Dec. 4, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. & ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Notre Dame’s women’s diving team, as well as one swimmer, took part in the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday in the Rolfs Aquatic Center, with fifth-year senior Meghan Perry-Eaton (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale H.S.) leading the way by winning the three-meter diving competition for the second year in a row. Notre Dame’s swimmers, meanwhile, opened action in its final meet of the fall semester, the Georgia Fall Invitational, Friday in the Gabrielsen Natatorium. The Irish scored 60 points on the opening day to stand in sixth place in the ultra-competitive meet featuring four nationally-ranked teams.
Perry-Eaton, the school recordholder in the event, finished first with a score of 536.55 points, while freshman Laura Rings (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls) took second with a score of 455.25. Another rookie, Tara Hyer (Tampa, Fla./Academy of the Holy Names), ended up fifth with a score of 403.75. Perry-Eaton has been beaten just one time this season, and she is 7-0 in three-meter action.
Irish sophomore Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy), the 2004 BIG EAST Championships Most Outstanding Swimmer, returned to action after missing more than two months of action due to injury. She swam the 200-yard freestyle for the first time this season and finished third with a finals time of 1:53.03 after qualifying in the same position with a 1:53.82. Carroll and Notre Dame’s divers have accumulated 216 points, putting the Irish in ninth place out of 13 in the team standings, despite competing with only four student-athletes.
Truman State, the defending NCAA Division II national champions, leads the Notre Dame Invitational after two days with 1,154 points, while the University of Denver is next with 1,023.5 points.
The Bulldogs, the #1 team in the nation and meet host, lead the Georgia Fall Invitational with 376 points, while eighth-ranked California is next with 244.
Notre Dame’s top finisher in the Georgia Fall Invitational was sophomore Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg H.S.), who finished seventh in the 200 individual medley with a finals time of 2:05.96. In the morning session, she posted a career-best mark of 2:05.61.
The C final of the 200 IM featured five Irish swimmers. Sophomore Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain H.S.) was the top finisher, coming in 19th with a time of 2:08.41 after posting a season best in prelims (2:07.71). Her sister, senior co-captain Kelli Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral H.S.), ended up 21st in 2:09.00 after notching a career-best mark of 2:08.76 in the morning. Notre Dame’s other co-captain, senior Georgia Healey (New York, N.Y./Trinity School), finished 22nd with a time of 2:09.35 that was more than 3.5 seconds quicker than her season-best time prior to Friday. Rookie Laura Stafford (Georgetown, Grand Cayman/Cayman Prep and H.S.) notched a collegiate best – by more than four seconds – with a time of 2:09.13 in the prelims before taking 23rd in the evening. Junior Courtney Choura (Bridgeville, Pa./Oakland Catholic H.S.) took 24th after registering a prelims time of 2:09.50 that was nearly four seconds quicker than her previous season best. Rookie Natalie Burke (Cape Town, South Africa/Reddam House College) beat her previous collegiate-best time by more than three seconds, ending 27th in 2:10.24.
Sophomore Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) was Notre Dame’s top finisher in the 500 free, ending 19th with a time of 4:57.73. Freshman Morgan Bullock (Stamford, Conn./Westhill H.S.) was Notre Dame’s next-best performer, as she swam a collegiate best by nearly eight seconds, taking 30th with a time of 5:07.92.
In the 50 freestyle, freshman Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.) led the Irish with a 20th-place finish. She went 23.89 in the morning and then improved upon that time at night, posting a collegiate-best 23.82 that makes her tied for ninth among Notre Dame’s all-time quickest swimmers in the event. Sophomore Rebecca Grove (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown H.S.) posted a season-best, with a time of 24.24 that was good for 29th place.
In the first event of the evening, the Irish finished 11th in the 200 freestyle relay with a team season-best time of 1:37.59 turned in by sophomore Krissy Archer (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory H.S.), Grove, freshman Katie Guida (Alexandria, Va./Georgetown Visitation Prep School), and Caroline Johnson.
In the opening day’s final race, Notre Dame ended 10th in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:49.95 turned in by Caroline Johnson, Stephens, junior Christel Bouvron (Singapore, Singapore/Raffles Girls’ Secondary School), and Grove.
The Irish will continue action in the Georgia Invitational on Saturday. Fans can follow the meet via live results and live streaming video available via the University of Georgia’s official athletics website, www.georgiadogs.com.