Jan. 28, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After breaking three different team records and another two pool records in the first-day of action of the 2017 Shamrock Invitational, Notre Dame concluded its annual meet with another record setting effort at the Rolfs Aquatic Center Saturday. The Fighting Irish men ran away with the team title (1192.5 points), while the women came in second (1053) behind Wisconsin (1194.5).
The men bested the Badgers (1007), Grand Canyon (721) and Missouri State (514.5). The women finished behind Wisconsin, but well ahead of Grand Canyon (596), Nebraska (501.5) and Clemson (107, who only competed in women’s diving).
STANDOUT SWIMS
More Records at the Rolfs
The male quartet of Robby Whitacre, Trent Jackson, Justin Plaschka and Daniel Speers broke the men’s 200 medley relay pool record with a time of 1:27.51. The previous pool record was 1:27.67. The record-setting swim came during Jackson’s last home meet of his career as the senior will graduate in the spring.
Abbie Dolan continued her impressive rookie campaign. The Irish freshmen essentially broke the 200 free record for the Rolfs Aquatic center twice. She won the 200 free with a time of 1:47.00, besting the previous mark of 1:47.14. Dolan’s initial mark wouldn’t last long. She swam 1:46.93 in the leadoff leg of the 800 free relay. The team of Dolan, Lauren Heller, Reilly Lanigan and Kyra Sarazen won the event with a time of 7:15.11.
Men’s 400 IM
Senior Tommy Anderson won the 400 IM with a time of 3:53.51. Teammate and fellow senior Kevin Bradley was not far behind taking third place with a time of 3:55.58.
Women’s 100 Breast
Sherri McIntee won the event with a time of 1:02.29 and teammate Meaghan O’Donnell came in third tapping the wall at 1:02.52.
COACH LITZINGER’S THOUGHTS
On his feelings after the Shamrock Invitationalââ’¬¦
“It was an incredible competition and that’s the reason we set this meet as we do. It’s a lot of swimming in 24 hours, but it’s worth it when you have the quality of teams like Wisconsin, Missouri State and Grand Canyon. Every team here set a pool record this weekend. This invitational is not for the faint of heart. It’s conference time. It’s time to get ready and that’s what this meet did for us.”
On how he feels after the meet and looking towards the ACC Championshipsââ’¬¦
“I feel really good but we still have a lot of work to do as a team as we project towards the future. We improved our seed times in some areas and we had some kids do some really special things. We’ll have our moments at the ACCs and I feel pretty good heading into it.”
On his seniorsââ’¬¦
“They’ve been super and great. They’ve served our team and our University in a great way. I’m looking forward to sending them off at a championship level. They’ve done a great job for us and we’re going to miss them dearly. “
SHAMROCK INVITATIONAL MEET NOTES
– Alice Treuth, Sherri McIntee, Sofia Revilak and Abbie Dolan scored second place points for the Irish women in the women’s 200 medley relay clocking in at 1:41.90.
– Katie Miller took third in the women’s 400 IM with a time of 4:25.45.
– Senior Trent Jackson earned second in the men’s 100 breast clocking a time of 55.82.
– Alice Treuth captured second in the 100 back with a time of 55.20 and senior teammate Catherine Mulquin finished third tapping the board at 55.36. Treuth also earned second in the 200 back with time of 1:56.50.
– Reed Fujan, Tabahn, Afrik, Trent Jackson, and Aaron Schultz earned second in the men’s 800 free relay with a time of 6:34.02.
– Robby Whitacre and Jack Montesi earned second and third, respectively, in the men’s 100 back. Whitacre clocked in at 48.86, while Montesi finished with a time of 49.93. Whitacre also came in second in the 200 backstroke tapping the wall at 1:45.71.
– Nikki Smith placed second in the women’s 400 fly clocking in at 54.72.
– Tabahn Afrik finished second in the men’s 200 free with a time of 1:37.05. Senior Reed Fujan came in third placed (1:37.45).
– Molly Treble earned key points for the Irish finishing second in the women’s 1650 free with a time of 16:56.29
– Senior Trent Jackson earned second place in the men’s 200 breast clocking in at 2:01.00.
– Nikki Smith came in second in the women’s 200 fly touching the wall at 1:59.98.
– Senior Joe Petrone gave the Irish second-place points tapping the board in the men’s 200 fly at 1:48.49.
– The women’s 400 free relay team of Abbie Dolan, Catherine Mulquin, Lauren Heller and Sofia Revilak came in second place with a time of 3:18.26. The time would’ve been good enough to break the pool record but the Wisconsin relay quartet went just a little faster (3:17.78).
– Notre Dame’s men’s 400 free relay team of Tabahn Afrik, Daniel Speers, Reed Fujan and Justin Plaschka placed second in the event with a time of 2:54.87.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Irish are back in the pool when they travel downstate to Muncie, Indiana, to face Ball State at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4. Fans can follow the meet on both team Twitter accounts, @NDWSwimDive and @NDMensswimdive. A complete recap of action will get posted to und.com.