Nov. 10, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams split their meets with Texas Christian University on November 7 at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The women, who improved to 3-0, won their meet in convincing fashion, 154.5- 99.5. The men, meanwhile, fell in a close meet (143-119) to drop to 0-2 in dual-meet competition.

Men’s Swimming and Diving – The Irish men lost in a close meet to TCU Saturday despite an outstanding performance by junior Ryan Verlin (Rye, N.Y.). Verlin won the 100 and 200 butterfly, placed third in the 200 individual medley and was a member of the winning 400 medley relay team. Other winners for the Irish included Jonathan Pierce (Newburgh, Pa.) in the 1000 freestyle and Dan Szilier (Norristown, Pa.) in the 200 breaststroke. TCU came out with the team win, taking first in the remaining nine events.

Notre Dame travels to the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday, Nov. 13, to take on the three-time defending BIG EAST champion Panthers. This weekend’s match-up will pit the number one and number two teams in the BIG EAST from last season. Losing only five letterwinners from last year, Pittsburgh returns the majority of their championship roster. The Panthers will be without Steve Siler, a two-time BIG EAST champion in the 200 backstroke, who graduated last season. The Irish return two BIG EAST champions of their own, Pierce (1650 free) and Szilier (200 breaststroke), and team captain Ray Fitzpatrick (Doylestown, Pa.), who was the runner-up in three BIG EAST individual freestyle events. Pittsburgh holds a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools, including a 180-115 victory in the two teams’ last dual-meet in 1996 at Notre Dame.

Women’s Swimming and Diving – The Notre Dame women’s swimming continues to impress with a win over TCU last weekend, winning first-place points in 11 of the 13 events. Kelly Hecking (Rutherford, N.J.) was a three-time winner, placing first in the 100 and 200 backstroke and was a member of the winning 400 medley relay. The Irish dominated the meet placing first through third in the 1000 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and the 100 freestyle.

The women’s swimming and diving team travels to Oxford, Ohio, on Friday, Nov. 12 for a quad-meet with Pittsburgh, Kenyon College and Miami (OH). Pittsburgh, Miami and Notre Dame all competed in a similar meet along with Purdue last season at Notre Dame. The Irish defeated all three opponents, beating Pittsburgh (194-106) Miami (218-82) and Purdue (195-105). Last year, Notre Dame won eight events overall, with Hecking and junior Carrie Nixon (Ouray, Colo.) each capturing three.

Irish Diving – Irish diving did not compete this weekend against TCU, but will return to action next weekend as the men take on Pittsburgh and the women take on Kenyon, Pittsburgh and Miami (OH).

Upcoming – The women travel to the championship-scoring Minnesota Invitational, November 19-21, in Minneapolis, Minn. The men play host to Western Ontario at 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 19, in the Rolfs Aquatic Center, in a recently added dual-meet. The men’s holiday competition also was announced as the Irish will travel to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., for a 1 p.m. meet with the Tigers.

WOMEN’S SCHEDULE

OCTOBER8        Notre Dame Relays                 1st of 820       Metro State/vs. Colorado St.      W 246-35/W 180-12022-23    Colorado State (Divers only)      8th of 10  
NOVEMBER6 TCU W 154.5-99.512 at Miami(OH)/vs. Pittsburgh/ 6:00 p.m. Kenyon College19-21 at Minnesota Invitational 11/6:00 p.m.
DECEMBER 2-4 at U.S. Open (San Antonio, Texas)2-4 Notre Dame Invitational 10/6:30 p.m.
JANUARY10 at St. Croix Invitational 4:00 p.m. (St. Croix, Virgin Islands)21 Northwestern/vs. Rice 5:30 p.m.22 Illinois 5:00 p.m.29 Michigan 6:00 p.m.
FEBRUARY17-19 at BIG EAST Championships 10/6:00 p.m. (Long Island, N.Y.) 26-27 Shamrock Classic 11/7:00 p.m.
MARCH10-11 at NCAA Zone Classic (Minneapolis, Minn.)16-18 at NCAA Championships (Indianapolis, Ind.)

MEN’S SCHEDULE

OCTOBER8       Notre Dame Relays                 1st of 721      at Air Force                      L 138-10522-23   Colorado State Invitational       2nd of 7       (Fort Collins, Colo.)
NOVEMBER6 Texas Christian L 143-11913 at Pittsburgh 9:00 a.m.19 Western Ontario 3:00 p.m.
DECEMBER2-4 Notre Dame Invitational 10/6:30 p.m.
JANUARY8 @LSU (Baton Rouge, La.) 1:00 p.m.15 at Cleveland State/vs. Niagara 1:00 p.m.21 Bill Ritter Invitational 5:30 p.m.22 Bill Ritter Invitational 10/3:30 p.m. (Milwaukee, Wis.)28 Milwaukee-Wisconsin 4:00 p.m.29 Oakland University 1:00 p.m.
FEBRUARY5 St.Bonaventure TBA17-19 BIG EAST Championships 10/6:00 p.m. (Long Island, N.Y.)26 Shamrock Classic 11/7:00 p.m.27 Shamrock Classic 10/6:00 p.m.
MARCH10-11 NCAA Zone C Diving TBA (Minneapolis, Minn.)23-25 NCAA Championships 12/7:00 p.m. (Minneapolis, Minn.)