Oct. 21, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 19th-ranked Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team opened the dual meet season with a 132-111 victory over Texas A&M Friday evening in the Rolfs Aquatic Center. Sophomore Jay Vanden Berg (Holland, Mich./Southfield Christian) captured wins in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:24.50) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:36.07) events to help the Irish extend their winning streak against teams not listed in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) national rankings to 18.
“This was certainly a great team victory,” stated Irish head coach Tim Welsh following the meet. “By a total team victory I mean, the balance and the depth all the way through is what allowed us to win. Out of the 13 events, they won seven and we won six but we still won the meet. We had five different guys win the six events for us.”
Also claiming titles for the Irish were seniors Jamie Lutkus (Granger, Ind./Penn) in the 200-yard individual medley (1:52.99), Bryan Guarnier (Queensbury, N.Y./Glens Falls) in the 200-yard butterfly (1:52.24) and Doug Bauman (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Preparatory) in the 200-yard backstroke (1:52.42). Junior Ted Brown (Kokomo, Ind./Western) was victorious in the 200-yard freestyle (1:40.70).
“The key tonight is that we would score three out of the five spots,” Welsh stated. “They might win but we’d go 2-3-4. We picked up a lot of points because of our depth and we didn’t lose a lot because of our depth.”
Notre Dame is ranked 19th in the first CSCAA dual meet rankings of the season, which were released on Wednesday. The ranking is the highest-ever for the program. Texas A&M, who finished 15th at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships last year, is unranked yet did receive five votes.
“The divers contributions were enormous tonight. They did very well against some good Texas A&M divers. I was also very pleased with our middle distance swimmers. All of our 200 (yard) events showed tremendous depth tonight. All of that is a very good sign for now and an even better sign for the future.”
MEET RECAP:
400-Yard Medley Relay: The Irish opened the night with the team of Doug Bauman, Tyler Grenda, Tim Kegelman and Louis Cavadini taking second in a time of 3:26.11 to give the Irish four points. The winning Texas A&M squad clocked in at 3:23.96.
1,000-Yard Freestyle: Notre Dame went 1-2-3-4 with Vanden Berg taking the title in a time of 9:24.50 followed by senior Patrick Davis (9:29.86), freshman Jace Hopper (9:38.67) and junior Justin Barber (9:45.20).
200-Yard Freestyle: Juniors Ted Brown (1:40.70) and Brian Freeman (1:42.67) made it a 1-2 finish for the Irish, while sophomore Rob Seery (1:45.28) also got the team a point with his fifth-place finish.
50-Yard Freestyle: The junior tandem of Louis Cavadini (21.11) and Tim Kegelman (21.48) placed third and fourth, respectively to five the Irish give points during the event. Andrew Sullivant from Texas A&M won in a time of 21.04.
200-Yard IM: Jamie Lutkus clocked the win in a time of 1:52.99. Also securing points for the Irish in the race was sophomore Andrew MacKay (1:55.95) with his third-place finish and freshman Daniel Rave (1:56.80) in fourth.
One-Meter Diving: The Fighting Irish may not have won this event, but a solid 2-3-4-5 placing from freshman Michael Bulfin (300.22) and sophomores Sam Stoner (276.07), Steven Crowe (265.95) and Chris Kane (248.70) gave Notre Dame nine of the possible 19 points in the event. Eric Sehn from Texas A&M grabbed the victory with a 312.07 total.
200-Yard Butterfly: The Irish picked up 16 key points with a 1-2-3 finish from Bryan Guarnier (1:52.24), senior Patrick Heffernan (1:53.60) and junior Ted Brown (1:53.93).
100-Yard Freestyle: Louis Cavadini (46.64) placed second behind the Aggies’ Ryan Kemp (46.41), while Irish junior Nick Fanslau (47.28) clocked in a fifth-place time.
200-Yard Backstroke: Doug Bauman claimed the victory in a time of 1:52.42 for Notre Dame and senior Steve Shomberger (1:52.99) placed third and Brian Freeman (1:54.80) was fifth.
500 Yard Freestyle: The Fighting Irish dominated this event as a 1-2-3-4 finish secured 16 points. Jay Vanden Berg captured his second victory of the evening with a time of 4:36.07, while Patrick Davis (4:40.12), Rob Seery (4:42.97) and freshman Jace Hopper (4:44.32) followed him to the finish.
Three-Meter Diving: Notre Dame grabbed seven points as Michael Bulfin (310.20) placed second to land four points and Steven Crowe (279.15) came in fourth for two points and Chris Kane (270.23) was fifth for one point. Eric Sehn from Texas A&M made it a sweep in the diving with a 345.15 total.
200-Yard Breaststroke: The Irish locked up the meet victory in this event with a 2-3-4 finish. Daniel Rave (2:04.41), Tyler Grenda (2:06.99) and Jamie Lutkus (2:09.18) won nine of the 19 points. Texas A&M’s Alejandro Jacobo was the winner in a time of 2:04.02.
400-Yard Freestyle Relay: The team of Ted Brown, Nick Fanslau, Alan Carter and Tim Kegelman placed second by touching the wall in 3:08.24. The Aggie team swam 3:03.74.
–ND–