Feb. 19, 2004
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Freshman Tim Kegelman (Yorktown, Va./Tabb H.S.) became the first Notre Dame swimmer ever to crack the 1:50.00 mark in the 200-yard individual medley, as he broke the University record en route to being the top qualifier in the event Thursday morning in preliminary action at the BIG EAST Championships in the Nassau County Aquatic Center. Kegelman led a dozen Irish student-athletes who qualified for the evening finals.
Kegelman finished the 200 IM in 1:49.68, breaking the oldest mark in the Irish record books, 1:50.68 by Scott Zumbach (’99) in the 1999 BIG EAST Championships. It was good enough for an NCAA “B” time – the first for an Irish swimmer this season – which means Kegelman will be considered for a berth in next month’s NCAA Championships. Heading into the meet, he ranked 11th in the conference – and fifth on the team – in the event. Kegelman lopped 3.36 seconds off his previous best time of 1:53.04.
Senior Josh Dermott (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Rio Americano H.S.) and sophomore Jamie Lutkus (Granger, Ind./Penn H.S.) gave Notre Dame three of the top five qualifiers in the 200 IM, with both reaching the final for the second consecutive season. Dermott’s career-best time of 1:51.13 was good enough for fourth, while standing tied for the fourth-quickest mark in school history. Lutkus’ 1:51.16 was fifth, the same spot he finished in last year’s meet, in which Dermott was seventh.
Freshman Scott Coyle (Indianapolis, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern H.S.), Notre Dame’s lone diver, finished seventh in three-meter diving with a score of 425.65 to advance to the final.
Freshman Ted Brown (Kokomo, Ind./Western H.S.) and senior co-captain Matt Obringer (Jacksonville, Fla./The Bolles School) qualified third and fourth, respectively in the 500 free. Brown’s season-best time of 4:27.86 was just off the school record of 4:27.39 by Jonathan Pierce (’02) in 1999, while Obringer cut nearly four seconds off his previous season-best time to finish in 4:28.61.
Sophomore Patrick Davis (Clearwater, Fla./Jesuit H.S.) and junior Matt Bertke (Edgewood, Ky./Covington Catholic H.S.) made the consolation final. Davis was 10th in 4:30.59, a career best by nearly three seconds, while Bertke finished 15th in 4:32.58, shaving 5.50 seconds off his previous season best. Freshman Justin Barber (Carson City, Nev./Carson H.S.) missed the consolation final by .09 seconds, taking 17th in 4:33.58. His time was nearly eight seconds better than his previous season best.
Junior David Moisan (Fisherville, Ky./Louisville Male H.S.) and freshman Alan Carter (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park H.S.) will swim in the consolation final of the 200 IM. Moisan’s 1:52.08 was the best time of his career and good enough for 10th, while Carter came in at 1:52.30 with his best time of the season.
Notre Dame has a pair of competitors in the consolation final of the 50 free. Junior Frank Krakowski (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Preparatory School), the University recordholder, was 15th in a season-best 20.86, while sophomore Tim Randolph (Crown Point, Ind./Merrillville H.S.) and freshman Louis Cavadini (South Bend, Ind./Riley H.S.) tied for 16th in 20.91. In a swim-off for the final spot in the consolation final, Randolph prevailed in 20.90, while Cavadini went 21.07.
Sophomore Patrick O’Berry (Alpharetta, Ga./Milton H.S.) finished 23rd in the 500 free with a career-best time of 4:36.20, while freshman Chris Zeches (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic H.S.) was 28th in 4:40.72.
In the 200 IM, sophomore Patrick Heffernan (Norcross, Ga./Norcross H.S.) cut more than 2.5 seconds off his season best in establishing a new quickest career time and finishing 21st in 1:54.36, while freshman Nick Fanslau (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn H.S.) was right behind with a time of 1:54.65. Freshman Brian Freeman (Sanger, Calif./Immanuel H.S.) was 26th in 1:55.10
Junior Drew Pittman (Williamsburg, Va./Lafayette H.S.) finished 28th in the 50 free with a time of 21.15.
Thursday’s finals will feature the four events that had preliminaries, as well as the 200 free and 400 medley relays. Each individual swimming race has a final featuring the top eight competitors from prelims, as well as a consolation final featuring the next eight. Anyone swimming at night scores points for his team. In diving, the top eight advance to the finals, but the next eight also score points based on their preliminary totals. All teams with at least four student-athletes qualified for the meet may field one relay team in every race. Those are contested only at night and in two heats: one with the teams holding the top six times from the regular season and one with all other teams.
Notre Dame is seeded fifth in the 200 free with a time of 1:22.41 and fourth in the 400 medley in 3:22.71.