Feb. 19, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville won its second straight team title Saturday evening at the BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships, earning 917 points in the winning effort. Notre Dame (713.5) finished in front of Pittsburgh (503) and West Virginia (470) among the 11-team field at Wright Natatorium.
“This was a very strong meet for Notre Dame,” Irish head coach Tim Welsh said. “Louisville did a fine job hosting the meet, and congratulations to them on winning the championship. That being said, we’re looking forward to coming back even stronger next season. Our men swam a number of personal- and lifetime-best times, and there was a point when we ran out of gas. But we rallied back and had a number of strong swims this evening.
“This is a great team to work with and I’m looking forward to what will happen next with this program. We have a very bright future with a great incoming class, and our seniors have shown some incredible leadership for us throughout the season.”
Frank Dyer put the finishing touches on his outstanding league meet with a third-place finish in the 100 free. Throughout his first BIG EAST appearance, Dyer shelved four all-BIG EAST citations and an individual title.
In all, Notre Dame set six school records throughout the four-day event.
—
1,650 Free: Colin Babcock (16:02.88) placed 14th in the grueling distance race.
200 Back: Petar Petrovic (1:45.75) took fourth and Michael Sullivan (1:45.76) finished fifth … Christopher Wills (1:47.05) was seventh and Bertie Nel (1:48.27) touched eighth.
100 Free: Dyer earned an all-BIG EAST citation by taking third in 44.11 … Kevin Overholt (44.97) was sixth in the finals.
200 Breast: Christopher Johnson (2:01.55) and P.J. Koppel (2:01.99) led the Irish in the consoles of the event.
200 Fly: Bill Bass (1:48.40) took fifth while P.J. Koppel (1:50.44) followed in seventh … Steven Brus (1:47.42) was 10th overall with and NCAA B-cut.
400 Free Relay: Notre Dame’s relay tandem was disqualified from the race.
–ND–