Oct. 27, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams recently returned from their fall break training trips to Colorado. Between training sets, both teams competed in meets during the trip. The women’s team faced off against Metro State and Colorado State, while the men’s team took on Air Force. After their meet with Air Force, the men also competed in the Early Bird Invitational along with the women’s diving team.
Men’s Swimming and Diving – In their first dual meet of the season last Thursday, Oct. 22, the Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team fell to host Air Force by a score of 138-105 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Irish were led by Herb Huesman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jonathan Pierce (Newburgh, Ind.) who won two events apiece. Huesman placed first in the one and three-meter diving with scores of 283.95 and 228.53 respectively and Pierce won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:47.79 and the 1000 freestyle in 9:53.40. Other winners for the Irish included Ray Fitzpatrick (Doylestown, Pa.) in the 200 freestyle and Ryan Verlin (Rye, NY) in the 200 butterfly. The Falcons won seven of 13 events, including both relays, to pick up the team victory.
Following the loss to Air Force, the Irish men traveled to Fort Collins, Colo., to compete in Colorado State’s Early Bird Invitational. The Irish placed second out of seven teams behind Air Force in the two-day competition. Pierce continued his excellent showing by winning the 500 freestyle in 4:43.21, more than four seconds ahead of the nearest competitor, and placing second in the 1650 freestyle. Verlin improved on a good week, winning both the 400 individual medley (4:15.43) and the 200 butterfly (1:54.87). The Notre Dame 800 freestyle relay took first place as well with a time of 7:04.82. Also placing first for the Irish was David Horak (Dumfires, Va.) with a time of 53.45 in the 100 backstroke.
Women’s Swimming and Diving – The Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team defeated both Metro State (246-35) and Colorado State (180-120) to open their 1999-2000 dual meet schedule last Wednesday, Oct. 21, in Denver, Colo. Against Metro State, the Irish tallied first-place finishes in all 16 events, while Notre Dame won nine of 16 events versus Colorado State. Carrie Nixon (Ouray, Colo.) led the way for the Irish with wins in the 50 and 100 freestyle, 200 individual medley, and as a part of the 200 medley relay team. Kelly Hecking (Rutherford, N.J.) claimed three events, including the 100 backstroke and as a member of the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. Alison Newell (Parker, Colo.) and Kristen Van Saun (Lawrence, Kan.) each won overall event titles in the 200 butterfly and 1000 freestyle respectively, while Heather Mattingly (Houston, Texas) placed first in both the one and three-meter diving competitions. As a team, the Irish were impressive sweeping the first three places overall in the 1000 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley and one-meter diving.
Irish Diving – Both the men’s and women’s diving teams competed well during the trip to Colorado. Herb Huesman took first in both events against Air Force and second at the Early Bird Invitational.
The women’s diving team looked very impressive on the trip taking first and second in both one and three-meter events against Metro State and Colorado State and in the Early Bird Invitational where they scored 115 team points by themselves. Heather Mattingly qualified for the NCAA Zone C Diving Meet in both the one-meter (277.50 for six dives and 418.95 for 10 dives) and three-meter diving competitions (290.70 for six dives and 461.85 for 11 dives). Senior Gina Ketelhohn (Brown Deer, Wis.) also qualified for the zone diving meet on the one-meter board with a score of 261.00 for six dives and 393.00 for 10 dives.
Upcoming – Both teams return home for dual meets, Saturday, Nov. 6, versus Texas Christian University at 1 p.m. in the Rolfs Aquatic Center. Following that, the women travel to Miami, Ohio, to face Miami University and the University of Pittsburgh on November 12. The men travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. to take on the defending BIG EAST champion University of Pittsburgh Panthers on November 13.
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 1:00 p.m.12 at Miami(OH)/vs. Pittsburgh 6:00 p.m. 19-21 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.) Home meets in bold. All times local to site.Home meets held at Rolfs Aquatic Center.
MEN’S SCHEDULE
OCTOBER8 Notre Dame Relays 1st of 721 at Air Force L 138-10522 Colorado State Invitational 23 Colorado State Invitational 2nd of 7 (Fort Collins, Colo.)
NOVEMBER6 Texas Christian 1:00 p.m.13 at Pittsburgh 9:00 a.m.
DECEMBER2-4 Notre Dame Invitational 10/6:30 p.m.
JANUARYTBA Holiday Competition TBA15 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.) Home meets in bold. All times local to site.Home meets held at Rolfs Aquatic Center.