Feb. 16, 2006
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams combined to post eight top-three finishes during Thursday evening’s finals of the 2006 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships in the Nassau County Aquatic Center. The 21st-ranked Irish men have opened up a 77-point lead over Pittsburgh (293-216), while the 20th-ranked Notre Dame women are right on the heels of Rutgers as they trail by just six points (268-262) entering the third day of action on Friday.
For the Irish men, sophomore Jay Vanden Berg captured the first individual title for the Irish in this year’s meet as he won the 500-yard freestyle in a school-record and NCAA `B’ cut time of 4:22.82. That time eclipsed his program standard, which was set during prelims earlier in the day. Vanden Berg now has two conference titles in his brief career as he won the 1,650-free last season as a freshman.
Freshman Michael Bulfin became just the second male diver in program history to earn all-BIG EAST honors as he placed third in the one-meter competition with a point total of 292.30. Andy Maggio earned three all-BIG EAST accolades during his Notre Dame diving career which spanned from 2000-03.
Junior standout Katie Carroll notched two all-conference honors on the night to bring her career total to 17, which places her in tie for third in school history with Danielle Hulick (class of ’04). Carroll finished second in the 500-yard freestyle (4:47.87) and was part of the second-place 200-yard freestyle relay team. Fellow junior Rebecca Grove also claimed two all-BIG EAST honors on Thursday as she was also part of the 200-free relay squad and placed second in the 50-yard free with an NCAA consideration cut of 23.00.
THURSDAY EVENING SESSION RECAP (all races are finals):
Women’s 500-Yard Freestyle: Junior Katie Carroll and freshman Casey Wagner placed 2-3 to earn all-BIG EAST honors. Both of them swam career-best times as Carroll touched the wall in 4:47.87 and Wagner in 4:49.19. With their times, they improved their BIG EAST `B’ cuts, which they had already established this season.
Freshman Claire Hutchinson posted a career-best time of 4:51.75 to give the Irish another NCAA consideration mark, which placed her first in the consolation final and ninth overall in her first-ever conference meet.
Men’s 500-Yard Freestyle: It was a 1-2 sweep for the Irish as sophomore Jay Vanden Berg and freshman Jace Hopper posted respective career-best times of 4:22.82 and 4:26.01. Vanden Berg’s mark topped his own school-record of 4:24.09, which he established during Thursday’s prelims. Both of those times were NCAA `B’ cuts as was Hopper’s during the finals. The win gave Vanden Berg his second BIG EAST title as he won the 1,650-free last year.
Senior Patrick Davis topped the consolation final field in 4:29.04, while junior Brian Freeman swam a career-best time of 4:30.04 to place third in the consolation final and Justin Barber was sixth also in a career-best mark of 4:31.93.
Women’s 200-Yard IM: Junior Jessica Stephens lowered her NCAA `B’ cut mark with a career-best time of 2:02.78 to place third and earn all-BIG EAST honors for the eighth time in her career. Fellow junior Ann Barton was fifth in 2:04.08 (NCAA `B’) and senior Courtney Choura was seventh in 2:04.84. Louisville’s Leslie Vanwinkle took first in 2:02.36.
Notre Dame junior Julia Quinn swam a career-best time of 2:05.69 to place fourth in the consolation final and 12th overall.
Men’s 200-Yard IM: The Irish were shutout of all-BIG EAST honors as Tim Kegelman clocked in a fourth-place time of 1:50.18 and senior co-captain Jamie Lutkus was sixth in 1:50.62. Lutkus swam an NCAA `B’ cut time of 1:49.79 during prelims on Thursday morning. Vali Preda from Louisville won the event in a time of 1:48.16.
Junior Nick Fanslau posted a career-best time of 1:52.09 to place third in the consolation final and 11th overall for the Fighting Irish.
Women’s 50-Yard Freestyle: Junior Rebecca Grove took home all-BIG EAST honors by placing second in a career-best and NCAA `B’ cut time of 23.00. Madison Kennedy from Rutgers won in an automatic NCAA time of 22.73.
Notre Dame sophomore Caroline Johnson placed first in the consolation final by touching the wall in 23.65 and freshman Christa Riggins was third in the consolation final in a career-best time of 23.76.
Men’s 50-Yard Freestyle: Junior Louis Cavadini matched his prelim time of 20.68 from earlier in the day to place seventh. West Virginia’s Chris Hagedorn topped the field in 20.04.
Fighting Irish senior Tim Randolph placed third in the consolation final and 11th overall with a mark of 20.81.
Men’s One-Meter Diving: In his first-ever BIG EAST Championship, freshman Michael Bulfin earned all-BIG EAST honors by placing third with a point total of 292.3. He becomes just the third Irish male diver to ever achieve all-BIG EAST status. Andy Maggio (class of 2003) was a three-time all-BIG EAST performer. Sophomore Sam Stoner placed fifth with 278.95 points, while junior Scott Coyle was seventh with a point total of 264.55.
Women’s 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: The Irish women placed second in a season-best and NCAA `B’ cut time of 1:32.23 giving Rebecca Grove, Caroline Johnson, Christa Riggins and Katie Carroll all-BIG EAST honors for the event. Carroll now has 17 all-conference honors during her illustrious career, while Grove has 10, Johnson has seven and Riggins has two.
Men’s 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: The Notre Dame quartet of Louis Cavadini, Tim Kegelman, Tim Randolph and Nick Fanslau clocked a season-best time of 1:21.55 to place fourth overall.
In afternoon time trial sessions, Notre Dame’s Ann Barton clocked a career-best and NCAA `B’ cut time of 2:00.80 in the 200-yard backstroke and the women’s 200-yard medley relay team of Caroline Johnson, Julia Quinn, Jessica Stephens and Rebecca Grove posted a mark of 1:42.63, which is also an NCAA `B’ time but did not match their time of 1:41.91 on Wednesday.
Friday’s action will feature the 400-yard IM, 100-yard fly, 200-yard free, 100-yard breast, 100-yard back, women’s three-meter diving and the 400-yard medley relay. Prelims begin at 10:30 a.m., while finals are scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.
For more information on the 2006 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships, including results from each day’s action, please log onto bigeast.org.
Stay up-to-date on the Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams by logging on to und.com or by calling the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Team Rankings - Through Event 14
Women - Team Scores Place School Points =================================================================== 1 Rutgers University RU 268 2 University of Notre Dame ND 262 3 University of Pittsburgh UP 179 4 Villanova University VU 136 5 University of Louisville UL 131 6 University of Connecticut UC 114 7 University of Cincinnati CIN 110 8 West Virginia Univeristy WV 91 9 Syracuse University SU 84 10 Seton Hall University SH 47 11 Georgetown University GU 38
Men - Team Scores Place School Points =================================================================== 1 University of Notre Dame ND 293 2 University of Pittsburgh UP 216 3 West Virginia Univeristy WV 173 4 Rutgers University RU 147 5 University of Louisville UL 137.5 6 University of Connecticut UC 129.5 7 University of Cincinnati CIN 129 8 Syracuse University SU 100 9 Seton Hall University SH 51 10 Villanova University VU 46 11 Georgetown University GU 38
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