Jan. 17, 2015
MADISON, Wis. – The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team had several key members of their team out this weekend due to the flu, and the lack of depth in the lineup played a crucial part in their 257-96 loss to Wisconsin. The Irish move to 3-5 on the season.
“We had some guys show a lot of effort yesterday, and we were a little better today,” Irish head coach Matt Tallman says of his team’s performance. “The guys put in some clear effort, but we are looking forward to getting back home to South Bend and training. We have a few more weeks before our serious rest period takes place, and despite the results of this weekend, we have a lot to look forward to at the end of the season.”
In a déjàvu moment, Irish divers Joe Coumos (390.95), Ted Wagner (330.70) and James Lichtenstein (290.20) came in third, seventh and ninth in the 3-meter competition respectively. Coumos one night prior earned third place in the 1-meter event, whereas Lichtenstein finished sixth and Wagner eighth.
In the 200 free relay, the A-team of Justin Plaschka, Zachary Stephens, Kevin Bradley and Reed Fujan finished fourth (1:24.61) while the B team lineup of Michael Hudspith, Kevin Hughes, Trent Jackson and Rob Whitacre came in seventh (127:37).
In the 400 IM, sophomore Kevin Bradley earned the top finish with his seventh place, 4:07.00 showing. Seniors John Nappi (4:09.18) and Matthew DeBlasio (4:12.62) came in eighth and ninth respectively.
In 100 free, Plaschka and Fujan finished one-tenth of a second apart (46.76 to 46.86) to claim seventh and eighth place, while Kevin Hughes clinched 10th (47.00) and Hudspith came in 12th (47.51).
James McEldrew had one of the few top-three finishes for the Irish, touching the wall third in the 200 back (1:51.61). Junior Bogac Ayhan (1:52.33) finished sixth, Whitacre claimed eighth (1:53.20) and DeBlasio rounded out the top 10 (2:00.35). Also finishing in the top three was Stephens, who came in third in the 200 breast (2:02.84). Cameron Miller finished seventh (2:06.38) and junior Andrew Jensen claimed ninth (2:09.05).
Missing Jonathan Williamson, the Irish still had strong swims in the 100 fly, with Plaschka touching the wall in 50.13 to claim fourth place and Ayhan (50.62) and Patrick Olson (51.20) finishing sixth and seventh. Broderick Kelley came in 10th (51.78).
In the last event of the day, Notre Dame’s A-lineup of Ayhan, Miller, Plaschka and Stephens claimed third in the 400 medley relay (3:20.73) while their B-team (Whitacre, Jensen, Olson and Hughes) finished eighth (3:28.26).
Next up for Notre Dame to close out the regular season is a pair of home meets, the first of which will honor the 14 graduating seniors at the Shamrock Invite (Jan. 30-31st) and in the second, hosting traditional foe Cleveland State.
Lizzie Mikes,
Media Services Coordinator
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