Jan. 9, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ââ’¬” The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished competition Saturday against Virginia. The men’s team finished with 170.5 points, while the women’s team earned 105 points.
“Given the changes they’ve faced recently, the men responded incredibly well as a team to the meet and its challenges this weekend,” Irish head coach Mike Litzinger says. “They have proven to be very coachable, and Virginia was a great competition for them. We had some touch-outs, but the team fought hard and never let them [Virginia] get too far ahead score-wise. This was a great opportunity for the coaching staff to get to know the team better, and I think we all left the pool today highly motivated to perform well in the back half of the season.
Saturday, the Irish began competition with the 200 medley relay. The women’s A team lineup of Catherine Mulquin, Danielle Margheret, Catherine Galletti and Sofia Revilak finished third (1:44.33) while the men’s lineup of Bogac Ayhan, Andrew Jensen, Justin Plaschka and Daniel Speers took second (1:30.50). Ella Moynihan (10:25.01) took fifth in the women’s 1000 free, followed by Molly Treble (10:35.84) and Molly Barry (10:37.49). Richard Mannix had the highest finish for the Irishmen (9:27.49, fifth), while Connor Brown took sixth (9:38.97), Joseph Petrone, seventh (9:49.44) and Benjamin Jany, eighth (10:16.61)
“Today was more of the same, what we’ve come to expect from this team,” Litzinger states about the women’s performance. “We know where we’re at in training, and like I said yesterday, to come off a training trip and swim the defending ACC Champions, the No. 1 team in the nation, that’s hard for any team to do. I expect we will better ourselves from this meet, and continue to work hard as we prepare for the ACC Championships down the road.”
Freshman Tabahn Afrik earned his second individual win of the meet, taking first in the 50 free (20.68). He was followed by Speers in third (20.91) and Michael Hudspith in fifth (21.23). Billy Barth took seventh (21.84), while Daniel Fujan (21.39) and Harlin Bessire (21.53) swam as exhibition swimmers.
In the 200 breast, Sherri McIntee touched the wall fourth for the women’s team (2:18.61), ahead of Margheret (2:20.39, sixth), Meaghan O’Donnell (2:20.76, seventh) and Alyssa Storino (2:28.17, eighth). Revilak earned a close, second-place finish in the 100 fly (55.20) and was joined by Galletti (57.16, fifth), Nicole Smith (57.71, seventh), Katie Miller (58.84, eighth) and Paige Kaplan, who swam exhibition (58.88).
The men’s team earned two, back-to-back first place victories with Trent Jackson’s win in the 200 breast (2:03.11) and Matthew Grauslys touching the wall first in the 100 fly (48.32). Maciej Olszewski finished fourth in the 200 breast (2:06.04) and was followed by Andrew Jensen (2:06.23, sixth) and Zachary Stump (2:08.76). Grauslys narrowly beat Plaschka (49.02) to secure his victory, and both were joined by Kevin Bradley (fifth, 49.87) and Ayhan (sixth, 50.29). Freshmen David Stewart (50.66) and Jack Russell (51.01) also swam, as well as senior Shane McKenzie (51.30).
The women finished fifth through eight in the 200 free, with Moynihan earning the top time of 1:54.21. Rebecca Walton (1:57.94) followed suit, with Treble (1:58.66) and Barry (1:59.16) rounding out the quartet. In the 100 back, Mulquin took third (57.04), Kyra Sarazen, fourth (57.19), Alice Treuth, fifth (57.21) and Genevieve Heidkamp, sixth (1:02.92). Miller won the 400 IM (4:32.00), and was followed by Smith (4:35.41), Kaplan (4:36.82) and Ellie Berdusco (4:40.81). The Irishwomen finished the meet by taking first, second and third place in the 400 free relay (3:29.16, 3:39.65, 3:43.45 respectively).
The men’s team cheered on Reed Fujan as he took second in the 200 free (1:39.88), in addition to AFrik (fourth, 1:41.30), Jackson (1:41.194) and Hudspith (1:44.26). Ayhan (48.99) and sophomore Rob Whitacre (49.84) finished first and second respectively in the 100 back, while Bradley (3:59.41) and Steven Shek (4:03.54) finished second and third in the 400 IM. The A team of Plaschka, Afrik, Reed Fujan and Speers touched in first in the 400 free relay (2:59.37) while the B team of Hudspith, Jackson, Whitacre and Ayhan took third (3:04.97) and the C team of Daniel Fujan, Jany, Barth and Bessire finished fifth (3:09.22)
Both Irish teams are next in action at home Saturday, Jan. 16 against Northwestern. The meet begins at noon ET and will be live-streamed on WatchND.
— ND —
Lizzie Mikes serves as Media Services Coordinator at the University of Notre Dame. A 2013 graduate of Johnson & Wales University, she oversees credential management and is the athletic communications director for Fighting Irish men’s and women’s swimming and diving. She has assisted with numerous NCAA postseason events hosted by Notre Dame, and is heavily involved in the day-to-day tasks of the athletic communications office.