COLUMBUS, Ohio — The University of Notre Dame swim and dive teams both finished second overall at the annual Ohio State Fall Invitational to wrap up the fall slate of competition. The women trailed only Stanford, tallying 2,011.50 points through three days of competition while the men were bested by just the home team in Ohio State, taking the second spot with 2,188 points overall.
Day three was highlighted by five top-five finishes by the women and 12 on the men’s side of the pool and combined for five program records in four events. Of their 12 individual event finishers in the top-five, three were first overall.
In the morning preliminary session Nikki Smith broke her own previous 200 fly record when she touched the wall in 1:56.18. She broke that record again in the evening, recording a time of 1:55.23 just a few hours later when she took third overall.
To begin the evening session, Lindsay Stone came out to shatter two records for the Irish women with her 1,650 time of 16:06.42. Her 1,000 split of 9:43.05 was also a program best to give her two school records in the 1,650 free swim. Her performance in the race also earned her a bronze individual finish.
The men’s program also saw a new best time when Aaron Schultz touched the wall in the 200 fly finals in 1:42.90. He became the first Irish swimmer to break the 1:43 mark in the event.
Zach Yeadon started the Irish men out strong in the finals, finishing with an NCAA best time (entering the weekend) of 14:39.60. Sadler McKeen took silver in the event to give the Irish the top-two finishers in the men’s race.
Jack Montesi also recorded a first place finish for the Irish men in the 200 back, finishing in 1:43.74. In the event, the team took four of the top-six places, with Will Cumberland (1:45.22) claiming third, Joe Turk (1:45.30) finishing right behind him in fourth and Nick Milikich (1:45.96) finishing sixth.
Abbie Dolan earned a third place finish in the 100 free with her time of 48.83 and an NCAA B cut.
Two Irish men finished in the top-three of the 200 breast with Josh Bottleberghe placing second in 1:57.61 and Andrew Winton taking third with a time of 1:58.23. Both men earned NCAA B cuts in the event with their placement.
The Irish women placed two in the top-five of the 200 fly when Nikki Smith finished third with a program-best time of 1:55.23. She just out-touched teammate Luciana Thomas who took fourth in 1:55.31. Not to be outdone by the women, Notre Dame’s men took three of the top-five spots and placed four in the top-10 of the 200 fly. Aaron Schultz, recording a historically best time for the Irish of 1:42.90, finished first overall, followed by Marci Barta in third with a time of 1:44.77. Zach Smith claimed the fourth spot, topping off the race with a time of 1:45.20 while Matt Grauslys finished seventh in 1:46.30.
Entering the final event of the day, the Irish women looked to hang on to that second place team standing. The relay team comprised of Abbie Dolan, Carly Quast, Skylar Fore and Lauren Heller took third with a final time of 3:17.51. The top men’s team for the Irish finished fourth as the evening wound down with Tabahn Afrik, Brendan Santana, Aaron Schultz and Zach Yeadon posting a time of 2:54.57.
Annie Wiese led the Irish divers, finishing fifth overall with an NCAA B cut score total of 234.7.
The team will now get a short break as they head into the holidays before resuming action in early January, 2019. The teams will split for a series of duals, with the women heading to Champaign, Illinois to take on Illinois and Iowa (January 11) while the men head to Iowa City, Iowa for a dual meet against the Hawkeyes (January 12).
WOMEN
1650 Free
3rd – 16:06.42 Lindsay Stone*
21st place – 16:48.90 Ellie Berdusco
22nd place – 16:51.06 Madeline LaPorte
28th place – 16:59.75 Rebecca Walton (TIE)
37th place – 17:13.98 Sammy Steigerwald
200 Back
6th place – 1:53.56 Alice Treuth*
9th place – 1:56.11 Bayley Stewart (prelims time was 1:54.12)*
12th place – 1:55.96 Kyra Sarazen*
27th place – 2:01.00 Reilly Lanigan
32nd place – 2:01.08 Claire Deselm
35th place – 2:04.16 Catie Brennan
100 Free
3rd place – 48.83 Abbie Dolan*
8th place – 49.73 Carly Quast**
9th place – 49.78 Skylar Fore
10th place – 49.92 Lauren Heller
T-17th place – 50.54 Sofia Revilak
19th place – 50.71 Kelly Jacob
21st place – 50.32 Rachel Wittmer
22nd place – 50.34 Katie Smith
24th place – 50.89 Cailey Grunhard
27th place – 51.01 Sinead Eksteen
200 Breast
12th place – 2:13.68 Meaghan O’Donnell*
15th place – 2:15.64 Sarah Nicholls
19th place – 2:19.16 Sammie Eyolfson
200 Fly
3rd place – 1:55.23 Nikki Smith*
4th place – 1:55.31 Luciana Thomas*
14th place – 1:58.87 Erin Sheehan*
15th place – 1:59.21 Katie Rentz*
26th place – 2:03.98 Paige Kaplan
34th place – 2:07.35 Tegan Sweeney
400 Free Relay
3rd place – 3:17.51 Abbie Dolan, Carly Quast, Skylar Fore, Lauren Heller
8th place – 3:21.59 Erin Sheehan, Kyra Sarazen, Sinead Eksteen, Katie Smith
9th place – 3:21.98 Cailey Grunhard, Rachel Wittmer, Sofia Revilak, Kelly Jacob
Platform Diving
5th place – 234.70 Annie Wiese*
9th place – 214.75 Kelly Straub
14th place – 195.90 Erin Isola
17th place – 169.05 Claire Andrews
20th place – 160.05 Kate McCahan
MEN
1650 Free
1st place – 14:39.60 Zach Yeadon*
2nd place – 15:07.94 Sadler McKeen*
200 Back
1st place – 1:43.74 Jack Montesi*
3rd place – 1:45.22 Will Cumberland
4th place – 1:45.30 Joe Turk
6th place – 1:45.96 Nick Milikich
10th place – 1:49.30 Sadler McKeen
23rd place – 1:50.12 John Paul Becker
100 Free
NCAA B (43.80)
NCAA A (41.88)
5th – 44.08 Tabahn Afrik
14th – 44.53 Brendan Santana
19th – 45.00 Dan Fujan
33rd – 45.93 Dan Bannon
200 Breast
2nd place – 1:57.61 Josh Bottelberghe*
3rd place – 1:58.23 Andrew Winton*
15th place – 2:01.86 Rex Riley
16th place – 2:02.27 Jack Russell
17th place – 2:02.55 Matthew Limbacher
24th place – 2:02.64 Steven Shek
28th place – 2:04.52 Luke Barrett
200 Fly
1st place – 1:42.90 Aaron Schultz*
3rd place – 1:44.77 Marci Barta*
4th – 1:45.20 Zachary Smith*
7th place – 1:46.30 Matt Grauslys*
400 Free Relay
4th place – 2:54.67 Tabahn Afrik, Brendan Santana, Aaron Schultz and Zach Yeadon
8th place – 2:58.65 Marci Barta, Matt Grauslys, Dan Fujan and Sadler McKeen
10th place – 2:59.57 Dan Bannon, Zach Smith, Jack Montesi and Rex Riley
Platform Diving
10th place – 221.45 David Petrison
12th place – 206.50 Cristian Herrera
* indicates NCAA B cut time
** indicates NCAA B cut time in preliminaries–ND–