Dec. 2, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Freshman Emma Reaney started the Ohio State Invitational off with a bang and finished with an exclamation point for the Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team Friday at McCorckle Aquatic Pavilion. Reaney went 1:58.47 in the prelims of the 200 individual medley to break Katie Carroll’s school record (2:00.09) set at the 2007 NCAA Championships and bettered that performance with a meet-record and NCAA B-cut 1:57.67 in the finals.
Reaney’s gold-worthy swim was over two seconds faster than that of second-place Merritt Krawczyk (1:59.70) of Penn State.
Reaney became the second freshman in the last two seasons to find a place in the Irish record books, following in the footsteps of teammate Kelly Ryan, who was a part of the school record 400 medley relay team (3:35.89) set during the 2011 BIG EAST Conference Championships.
Reaney is also undefeated (5-0) on the season in both the 200 and 400 IM events.
Ohio State (280) leads the five-team field after the first day of competition with Notre Dame (182) sitting in fourth place.
“We had a very good morning session and were able to carry that momentum into the evening,” head coach Brian Barnes said. “We definitely showed that we had enough left in the tank to post some great swims.”
The meet also featured time trials during the afternoon with United States Olympic Trials spots on the line. A pair of Irish swimmers punched their ticket to next summer’s United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., as Amy Prestinario qualified in the 100 fly (1:01.91) and Christen McDonough qualified in the 100 breast (1:12.10).
Notre Dame returns to action with Saturday’s preliminary session at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
200 Freestyle Relay
The Irish were aided by Ryan, Prestinario, Hannah Bowen and Lauren Scott to tap in with a fourth-place finish in 1:32.26 for an NCAA B-cut.
500 Yard Freestyle
Jamie Malandra advanced to the finals after going 4:53.99 in the morning session, followed by an eighth-place swim in 4:54.72.
200 Yard Individual Medley
In addition to Reaney’s first-place finish, Lauren Scott (2:03.91) and Emily Barton (2:05.03) finished 11th and 14th, respectively, in the finals. Both performers went 2:04.67 in the morning session.
50 Yard Freestyle
Ryan churned through the water in 23.17 to claim fourth in her morning swim and held on to finish eighth in 23.21 during the finals. Two spots behind was Bowen (23.27) who tapped in just before Presintario (23.48). Prestinario touched the wall in 23.39 in the prelims.
400 Yard Medley Relay
Notre Dame ended the day on a strong note by claiming another NCAA B-cut in 3:39.59. That mark was achieved behind the efforts of Ryan, Reaney, Sarah Dotzel and Prestinario.
1-meter Diving
Four divers finished among the top 12, highlighted by Jenny Chiang’s 293.30 total off the low board. Chiang was one spot ahead of third-place Allison Casareto (285.10). Russell Jordan (231.65) was eighth as Kim Lisiak (197.65) rounded out the field in 12th.
–ND–