Dec. 2, 2005
The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams strengthened their first-place positions at the 2005 Notre Dame Invitational on Friday evening. The Irish men are in first place with 1,978.5 points, while the women also sit in first with 1,249 points.
Day two was highlighted by a meet-record performance in the 200 medley relay by the women’s team, a dominating performance in the 100 butterfly by the men’s team and a Notre Dame sweep in the 800 freestyle relay.
The meet will wrap up on Saturday, Dec. 3, with preliminaries at 10:00 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m.
TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY TWO
WOMEN:
1. Notre Dame, 1,249
2. Truman State, 1,091
3. Utah, 1,073
4. Wyoming, 695.5
5. North Dakota, 511.5
6. Indianapolis, 491
7. Saint Louis, 468
8. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 204
9. Hillsdale, 200
10. Southern Illinois, 92
11. Youngstown State, 47
MEN:
1. Notre Dame, 1,978.5
2. Utah, 970
3. North Dakota, 721
4. Wyoming, 635
5. Truman State, 610.5
6. Indianapolis, 515
7. Saint Louis, 292
8. Southern Illinois, 112
9. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 106
DAY TWO NOTRE DAME MEET RECAP:
The Irish women’s team started the meet off exactly as it had hoped, erasing a seven-year-old meet and pool record held by Michigan. The team of sophomore Caroline Johnson, junior Julia Quinn, junior Jessica Stephens and junior Rebecca Grove just out-touched Utah with a time of 1:43.73 (setting the record by .04 seconds).
The men’s 200 medley relay just missed its bid for the meet record. The group of senior Doug Bauman, sophomore Eric Swenson, junior Tim Kegelman and senior Tim Randolph placed first in 1:31.79 – easily a season-best effort for the team. They just missed the meet record of 1:31.62 set the by the 2003 Notre Dame team.
The men’s team earned its second victory of the evening in the 400 individual medley. Senior Jamie Lutkus, who has owned the 400 IM since he stepped on campus for the Irish four years ago, cruised to victory in 4:02.71. He was followed by teammate Justin Barber in second place with a season-best time of 4:03.74.
Even though Utah was able to get an event victory on the women’s side in the 100 butterfly, Notre Dame turned in a key performance toward the goal of claiming the meet title. Utah’s Jennifer Fredsall broke Katie Carroll’s pool record with a victory, touching the wall in 55.11. Junior Jessica Stephens turned in a stellar final 25 yards to push Fredsall to the brink, just getting out-touched at the wall. Stephens’ time of 55.35 was good enough for a NCAA “B” cut, however, and gives the Irish two NCAA consideration times in the 100 fly (including Carroll’s effort earlier this season). Carroll was not far behind in Friday’s race, finishing third in 56.10.
The Irish men’s team continued to dominate the meet in the 100 butterfly, turning in four of the top six performances. Pool record-holder Tim Kegelman led the way, finishing first in 49.33. He was followed in second place by freshman David Cavadini with a career-best time of 50.42. Senior Steven Shomberger ended up in fourth place (51.35), while junior Louis Cavadini touched the wall in sixth place (51.41).
Freshman Christa Riggins delivered another victory to the Irish women’s team in Event 19 – the 200 freestyle. Riggins eased into first place with a time of 1:51.45, just off her 2005 season-best from the Minnesota Invitational (1:51.14).
The win streak for Notre Dame continued in the men’s 200 freestyle. Junior Ted Brown jumped in the water with six teammates in the final race and finished first in 1:40.07 – logging the team’s best time of the season. He was followed in third by Brian Freeman (1:40.90), fifth by Rob Seery (1:42.01), sixth by Jay Vanden Berg (1:42.05), seventh by Daniel Lutkus (1:42.28) and eighth by Patrick O’Berry (1:44.72).
The meet continued with the 100 breaststroke (Event 21 and 22). Julia Quinn took second place for the Irish women (1:04.16), with Tim Randolph finished second on the men’s side in 57.21.
Next up in the pool was the 100 backstroke and the Irish women got back to their winning ways, as Caroline Johnson touched the wall first in a season-best time of 56.45. Ann Barton finished fifth (58.52), while Jessica Stephens ended up in sixth place (58.54). On the men’s side, Doug Bauman finished second in 51.11.
The Irish men registered two two-five finishes in men’s three-meter diving on Friday evening as well. Sophomore Sam Stoner finished with a score of 351.20, good for second place. He was followed by freshman Michael Bulfin in third place (351.00). Both totals are career-best efforts for the pair of teammates.
The evening’s competition wrapped up with the 800 freestyle relay. The Irish women were never threatened in the race and placed first in 7:25.88. The winning team was comprised of Ellen Johnson, Carroll, Riggins and Casey Wagner.
The men’s team also capped day two with a victory in the 800 free relay. The squad of Louis Cavadini, Brian Freeman, Rob Seery and Ted Brown finished first by six seconds – posting a time of 6:45.33.