Oct. 28, 2006
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – It was a solid 2006-07 dual meet debut for the No. 17 Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team on Saturday as the Irish defeated Texas A&M 169-129 in the Student Recreation Natatorium. Sophomores Jeff Wood (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) and Sam Pendergast (Melbourne, Australia) both collected two wins apiece in their Fighting Irish dual meet debuts. Wood, a transfer from Indiana, won both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke, while Pendergast, who did not compete during his freshman season, notched victories in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
Wood and Pendergast were also part of the winning 200-yard medley relay team for the Irish, who captured nine of 16 events on the afternoon. Joining them on the winning relay quartet were seniors Tim Kegelman (Yorktown, Va./Tabb) and Louis Cavadini (South Bend, Ind./Riley). Kegelman added to his victory total by winning the 100-yard butterfly.
Also claiming titles for the Irish were junior Jay Vanden Berg (Holland, Mich./Southfield Christian School) in the 1,000-yard free, senior Ted Brown (Kokomo, Ind./Western) in the 200-yard free and freshman John Lytle (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) in the 100 free. The Irish took three of the five scoring spots in 12 of 14 non-relay events.
“What an exciting season debut for Notre Dame swimming,” stated Irish head coach Tim Welsh following the meet. “We had great performances across the board from the freshman class to the senior class. We had good competitiveness and showed a lot of guts in winning close races. Overall, it was a very, very strong meet for us.”
MEET RECAP:
200-Yard Medley Relay: The Irish quartet of Jeff Wood, Sam Pendergast, Tim Kegelman and Louis Cavadini opened the meet by taking the first event in a time of 1:31.48. The Notre Dame foursome of Andrew MacKay, Eric Swenson, Ray Toomey and John Lytle teamed up to post a third-place finish in a time of 1:34.07.
1,000-Yard Free: Jay Vanden Berg claimed nine points for the Irish with the victory in a time of 9:28.45. Also notching points in the event were Chris Zeches in third (9:34.73) and Andrew Deters in fourth (9:35.14). Notre Dame led 27-9 after the first two events.
200-Yard Free: Ted Brown made it three straight wins for the Fighting Irish as he touched the wall in 1:39.18. Brown’s freshman teammate Andrew Hoffman was right behind him in second place with a mark of 1:41.80.
50-Yard Free: Texas A&M captured its first victory of the day as Francisco Picasso won in a time of 20.93. However, the Irish would take three of the top five spots to come away with seven points and up their lead to 47-27. John Lytle was second in 20.98, while Louis Cavadini placed fourth in 21.21 and Ray Toomey was fifth in 21.63.
100-Yard Back: Jeff Wood notched his first of two victories in a time of 50.79. Notre Dame would once again take three of the top five spots with Andrew MacKay in fourth (52.31) and Alan Carter in fifth (52.52).
100-Yard Breast: Sam Pendergast continued the Irish domination by taking first in a time of 56.53. Also claiming points for the Irish were Tim Kegelman in fourth (57.80) and Daniel Rave in fifth (59.81). Notre Dame led 71-41 after six events.
200-Yard Fly: The Irish did not win, yet went 2-3-4 to lock up nine more points. Israel Duran Mata won for the Aggies in a time of 1:48.64. The freshman trio of Ross Moore (1:49.27), MacKenzie LeBlanc (1:50.73) and Tyler Angelo (1:54.44) took the next three spots for the Fighting Irish.
100-Yard Free: Freshman John Lytle claimed Notre Dame’s sixth victory of the afternoon after touching the wall in 45.80. Taking fourth and fifth for the Irish were Andrew Hoffman (46.58) and Ted Brown (46.76), respectively, to up the lead to 92-58.
200-Yard Back: Notre Dame went 1-2 with Jeff Wood winning in 1:50.50 for his second victory of the afternoon, followed by Andrew MacKay in 1:52.76. Alan Carter placed fourth in 1:54.79 to secure two more points for the Irish.
200-Yard Breast: Sam Pendergast notched his second win by finishing in 2:03.56, while his classmate Daniel Rave was third in 2:06.29 and Tyler Angelo was fourth in 2:06.94. Notre Dame opened up a 121-67 lead after 10 events.
500-Yard Free: James Hard took the win for Texas A&M in 4:37.67, while Notre Dame occupied the next two spots. Jay Vanden Berg was second in 4:38.49 and MacKenzie LeBlanc was right behind him with a mark of 4:38.93. Andrew Deters gave the Irish their eighth point of the event by placing fifth in 4:40.23.
100-Yard Fly: Notre Dame went 1-2-3 for the only time on the day to up the advantage to 145-81. Tim Kegelman took first after touching the wall in 50.03, while Ray Toomey followed him in 50.39 and Ross Moore completed the sweep in 51.17.
200-Yard IM: Once again, the Irish took three of the scoring places. Jacobo Alejandro took first for the Aggies in 1:55.48, while Notre Dame’s Andrew Deters was second in 1:57.32. Ross Moore (1:57.45) and Andrew MacKay (1:58.26) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, to up the lead to 152-93.
400-Yard Free Relay: Texas A&M captured the top two spots as the Irish swam all three of their teams as exhibitions. The winning time for the Aggies was 3:04.03. Notre Dame’s top team of John Lytle, Andrew Hoffman, Ted Brown and Tim Kegelman finished in 3:06.09, which would have placed them second.
One-Meter Diving: Eric Sehn from Texas A&M posted the win by tallying 332.25 points. Notre Dame’s Sam Stoner and Michael Bulfin occupied spots two and three with respective scores of 301.57 and 282.22. Chris Kane was fifth with a total of 247.12 to give the Irish eight points for the event and put the lead at 160-119 heading into the final event.
Three-Meter Diving: Eric Sehn captured his second win with a score of 365.32. Notre Dame claimed the next three spots as Michael Bulfin (315.00), Scott Coyle (298.35) and Sam Stoner (282.75) locked up nine points and put the final margin at 169-129 in favor of the Fighting Irish.