free events. Emma Reaney, Hannah Bowen, Suzanne Bessire and Melissa Scott also finished in the top five in numerous events throughout the day, while Allison Casareto earned a pair of top-four finishes in the diving events.
The Irish return to action on Friday, Oct. 21 when they host perennial power Auburn in a dual meet. The meet will get underway at 2 p.m. Admission is free and live stats will be available online for fans not able to make the meet.
Complete Results
200 Yard Medley Relay
The Irish claimed the top two spots in the 200 medley relay as the team of Sarah Dotzel, Emma Reaney, Lauren Scott and Hannah Bowen touched the pad just a half second before the second-place team of Gracie Fredlake, Lauren Stauder, Courtney Whyte and Amy Prestinario.
1,000 Yard Freestyle
Notre Dame claimed three of the top four spots in the 1,000 free as freshman Bridget Casey (10:17.75) finished second, sophomore Jaime Malandra (10:29.02) placed third and freshman Erin Foley (10:29.81) stopped the clock in fourth. Casey led for about half of the race before being outdistanced by Oakland’s Vanessza Balogh (10:10.92).
200 Yard Freestyle
Prestinario and freshman Suzanne Bessire took the top two spots in the 200 free, and Fredlake claimed fifth. Prestinario led from the get go, while Bessire held off TCU’s Katie Scarsella by just one hundredth of a second to take second.
100 Yard Backstroke
Sophomores Kelly Ryan and Sarah Dotzel took the top two spots overall in the 100 back, placing in times of 56.81 and 57.99, respectively. The two led at the turn and held off TCU’s Lizzy Oster. Fredlake took fourth in 58.92.
100 Yard Breaststroke
Stauder took second in the 100 breast, narrowly falling to Oakland’s Johanna Gustafsson by .23 of a second. Stauder touched the pad in 1:05.67, and Reaney followed a little more than second later in 1:06.81, good for fourth place. Sophomore Christen McDonough claimed sixth in 1:07.75.
200 Yard Butterfly
Casey took off out of the blocks and had the lead at the first turn, but TCU’s Mandy Vincent came back to claim the victory in 2:02.04. Casey placed second in 2:03.16, while freshman Melissa Scott claimed third in 2:06.00.
50 Yard Freestyle
The Irish placed three in the top five in the 50 free. Ryan led the way with a second-place finish in 23.93. Bowen claimed third in 24.08, while junior co-captain Lauren Scott finished fifth in 24.38.
100 Yard Freestyle
Notre Dame claimed three more in the top five, with Prestinario leading the way in second place (52.24). She finished under a second behind TCU’s Sabine Rasch, who won the race in 51.66. Reaney continued her strong day with a third-place showing in 52.62, while Bessire placed fifth in 52.96.
200 Yard Backstroke
Ryan won her second event of the day in the 200 backstroke, outdistancing the second-place finisher by almost two and a half seconds. Dotzel (2:08.50) and Whyte (2:08.93) also scored points for the Irish in the event, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
200 Yard Breaststroke
Stuader led from the get go on her way to the title in the 200 back, finishing in 2:21.18. The Carmel, Ind., native extended her lead throughout the race to pull away from TCU’s Gabrijela Korac.
500 Yard Backstroke
Casey earned her second runner-up finish of the day, finishing in 4:58.12, just under a second behind the first-place finisher. Foley (5:06.70) and Bessire (5:08.43) touched the pad in third and fourth, respectively, as the top three finishers for the Irish were all freshmen.
100 Yard Butterfly
Lauren Scott turned in a third-place finish in 57.86 to lead the way for the Irish. Melissa Scott followed closely behind in fourth place (58.30) to score points for the Irish.
200 Yard IM
Fredlake and M. Scott placed fourth and fifth, respectively, for Notre Dame in the 200 IM. Fredlake finished in 2:10.16, while Scott followed closely behind in 2:10.94.
400 Yard Free Relay
TCU passed Notre Dame near the end of the third leg, and held off a hard charging Prestinario to take the victory. The team of Ryan, Reaney, Bessire and Prestinario finished second in 3:28.60, while the Horned Frogs touched the wall in 3:27.92.
3-Meter Dive
Freshman Allison Casareto got her college career off to a good start on Saturday with a second-place finish in the 3-meter dive. Her score of 281.70 put her just under two points off the winner. Jenny Chiang took home fourth place with a score of 264.00, while Kimmie Lisiak claimed seventh with a score of 236.45.
1-Meter Dive
Chiang rebounded in the 1-meter dive to cruise by the field with a score of 308.80, 44 points more than her next closest competitor. Casareto claimed fourth with a score of 253.25, while fellow freshman Jordan Russell earned seventh with a score of 231.70.
–ND–