Dec. 7, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men and the West Virginia women cruised to victory at the 2002 Notre Dame Invitational at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Notre Dame men, behind strong relay performances and good depth the entire weekend finished first with 1,840.50 points. Wyoming, behind a strong final day performance, was second with 1,227 points, while West Virginia was third with 1,123.50 points. Division III power Denison was fourth (1,111.50), while North Dakota was fifth (874.50) and Wisconsin-Green bay was sixth (726). Indianapolis (605), Louisville (508), St. Louis (411), Shippensburg (168) and Hillsdale (40) rounded out the men’s field.
On the women’s side, West Virginia used a victory in the final event of the night, the 400 freestyle relay, to take the team competition. WVU won with 1,266 points, followed by Iowa with 1,165. Denison was third with 1,125.50, followed by Bowling Green with 979.50 and Wyoming (808.50). Wisconsin-Green Bay was sixth with 731 points, followed by North Dakota (620), Indianapolis (604), Louisville (486), Northern Michigan (379), St. Louis (329.50) and Hillsdale College (52). The Notre Dame women and Wisconsin-Milwaukee men and women only sent divers to the meet.
The evening started off with the women’s 1,650 freestyle and a win by West Virginia’s Jessi Banner. The freshman posted a time of 17:32.46, easily defeating Bowling Green’s Kara Ohngren, who was second in 17:35.10. West Virginia’s Ashley Bissett was third with a time of 17:37.97.
In the men’s 1,650 freestyle, North Dakota’s Rodrigo Cintra continued his strong meet with a NCAA Division II qualifying time of 15:42.77. Cintra defeated his closest competitor by almost 15 seconds. Wyoming’s Damian Storz was second in 15:57.23, followed by West Virginia’s Kleyton Franca, who was third with a time of 16:01.67. Next was the women’s 200 yard backstroke. Iowa’s Caitlin Girdley outstroked the field, winning in a time of 2:05.64. Shippensburg’s Kim Magnanelli was second in 2:06.71, a NCAA Division III qualifying time, while Wyoming’s Janelyn Lilly was third in 2:07.99.
In the men’s 200 backstroke, Wyoming’s Jerram Chudleigh set the first of two pool and meet records for him on day three, covering the distance in a time of 1:46.95. The NCAA B qualifying time bested the previous meet and pool record of 1:47.29 set by Western Kentucky’s Gord Veldman in 1999. Notre Dame’s Doug Bauman was second in 1:51.31, while Wyoming’s Ethan Maclean was third in 1:51.90.
Chudleigh would set his second meet and pool record in the 200 butterfly. The sophomore won in 1:47.84, bettering the old meet record of 1:49.98 set by Notre Dame’s Ryan Verlin in 1999, and the former pool record of Stanford’s Matthew Pierce of 1:49.00 set during a dual meet in 1998. Wyoming’s Galen Gough was second in 1:51.09, followed by Zach Hansen of Wisconsin-Green Bay (1:51.74).
In the women’s 100 freestyle, West Virginia’s Devlyn Quinn, who qualified fifth in the prelims, won the event in 51.63. Her teammate Livia Cascao tied Bowling Green’s Stpehanie Buckner for second with a time of 52.52.
Indianapolis’ Bruno Fonseca, who also had a tremendous meet, took first in the men’s 100 free in a Division II qualifying time of 45.77. Notre Dame’s Matt Obringer was second in 45.95, while North Dakota’s Sebastian Andersson was third in 46.22. Notre Dame freshman Tim Randolph tied with West Virginia’s Franca for fourth (46.45.).
Megan Grunert continued the strong showing for Indianapolis as she set a new meet record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:18.60. Her time, an NCAA Division II qualifier, bested the previous record set by Michigan’s Rachel Gustin in 1998. Bowling Green’s Sarah Agnew was second in 2:19.58, while Megan Capellupo of St. Louis was third in 2:23.41.
Wyoming’s Scott Usher, who set a meet record in the 100 breaststroke on Friday, won the 200 breaststroke with an NCAA B qualifying time of 2:01.04. Usher edged out Notre Dame’s Jason Fitzpatrick, who set the Notre Dame record in the 100 race on Friday. Fitzpatrick’s time of 2:02.76 was well ahead of Indianapolis’ Orel Oral, who also set a meet and pool record in the 50 freestyle on Thursday. Oral finished today’s race in 2:04.90.Notre Dame’s David Moisan (2:05.31) and Tyler Grenda (2:05.42) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Iowa’s Andrea Hemphill won the 200 butterfly in 2:06.25. She narrowly touched out Bowling Green’s Dana Schultz who finished in 2:06.29. Louisville’s Angie Nicolletta was third in 2:08.45.
In the men’s one-meter diving competition Louisville’s Sean Wilikinson won with 286.40 points. Tong Xie of Notre Dame was second with 256.85, while Bobby Wolf of St. Louis was third with 245.65 points.
West Virginia wrapped up the team title with a win in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of LeeAnn Johnston, Quinn, Cascao and Jackie Graulty was first in 3:29.07. Denison’s Chrissy Havach, Sarah Peck, Meredith French and Erin Stanley were second in 3:30.06, while the team from Iowa was third in 3:30.80.
In the men’s 400 relay, Notre Dame cemented its team title by blowing away the field. The team of Obringer, Frank Krakowski, Fitzpatrick and Randolph was first in 3:03.40. North Dakota was second in 3:05.61, while Wyoming was third in 3:05.69.