Jan. 20, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. – For just the second time all season, the Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving squad fell in dual meet action as No. 17 Northwestern topped the 19th-ranked Fighting Irish 172-128 on Friday evening in the Norris Aquatics Center. The loss drops the Irish to 5-2 in dual meets this season, while the Wildcats improve to 4-3.
The Irish claimed four first-place finishes on the night, including two by freshman diver Michael Bulfin, who won both the one-meter (312.53) and three-meter (361.95) events. Both of those marks were season-bests. Sophomore Jay Vanden Berg won the 1,000-yard freestyle in a time of 9:26.75 and junior Tim Kegelman clocked a first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 50.39.
MEET RECAP:
200-Yard Medley Relay: Notre Dame’s `A’ team of Doug Bauman, Eric Swenson, Tim Kegelman and Tim Randolph placed second in a time of 1:34.19. Northwestern’s winning squad clocked a time of 1:31.39.
1,000-Yard Freestyle: The Fighting Irish flexed its distance-freestyle depth by notching a 1-2-3 finish to grab its first and only lead of the night, 20-16. Jay Vanden Berg took first in 9:26.75, while senior Patrick Davis was second (9:28.61) and freshman Jace Hopper placed third (9:30.49).
200-Yard Freestyle: Northwestern took a 29-26 lead by taking three of the top five spots, including a winning time of 1:40.41 by Eric Nilsson. Junior Ted Brown placed second in 1:41.72, while his classmate Brian Freeman was fourth in 1:42.92 for the Irish.
100-Yard Backstroke: The Irish collected seven points as senior Doug Bauman touched the wall in 51.92 to place second and fellow senior Steve Shomberger posted a third-place time of 52.59. Northwestern’s Matt Grevers won in 50.41.
100-Yard Breaststroke: The Wildcats expanded their lead to 56-37 as Mike Alexandrov and David Kormushoff placed 1-2 in respective times of 54.77 and 56.66. Notre Dame’s Tim Randolph (57.65) was third and Tyler Grenda placed fifth (59.20).
200-Yard Butterfly: This time the Irish claimed three of the top five spots. Senior Bryan Guarnier took second (1:53.60), Tim Kegelman third (1:54.20) and senior co-captain Patrick Heffernan was fifth (1:54.75). Eric Nilsson won his second race of the evening for the Wildcats in a time of 1:51.11.
50-Yard Freestyle: Northwestern went 1-2-3 to take an 83-48 advantage. Kyle Bubolz won with a mark of 20.68. The Cavadini brothers placed fourth and fifth for the Irish, with Louis swimming in 21.50 and David in 22.34.
100-Yard Freestyle: Louis Cavadini secured three more points for the Irish with a third-place finish (46.72) and Tim Randolph was fifth (47.06) to lock up one point. Northwestern’s Kyle Bubolz posted the winning time of 45.87.
200-Yard Backstroke: Matt Grevers clocked another win for the Wildcats as he touched the wall in 1:51.19. Doug Bauman placed second for the Irish in a time of 1:52.38 and his teammate Brian Freeman was fourth in 1:54.87.
200-Yard Breaststroke: Notre Dame locked up the second, third and fourth spots as Daniel Rave (2:07.17), Jamie Lutkus (2:09.66) and Tyler Grenda (2:09.73) touched the wall consecutively. Mike Alexandrov won in a time of 2:01.08 for the Wildcats.
500-Yard Freestyle: Eric Nilsson won his third event of the night, with a time of 4:33.55, to help Northwestern stake a 131-76 lead following 11 events. Once again, Irish swimmers occupied spots two through four. Jay Vanden Berg was second in 4:37.07, Ted Brown third in 4:40.21 and Patrick Davis was fourth in 4:41.74.
100-Yard Butterfly: Tim Kegelman posted the second win of the night for the Irish as he touched the wall in 50.39. Louis Cavadini was fifth in 52.10.
400-Yard IM: Notre Dame claimed eight points by taking three of the top five spots. Jamie Lutkus was second as he touched in 4:04.49. Junior Justin Barber was third in 4:08.27 and Patrick Heffernan was fifth in 4:10.10. Northwestern’s Brian Davis topped the field in 4:03.68.
800-Yard Freestyle Relay: In the final swimming event of the night, the Northwestern quintet won with a mark of 6:33.85. Notre Dame’s squad of Ted Brown, Brian Freeman, Jay Vanden Berg and Louis Cavadini placed second in 7:00.45. Another Irish team of Patrick O’Berry, Jace Hopper, Daniel Lutkus and Tim Randolph was third in 7:07.29.
Three-Meter Diving: Notre Dame finished 1-2 with freshman Michael Bulfin posting a season-best point total of 361.95, followed by sophomore Sam Stoner with 342.53. Their sophomore teammate Steven Crowe was fifth with 270.30 points.
One-Meter Diving: Once again the Irish go 1-2 with Michael Bulfin leading the way with another season-best mark of 312.53. Sam Stoner was second with 296.40 points, while Chris Kane came in fifth with 258.15 points.
The Irish will get right back in the pool as they host Cleveland State on Saturday afternoon in the Rolfs Aquatic Center at 2:00 p.m. (EST).
Stay up-to-date on the Notre Dame’s men’s swimming and diving team by logging on to und.com or by calling the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
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