Feb. 20, 2014
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Consider day one of the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships a success for the University of Notre Dame as the 200 medley relay squad punched its ticket to next month’s NCAA Championships with an impressive swim against some of the nation’s elite.
The foursome of freshman Catherine Mulquin, juniors Emma Reaney and Courtney Whyte and senior Kelly Ryan went fast to clinch a spot at nationals. How fast you ask? How about 1:37.61, which broke the school record set last year by more than a second, and placed the squad third in a race where the top six teams all locked up their invitations to Minneapolis, Minn., for the NCAA Championships from March 20-22. The NCAA A cut mark was 1:38.01 and the Irish blew past that time to pick up the first all-ACC accolades in school history.
“I’m so incredibly proud of this team tonight,” said head coach Brian Barnes. “Our first relay stepped up and knocked an `A’ cut out of the park. We started our meet with four girls qualifying for NCAAs and they all put in best times. They all came together at the same time like a great relay does. Then our 800 relay team came in and got a `B’ cut, which qualified two more girls for NCAAs. So we qualified six girls on night one.
“This meet is going to be competitive for us, but I think momentum is in our favor right now and we could get better every session. We are on our way to a heck of a conference meet and I couldn’t be happier. But we have three days coming up and now it’s time to dial in and be great.”
Later in the evening, the group of Reaney, Ryan, freshman Katie Miller and junior Suzanne Bessire took sixth in the 800 free relay in an NCAA B cut time of 7:11.92. The NCAA B cut mark to top was 7:12.21 and Notre Dame hit that with .29 to spare. The time locked in Miller and Bessire for the NCAAs, giving the Irish six qualifiers on day one.
Following the first day of competition, the Irish sit in a tie for fourth with Florida State (102 points), just six points behind second place teams North Carolina and NC State and 26 points behind first place squad Virginia.
Day two gets underway with prelims in the 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free beginning at 11 a.m. (ET). Diving will get underway a 1 p.m. (ET) with the men’s 3-meter. The women’s 1-meter is set for 3:30 p.m. (ET).
Admission to this year’s ACC Championships is free for fans. However, parking will be $8 a day or $15 for the week. Session passes that cover Wednesday through Saturday are only available for purchase the first two days of the meet.
Fans that can’t make it to Greensboro can watch the free live stream on theACC.com on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights with Dean Linke handling play-by-play and Frank Comfort adding color commentary.
Championship updates will be available on Facebook (/NDwSwimmingDiving) and Twitter (@NDwSwimming and @NDsidRuss – WSD Media Relations Director).
Team Standings (Through Two Events)
1. Virginia – 128
T-2. North Carolina – 108
T-2. NC State – 108
T-4. Florida State – 102
T-4. Notre Dame – 102
6. Virginia Tech – 96
7. Duke – 94
8. Pittsburgh – 90
9. Georgia Tech – 74
10. Miami – 72
11. Boston College – 66
Irish At The ACC Championships
NCAA A Cuts (1)
200 Medley Relay (1:37.61) – Catherine Mulquin / Emma Reaney / Courtney Whyte / Kelly Ryan
NCAA B Cuts (1)
800 Free Relay (7:11.92) – Emma Reaney / Kelly Ryan / Katie Miller / Suzanne Bessire
School Records (1)
200 Medley Relay (1:37.61) – Catherine Mulquin / Emma Reaney / Courtney Whyte / Kelly Ryan
All-ACC Honors (Relays)
200 Medley Relay (3rd – 1:37.61) – Catherine Mulquin / Emma Reaney / Courtney Whyte / Kelly Ryan
All-ACC Honors (Individual) (4)
Catherine Mulquin (Freshman)
3rd – 200 Medley Relay (1:37.61 – School Record)
Emma Reaney (Junior)
3rd – 200 Medley Relay (1:37.61 – School Record)
Courtney Whyte (Junior)
3rd – 200 Medley Relay (1:37.61 – School Record)
Kelly Ryan (Senior)
3rd – 200 Medley Relay (1:37.61 – School Record)
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
–ND–