Feb. 18, 2005
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team – in pursuit of its ninth consecutive title – had another strong session of preliminaries Friday morning at the BIG EAST Championships in the Nassau County Aquatic Center. Irish swimmers – junior Christel Bouvron (Singapore, Singapore/Raffles Girls’ Secondary School) in the 100-yard butterfly, sophomore Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) in the 400 individual medley, and sophomore Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) in the 200 freestyle – posted the top qualifying times in each of the first three events. Notre Dame had a total of 16 swimmers earn evening swims, including 10 in the championship finals. Both totals were tops among all schools in Friday action.
The ultimate Irish mission of qualifying student-athletes for the NCAA Championships saw three Notre Dame competitors – the same trio of top qualifiers – notch B cuts on Friday, meaning that their times will be considered for invitations to the national meet, slated for March 17-19 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Additionally, NCAA qualifiers may swim in any events in which they boast B cuts.
For the second day in a row, Carroll – continuing her quest for a second consecutive invitation to the NCAA Championships – posted a B cut fast enough that it would have gained her a trip to the meet last year (had she needed it). This time it came in an event in which she did not compete at last year’s BIG EAST meet, though she would go on to take 14th at the NCAAs. Carroll, last year’s BIG EAST Championships Most Outstanding Swimmer, was the top qualifier in the 400 IM with a time of 4:16.85 that was more than three seconds ahead of the next-best swimmer, 2004 runner-up Annie Kelley of Villanova, who went 4:19.97. In 2004, the slowest NCAA “B” cut that earned a trip to the NCAAs was a 4:17.32, while an A (automatic) cut for this year’s event is 4:15.93. Prior to this week, only seven Division I student-athletes had gone quicker than 4:16.85 in 2004-05. The time was a season best for Carroll by more than six seconds, and it stands as the fifth-quickest 400 IM time ever by an Irish swimmer (she also holds both of the top two). It was the Notre Dame sophomore’s fastest yards time as a collegian, as well as the third-fastest yards time ever by an Irish student-athlete (Carroll’s top two 400 IM times were converted from short-course meters). Carroll will try to continue her record of being unbeaten in individual competition in the BIG EAST meet. Thus far, she has been the top qualifier and the first-place finisher in all four individual events in which she has competed during her career. Including relays, Carroll has seven conference titles and has been second in the other three races she has entered.
Johnson earned a B cut in the 200 free for the second year in a row, bettering her career-best time on Friday with a mark of 1:49.55 that is just .26 seconds off the Notre Dame record of 1:49.29 set by Kristen Van Saun in 1999. It stands as the third-best time in Irish history in the race, as well as just the fourth time – and first since ’99 – that a Notre Dame swimmer has broken the 1:50.00 barrier. Last year, the slowest B cut that made the NCAAs was 1:48.42, while a 1:47.61 in the finals would give Johnson, who finished sixth in last year’s meet and is seeking her first career individual BIG EAST title after being the runner-up in the 500 free on Thursday, automatic entry to this year’s meet. She will have some stiff competition in the evening, as West Virginia freshman Maritza Paredes was right behind Johnson’s time, just .06 seconds slower. The Irish sophomore posted a career best and NCAA B cut in the 500 and also was part of the 800 free relay that broke the Notre Dame record and finished first on Wednesday.
Bouvron turned in a season-best mark (by nearly a second) of 55.19 in notching her second career B cut in the 100 butterfly. She will look to improve her time in the evening, as 54.57 was the cutoff for qualifying B times in last year’s meet and 53.75 is an A cut. Bouvron reached the championship final in the race for the third consecutive year, after having been the runner-up in 2003 before taking eighth in ’04.
As in the 200 IM – which vaulted Notre Dame into the lead on Thursday on the strength of six swimmers scoring 77 points – Carroll led a strong and deep contingent in the longer individual medley. Notre Dame accounted for five of the top 11 qualifiers, including three of the top six. Sophomore Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain H.S.), who also did not swim the 400 IM a year ago in the league championships, registered a career-best time of 4:23.64 that was the third-fastest of the morning and good enough for an NCAA “B” cut. She now has hit NCAA “B” cuts in four different events during her career, after doing so in the 200 free, 200 back, and 200 IM in 2004.
