Jan. 12, 2007
ROCHESTER, Mich. – Freshmen swimmers John Lytle (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) and Ross Moore (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central) along with sophomore diver Michael Bulfin (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) all won two events as the No. 16 Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team defeated Oakland University 181-119 on Friday evening in the OU Aquatics Center. The win improves the Fighting Irish record to 5-0 on the season, the best start since the 1992-93 campaign. Notre Dame won 11 of 16 events during the meet.
Lytle’s first win came in the third event of the night as he took the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:42.16. The Irish would also take spots two and four in the race. Brian Freeman (Sanger, Calif./Immanuel) took second in 1:43.51 and Rob Seery (Garden City, N.Y/Garden City) was fourth in 1:45.51.
The freshman’s second victory came in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 46.77. His senior teammate Ted Brown (Kokomo, Ind./Western) would place third in the event by touching the wall in 47.36.
Brown captured a win of his own in the 1,000-yard free with a time of 9:33.99. Notre Dame went 1-2-3 in the event as Jay Vanden Berg (Holland, Mich./Southfield Christian School) was second in 9:36.84 and Chris Zeches (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic) was third in 9:47.74.
With the Irish off to a strong start, Oakland would win the 100-yard back and the 100-yard breast to inch closer. Notre Dame sophomore Jeff Wood (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport/Indiana) took second in the 100 back with a time of 51.14. Sophomore Sam Pendergast (Melbourne, Australia) was second in the 100 breast in 57.58 for the Irish, while his senior teammate Tim Kegelman (Yorktown, Va./Tabb) was third in 58.88.
Moore snapped the Oakland streak with a win in the 200-yard butterfly. His time of 1:51.78 topped the field, while his classmate Andrew Deters (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) placed third in 1:55.16 and fellow freshman MacKenzie LeBlanc (Plano, Texas/Plano East) was fourth in 1:55.72.
Oakland’s Nicholas Bonucchi won the 50-yard freestyle in 21.50, yet senior Louis Cavadini (South Bend, Ind./Riley) was right behind him in second for the Irish with a time of 21.75.
The one-meter board was the first diving event of the night and Bulfin registered 323.12 points for the win. His junior teammate Sam Stoner (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) was second with 292.65 points and fellow junior Steven Crowe (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) was fourth with a 262.98 total. Bulfin and Stoner would also go 1-2 off the three-meter board with respective scores of 343.80 and 342.53.
Wood, who was also a part of the winning 200-yard medley relay along with Kegelman, Pendergast and Ray Toomey (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) in a time of 1:32.70, captured the 200-yard backstroke in 1:51.58.
Oakland’s Zoltan Horvath won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:06.01, while Notre Dame sophomore Daniel Rave (Hannover, Germany) was close behind in second with a mark of 2:06.21.
The Fighting Irish returned to the win column in the 500-yard free as Deters and Seery went 1-2 with respective times of 4:38.41 and 4:42.05.
Notre Dame secured some crucial points by going 1-2-3 in the 100-yard fly as Cavadini placed first in 50.48, with Kegelman in second (50.66) and Toomey in third (50.90).
The second victory of the night for Moore came in the 200-yard IM as he touched the wall in 1:54.58.
In the final event of the night, the Golden Grizzlies won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:06.22. Notre Dame’s quartet of Lytle, Cavadini, Brown and Kegelman was second in 3:09.23.
The Fighting Irish return to the pool tomorrow as they compete at Cleveland State. The meet, which begins at noon (ET), also includes Quinnipiac and Xavier.
–ND–