Feb. 20, 2002
THIS WEEK: The Irish women, ranked #13 in the country, travel to the Nassau County Aquatics Center in Uniondale, N.Y., Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 21-23, for the 2002 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships. Preliminaries begin each day at 10:30 a.m., while the finals begin at 6:00 p.m. Notre Dame will be sending 34 athletes to the three-day event in hopes of winning its sixth straight BIG EAST title. Results will be available at the conclusion of each session at www.bigeast.org.
2002 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships Schedule
Nassau County Aquatics Center, Uniondale, N.Y.
Thursday, Feb. 21, 2002
One-Meter Diving
200 Yard Freestyle Relay
500 Yard Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Yard Freestyle
400 Yard Medley Relay
Friday, Feb. 22, 2002
200 Yard Medley Relay
400 Individual Medley
100 Yard Butterfly
200 Yard Freestyle
100 Yard Breaststroke
100 Yard Backstroke
Three-Meter Diving
800 Yard Freestyle Relay
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2002
1,650 Yard Freestyle
200 Yard Backstroke
100 Yard Freestyle
200 Yard Breaststroke
200 Yard Butterfly
400 Yard Freestyle Relay
CHAMPIONSHIP OUTLOOK: Notre Dame, ranked 13th in the nation, is looking for its sixth consecutive BIG EAST title with a majority of last year’s championship team returning and then some. Senior Carrie Nixon, the 2000 BIG EAST Swimmer of the Championship, returns to the party after missing last season with a shoulder injury. Nixon, who is tied with fellow Irish senior Kelly Hecking with 14 conference championships (more than any other swimmers in BIG EAST history), is having an outstanding year as she has dominated the 50 and 100 freestyle races and the 100 butterfly in 2001-02, posting the top times in the conference in 50 free and the 100 fly events. She also will have key roles on Notre Dame’s 200 free relay and the 200 and 400 medley relay teams. Hecking owns the top times in the conference in the 100 and 200 backstroke events.
Boston College is led by seniors Brianne Sullivan, Lauren Schwartz and Alexis Kostopoulos, while UConn’s leader is Kate Larson will be Allison Lloyd and Laurie Musgrave’s main challenger in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Georgetown is 8-1 this season, highlighted by breaststroker Michelle Hurd. Miami returns All-America divers Michelle Davison and Katie Beth Bryant, but the ‘Canes Christine Williams and Melanie Rinaldi hold the top marks in the conference so far in 2001-02 and will test Notre Dame’s Heather Mattingly and Meghan Perry-Eaton on both the one- and three-meter board. Pittsburgh holds this top times in the 200 free and 200 medley relays, while Rutgers’ junior Erin McIntyre holds the leagues top time in the 1,650 and will be Irish freshman Kelli Barton’s main challenger. Villanova features NCAA qualifier Maddy Crippen who had a memorable race against Notre Dame’s Marie Labosky back in January in the 400 individual medley, where she set a Rolfs Aquatic Center record in the event.
LAST YEAR IN NEW YORK: Last year, Notre Dame won its fifth consecutive BIG EAST title at the 2001 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships in Long Island, N.Y. The Irish finished with 672.5 points, outdistancing runner-up Virginia Tech, which finished with 482 points, and the other 11 teams in the field. Notre Dame ended up winning six individual titles and two relays in the meet. The Irish held just an eight-point lead after day one, but were convincing in the following two days of competition. Irish head coach Bailey Weathers was named the BIG EAST Swimming Coach of the Year for the fourth time in six years at Notre Dame. Kelly Hecking completed an outstanding weekend in the pool by defending her title in the 200 backstroke in a time of 1:58.70. Tiffany O’Brien also swam well, finishing third. It was Hecking’s second individual title of the championships as she also won the 100 backstroke and was a member of two winning relay teams. First-year swimmers were impressive for the Irish, especially in the 200 butterfly, where Irish freshmen took the top three spots. Lisa D’Olier won her second individual title of the meet with a time of 2:01.17, while Lisa Garcia and Sarah Bowman finished second and third respectively. D’Olier finished the weekend with four titles in her first BIG EAST meet, winning the 100 butterfly and two relays. Continuing Notre Dame’s relay success, the 400 freestyle relay team placed second but set a new school record with a time of 3:25.00. The team, consisting of Brooke Davey, Danielle Hulick, Liane Watkins and Hecking, broke the record set at last year’s BIG EAST Championships by Hecking, Davey, Reilly and Laura Shepard of 3:25.74. Marie Labosky finished a strong meet, gaining second-place points in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 16:32.30. Nicole Kohrt was sixth in the event. Labosky previously won the 200 individual medley and set new Notre Dame records in both that event and the 400 IM. Allison Lloyd won the 100 breaststroke and was fourth in the 200 breaststroke. Laurie Musgrave finished seventh in the event.