Notre Dame’s third participant in the championship final of the 400 IM came as a result of an outstanding swim by sophomore Kiley Gooch (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.), who knocked nearly five seconds off her season best en route to moving up six spots from her seeding with the sixth-best qualifying mark, 4:26.22. It was the best mark of her career for last year’s 10th-place finisher at the BIG EAST meet.
In the 400 IM consolation final, Notre Dame will have seniors Brooke Taylor (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep School) and Kelli Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral H.S.). The former qualified 10th with a time of 4:28.61 that was nearly four seconds quicker than her previous season best. Taylor will be looking for her fourth consecutive top-10 finish in the race, after being ninth in 2002 and eighth in both ’03 and ’04. Barton qualified 11th with a season-best time of 4:29.52. She reached the evening finals for the third time in as many tries during her career. Freshman Katie Hopkins (Ellicott City, Md./Notre Dame Preparatory School) barely missed making it six Irish swimmers in the finals, coming in .14 seconds behind 16th-place qualifier Mari Wunschel of Boston College with a collegiate-best mark (by nearly three seconds) of 4:33.52.
Sophomore Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg H.S.) – who was second to Carroll in the 200 IM on Thursday – came in as the second-quickest qualifier in the 100 fly, behind only Bouvron. Her time of 55.48 was a career best. A year ago, Stephens took third in the race, and she – like Bouvron – is seeking her first career BIG EAST individual championship. Taylor, pulling double duty on Friday, also earned a spot in the consolation final of the 100 fly, going 57.11 to qualify 12th. It is her second time in that race, and she will try to improve upon her career-best finish of 10th in 2003.
Notre Dame will have two swimmers in the championship finals of both the 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke. In the former, junior Courtney Choura (Bridgeville, Pa./Oakland Catholic H.S.) – last year’s runner-up after being seventh in ’03 – qualified fourth with a season-best time (by nearly two seconds) of 1:04.84. Senior co-captain and New York City native Georgia Healey (New York, N.Y./Trinity School) will join her in the race, as she qualified ninth with a time of 1:06.16. It is Healey’s fourth consecutive evening swim in the 100 breast and her second in as many years in the championship final (seventh-place finish in ’04). Freshman Natalie Burke (Cape Town, South Africa/Reddam House College) also earned an evening swim, qualifying 10th in a time of 1:06.79.
The final event of the session, the 100 back, saw Irish rookie Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.) – who already has an NCAA “B” cut in the race – post the fourth-quickest time in prelims, 56.44. Sophomore and Long Island native Rebecca Grove (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown H.S.) – the fourth-place finisher a year ago – was seventh in the morning with a time of 57.32. In the consolation final, it will be freshman Katie Guida (Alexandria, Va./Georgetown Visitation Prep School) and senior Kristen Peterson (Wichita, Kan./Bishop Carroll H.S.). The rookie notched a collegiate-best time of 59.31 to qualify 13th, while the veteran was right behind in 59.32. It will be Peterson’s fourth consecutive evening swim in the race, which saw her take second in 2002.
Friday’s finals will begin at 6 p.m. (EST) and will feature the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, and the 400 medley relay, an event which has Notre Dame seeded third behind Pittsburgh and Rutgers.
After two nights of competition and seven of 20 events, the Irish are in first place with 278 points, while Pittsburgh is second with 225, and Rutgers – runner-up in each of the last three years – is right behind with 219. The Panthers will have 10 swims on Friday night, with all but one coming in championship finals, while Rutgers will swim 14 times (eight in championship finals). Also turning in a strong morning performance was Connecticut, which will have 11 evening swims, with two coming in championship finals. The Huskies currently are fifth with 138 points.