Dec. 5, 2003
The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team continued competition at the 2003 Notre Dame Invitational on Friday, Dec. 5, and are currently second in the team rankings behind Bowling Green with 684 points. Swimming and diving continues tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 6, as the Irish continue to climb the meet standings.
Three individuals provided the top efforts for the Irish on Friday evening. Freshman Katie Carroll won the 400 IM with a solid 4:24.38 effort, besting her preliminary time by four seconds. Teammate Lisa Garcia was equally successful in the 100 butterfly, touching first in 56.83. Senior Lisa D’Olier was eighth (59.28) in the finals of the 100 fly.
Sophomore Courtney Choura was also first in her event, the 100 breaststroke, winning in a time of 1:04.67. Choura barely touched out second-place Megan Grunert of Indianapolis in less than .01 of a second as Grunert was timed in 1:04.68. Louisville’s Heather Meng was third in 1:05.84.
The 800 freestyle relay team ended the night on a high note for the Irish, taking first place in 7:35.03. The team consisted of junior Georgia Healey, Freshman Ann Barton, Garcia and Carroll.
Junior Kristen Peterson represented Notre Dame in the 100 backstroke and qualified for the finals, eventually finishing third in 59.35.
AT THE U.S. Open – In a precursor to the Olympic Trials, Heidi Hendrick, Marie Labosky and Rebecca Grove continued competition with the nation’s elite swimmers at the U.S. Open in Federal Way, Wash. Labosky posted the top effort of the three Irish swimmers, finishing 29th (5:01.24) in her specialty event, the 400 IM. Grove took 56th in the 100 backstroke (1:08.18), while Hendrick was 127th (2:13.90) in the 200 freestyle.