Oct. 28, 2011
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team squad kicked off BIG EAST Conference action with a 193-107 victory Friday evening over Pittsburgh at Trees Pool. Notre Dame is now 3-1 on the season while Pittsburgh falls to 1-2 on the year.
The Irish have now won the past eight contests with the Panthers, as Notre Dame improves to 8-3 against Pittsburgh under Coach Tim Welsh.
Notre Dame collected 12 victories on the night including 11 of the individual variety (nine swimming, two diving). The Irish have now won 28 of the 36 individual swimming events against Pittsburgh since 2009.
Junior Kevin Overholt led the Irish with three victories including the 50 and 100 free and as a member of the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Frank Dyer (200 free) and junior Christopher Johnson (100 breast) both added individual wins along with a relay gold medal in the 200 medley relay.
Sophomore Bertie Nel (200 back) and freshmen Jimmy McEldrew (1,000 free), freshman Cameron Miller (100 breast, 200 breast), John Williamson (200 fly) and Brennan Jacobsen (500 free) all added additional first-place finishes.
Freshman diver Michael Kreft registered two individual victories as he took both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events with totals of 282.45 and 309.45 points, respectively.
The Irish will once again hit the road as they return to action against in-state foe Purdue (Nov. 4) at 6:00 p.m. (CT).
—
200 Medley Relay: Petar Petrovic was first in the pool for the Irish and finished his backstroke leg in second place… Johnson matched Pittsburgh’s Ben Solari in the breaststroke 50 yards… Dyer pulled the Irish into the lead and Overholt held on for the victory in 1:31.57… the quartet of Nel, Miller, Bill Bass and John McGinley finished in 1:32.68, good enough for third place.
1,000 Free: The freshmen duo of McEldrew and Jacobsen led the Irish with a one-two finish with 9:25.95 and 9:33.80 performances, respectively.
200 Free: Dyer continued his dominance of the 200 free as he took the gold medal in 1:38.73… Bass was just behind Dyer, finishing in 1:41.29 and the silver medal.
100 Back: The trio of Petrovic, Nel and Marshall Sherman combined for a two-three-four finish behind Pittsburgh’s Adam Maczewski with times of 50.43, 51.65 and 52.78, respectively.
100 Breast: Miller took the early, slight lead over Johnson… the two were neck-and-neck up through the finish when the pair tied at the wall in 56.71 seconds for the gold medal… Colin Babcock was just 0.25 seconds behind for the bronze medal.
200 Fly: Freshman John Williamson paced the Irish as he clocked at 1:51.32 and the fifth Irish victory on the evening.
50 Free: It was another one-two finish by a pair of classmates for the Irish… this time it was juniors Overholt and John McGinley, who touched the pad in 20.76 and 21.19, respectively.
100 Free: One event later, Overholt and McGinely made it two consecutive one-two finishes as they stopped the clock at 45.83 and 46.06, respectively… freshman Zach Stephens finished in four with a 46.77 performance.
200 Back: Nel took home the seventh swimming victory on the night as he finished in first with a time of 1:52.23… Petrovic (1:53.60) and freshman Matthew DeBlasio (1:55.56) finished in third and fourth place.
200 Breast: Miller took home yet another gold for the Irish with his 2:04.32 showing Babcock was right behind his teammate with a second place, 2:04.87 performance.
500 Free: Jacobsen and John Nappi registered the second freshmen one-two swimming finish on the evening… Jacobsen finished in 4:40.51 while Nappi touched the pad in 4:40.89.
100 Fly: Dyer won the event as an exhibition swimmer in 49.52… Bass followed in 49.63 for a second silver medal.
200 IM: Stephens took home the gold as an exhibition swimmer in 1:53.30.
400 Free Relay: The foursome of Dyer, McGinley, Overholt and Bass took first as an exhibition team in 3:02.66.
1-meter Diving: Kreft and Nick Nemetz battled it out from the 1-meter distance for the gold medal… Kreft took the win, totaling 282.45 points while Nemetz settled for the silver with his total of 281.33 points.
3-meter Diving: Kreft made it two-for-two on the night as he took home the 3-meter springboard gold after tallying 309.45 points… fellow freshmen Ted Wagner took second with 299.10 points.