Dec. 1, 2005

Results

The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams began the 2005 Notre Dame Invitational in impressive fashion on Thursday, Dec. 1, as both teams took over first place in the team standings after day one of the three-day event. The first day was highlighted by the men dominating the 500 freestyle and 200 IM, grabbing nine of the top 10 finishes combined in the two races. For the Irish women, junior Jessica Stephens won the 200 IM with a career-best and NCAA consideration effort of 2:04.22.

The Irish men’s team also captured both relay races on Thursday, opening up a wide gap in the team standings.

The swimming and diving will continue on Friday, Dec. 2, with the preliminaries at 10:00 a.m., followed by finals at 6:30 p.m.

TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY ONE

WOMEN
1. Notre Dame, 555
2. Utah, 526
3. Truman State, 435
4. Wyoming, 295
5. North Dakota, 246
6. Indianapolis, 227
7. Saint Louis, 187
8. Hillsdale, 98
9. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 98*
10. Southern Illinois, 44*
11. Youngstown State, 22*

MEN
1. Notre Dame, 878.5
2. Utah, 474
3. North Dakota, 317
4. Truman State, 258.5
5. Indianapolis, 244
6. Wyoming, 242
7. Saint Louis, 119
8. Southern Illinois, 53*
9. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 49*

* – competing in diving only

DAY ONE NOTRE DAME RECAP:

The women’s team began the evening with a solid second-place effort in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of junior Katie Carroll, freshman Christa Riggins, sophomore Caroline Johnson and junior Rebecca Grove touched the wall in 1:35.26 -just off the team’s season-best of 1:35.00 from the Minnesota Invitational.

The men’s team began the first day of final races in fine fashion, placing first in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of junior Louis Cavadini, senior Tim Randolph, junior Nick Fanslau and junior Tim Kegelman rallied during the third leg to post a winning time of 1:22.82. The effort easily provides the team’s best of the 2005 season, besting the 1:26.73 time from the Dennis Stark Relays.

In men’s one-meter diving the Irish received a positive effort from sophomore Sam Stoner, who finished second with 328.75 points. The point total ended up as a season- and career-best for the Valparaiso, Ind., native.

Back in the pool, the women’s 500 freestyle group turned in a dominating performance, sweeping the top three spots in the championship final. Freshman Casey Wagner led the way with a time of 4:54.89, followed by classmate Claire Hutchinson (in a career-best 4:57.82) and junior Ellen Johnson (4:57.97). The one-two-three finish earned the Irish women’s team 87 team points in the first scored event of the three-day meet.

While the women’s 500 freestyle performance was dominating, the men’s team decided to rule the pool in the 500 free. Notre Dame finished first, second, third, fourth and fifth, led by sophomore Jay Vanden Berg’s 4:29.72 season-best effort. Vanden Berg was followed by junior Ted Brown (4:33.50), junior Brian Freeman (4:33.56), sophomore Job Seery (4:35.12) and senior Patrick Davis (4:35.12). The five swimmers posted 138 points toward the men’s team total after just one scored swimming event.

The Irish women came back to post a one-two finish in the 200 individual medley – the third swimming event of the evening on the women’s side. Junior Jessica Stephens led the way with an NCAA B cut effort time of 2:04.22 – a career-best time for the Bloomsburg, Pa., native. She was followed quickly by junior Ann Barton in second place, carding a season-best time of 2:05.83.

Truman State broke the Notre Dame men’s team win streak in the 200 individual medley with a solid swim from senior Josh Otis. He out-touched Notre Dame’s Tim Kegelman at the wall, finishing first in 1:52.65. Kegelman ended up second in 1:52.89, followed closely by senior Jamie Lutkus in 1:52.97, senior Brian Guarnier in 1:53.20 and senior Doug Bauman in 1:54.88. In back-to-back events (500 free, 200 IM), Notre Dame posted nine of the top 10 finishes in the championship final.

In the women’s 50 freestyle, Utah’s Amber Walter recorded an NCAA “B” cut during her first-place finish (23.18), but she was closely followed by Katie Carroll, competing in the 50 freestyle for the first time in 2005. Carroll’s time of 23.86 matched her career-best from the 2003 Texas A&M Invitational and is the second-best on the Irish squad this season.

Utah also won the men’s 50 freestyle, as Jonathan Larsen touched first in 20.60. Notre Dame’s Louis Cavadini finished third in a season-best 21.04.

Over in the diving well, the women’s team received a solid second-place finish from sophomore Tara Hyer, who compiled a point total of 313.45 – finishing behind Utah’s Kelsey Patterson. The 313.45 total marks a career-best effort for Hyer.

The 400 medley relay finished off the first evening of the 2005 Notre Dame Invitational. The women’s team finished in second place, touching in 3:50.54 behind Utah’s 3:49.02 effort. The Irish team was made up of Caroline Johnson, junior Julia Quinn, Casey Wagner and junior Rebecca Grove.

The men’s team finished off the first day with a victory in the 400 medley relay as the team of Doug Bauman, Tim Randolph, Tim Kegelman and Louis Cavadini cruised to victory in 3:23.10 – shaving close to two seconds off the team’s 2005-06 season-best time.