Jan. 13, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame swimming and diving program earned victories against Big Ten neighbors Iowa and Illinois in the first dual meet of the year. The men scored a victory over Iowa 191- 106 and the women topped Illinois 210 – 87 and Iowa 180 – 117. Head coach Mike Litzinger was pleased in his team’s return to competition since before the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Solid outing today coming off a training camp after being on break for almost three weeks,” said Litzinger. We’re still a work in progress but we had some really nice highlights and we had some things we have to continue to work on but overall a good performance against two Big Ten teams.”
On The Diving Board
Contributing to the team’s performance was on the diving side of the pool as the trio of Erin Isola, Claire Andrews and Anne Crea earned the top 3 spots in the 3-meter dive. For the men Joe Coumos earned the top spot in both the 1 and 3 meter diving board.
Standout Swims
200 Yard Medley Relay
Notre Dame had a first place sweep in the relay for the evening. On the men’s side they earned top 2 finishes. The foursome made up of Robby Whitacre, Trent Jackson, Justin Plascka and Tabahn Afrik were first to tap at 1:29.83. Behind them were teammates Jack Montesi, Zach Stump, Matt Grauslys, Daniel Speers coming in at 1:31.22. For the women the quartet of Catherine Mulquin, Meaghan O’Donnell, Sofia Revilak and Katie Smith earned first place honors at 1:41.91.
1000 Yard Freestyle
The Irish earned firsts for both the men and women. Richard Mannix leading the pack at 9:19. 50 and teammate Molly Treble clocking in at 10:10.13.
Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle
Notre Dame claimed first and third on the event. Abbie Dolan coming in first at 1:48.44 and teammate Lauren Heller in third at 1:50.80.
Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke
Fighting Irish men were top 3 earning first and third place points for their squad. Robby Whitacre tapping first at 48.72 and Jack Montesi behind at 50.26 good for third.
Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke
Top two spots in the event went to the Irish. Trent Jackson at 56.18 in first and Steven Shek in second with a time of 57.75.
Women’s 200 Yard Butterfly
Fighting Irish women earned 3 of top 4 spots in the competition. 1. Nikki Smith (1:59.36), 3. Erin Sheehan (2:01.90), 4. Katie Rentz (2:04.08).
Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle
Top two spots went to Notre Dame with Justin Plascka earning first at 20.28 and teammate Daniel Speers second at 20.54.
Women’s 100 Yard Freestyle
Abbie Dolan and Katie Smith claimed the top 2 spots. Dolan clocking at 50.55 and Smith at 51.44.
400 Yard Freestyle Relay
In the meet’s last event Notre Dame earned firsts on both the men and women’s side. Foursome of Abbie Dolan, Sofia Revilak, Katie Smith and Catherine Mulquin ended the day on a high note clocking in at 3:23.51. For the men it was Afrik Tabahn, Daniel Speers, Justin Plaschka and Reed Fujan tapping in at 2:58.03 to conclude the day successfully for the Fighting Irish.
The Irish get on the bus tomorrow morning and head to the Chicagoland area to face Northwestern at 2 p.m. ET at the Norris Aquatics Center.
Fans can follow live results of the meet on both team Twitter accounts, @NDWSwimDive and @NDMensswimdive, with a complete recap posted to und.com at the conclusion of the meet.
– ND –
Sinhue Mendoza, athletic communications at the University of Notre Dame has been part of Fighting Irish Media since July of 2016 and oversees communications efforts for the Notre Dame swimming and diving program, manages media and broadcast credentialing for all sports while overseeing football and basketball game day media operations. Mendoza is a 2008 graduate of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University where he earned a degree in broadcast journalism and political science.