ABOUT NOTRE DAME IN 2001-02: Head coach Bailey Weathers, in his seventh season, and the Irish are ranked #13 in the nation – the highest ranking in the history of the program. The Irish have already defeated nationally-ranked opponents Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern and Michigan this season, while also winning the Minnesota and Notre Dame Invitationals.
The Irish are led by the senior 1-2 punch of seniors Carrie Nixon and Kelly Hecking. Nixon has won 25 individual races this season, while Hecking has claimed 16 individual titles. Sophomore Marie Labosky has also has a good year for the Irish as she automatically qualified for the NCAA meet in the 400 individual medley against Villanova. Senior Heather Mattingly and sophomore Meghan Perry Eaton are also having stellar seasons on the diving board as Mattingly set the Notre Dame record for three-meter diving (11-dive program) against Illinois and Iowa, while Perry-Eaton set the Notre Dame record for six dives on the one-meter board against Purdue, which was eventually broken by Mattingly against Villanova.
NOTRE DAME ACHIEVES HIGHEST NATIONAL RANKING IN PROGRAM HISTORY: The Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team remained ranked 13th in the nation in the latest Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America poll released Jan. 31. Notre Dame received 103 points, 97 behind top-ranked Stanford, who also received all eight first-place votes available. Auburn (187), Texas (183), California (176) and Georgia (175) round out the top five places in the poll.
INDIVIDUALS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Four Irish swimmers appear in the national rankings released earlier this week including Carrie Nixon (11th in the 50 freestyle at 22.93 and 17th in the 100 free at 50.17), Kelli Barton (18th in the 1,650 freestyle), Kelly Hecking (25th in the 200 backstroke) and Marie Labosky, who ranks in two categories including the 1,650 freestyle (21st at 16:39.79) and the 400 individual medley (seventh at 4:14.47). Notre Dame also ranks 24th in the nation in the 200 medley relay (1:44.17), 17th in the 400 medley relay (3:45.77) and 17th in the 200 free relay (1:33.68).
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST RANKINGS: Notre Dame swimmers and divers appear all over the BIG EAST best-times rankings as 32 individuals qualified for the BIG EAST meet. Notre Dame also sits a top many categories. Senior Carrie Nixon has the top time in both the 50 freestyle (22.93) and the 100 butterfly (55.44), sophomore Marie Labosky has the top 200 individual medley (2:03.02) time, senior Kelly Hecking has the top 100 and 200 backstroke times (55.88 and 2:00.36, respectively), sophomore Lisa D’Olier is the keeper of the top 200 butterfly time (2:03.04) and the women’s 400 medley relay team of Hecking, Allison Lloyd, D’Olier and Nixon is first at 3:45.48.
LABOSKY SWIMS “A” CUT TIME AGAINST VILLANOVA IN 400 IM: Sophomore Marie Labosky, a 2001 NCAA qualifier and honorable mention All-American, assured herself of a weekend in Austin, Texas, at the 2002 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships when she battled Villanova’s Maddy Crippen to the wire Jan. 26, and qualified for the national meet in the 400 individual medley. Labosky was just out-touched by Crippen, but the sophomore set a new Notre Dame record and automatically qualified for the NCAAs when she touched in at 4:14.47.
OTHER “B” QUALIFIERS: Notre Dame has a number of “B” qualifiers for the NCAA meet including senior Carrie Nixon in the 50 and 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly, freshman Kelli Barton in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle and the 400 individual medley, sophomore Marie Labosky in the 1,650 freestyle, the 200 individual medley, senior Kelly Hecking in the 100 and 200 backstroke, freshman Kristen Peterson in the 200 backstroke, sophomore Laurie Musgrave in the 100 breaststroke, senior Allison Lloyd in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, sophomore Lisa D’Olier in the 100 and 200 butterfly and sophomore Lisa Garcia in the 200 butterfly and the 200 IM.