Feb. 15, 2012
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Behind a pair of third place finishes from the 800 free and 200 medley relay teams, Notre Dame sits in second place after day one at the BIG EAST Women’s Swimming Championships held at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool.
The Irish, who earned 71 points from their divers at last week’s BIG EAST Women’s Diving Championships, currently have 135 points, which trails reigning BIG EAST Champion Louisville (144 points) by just nine points heading into day two.
Earning a pair of all-BIG EAST medals on the day were senior Amy Prestinario and freshman Emma Reaney. Prestinario now has 10 all-BIG EAST citations in her career. Sophomore Kelly Ryan picked up her seventh all-BIG EAST scroll, while junior Kim Holden earned her 12th. Sophomore Sarah Dotzel and freshman Suzanne Bessire earned their first all-BIG EAST medals.
Day two begins at 10 a.m. with the women’s 500 free prelims. As a reminder to fans, the meet is being streamed live by the BIG EAST, with links to the meet central page on UND.com.
Complete Results
800 FREE RELAY: The Irish opened the meet with a third place showing in the 800 free relay in a NCAA B-cut time of 7:15.31. The team of Prestinario, Ryan, Bessire and Reaney earned all-BIG EAST accolades, marking the first Irish 800 free team to claim all-BIG EAST honors since 2009, when the team of Megan Farrell, Prestinario, Lauren Sylvester and Christa Riggins won the title in 7:13.51, which is still the Notre Dame record. The third place finish gave the Irish 32 points, which ups their total to 103. The time was also the fastest swam all year by Notre Dame by over six seconds (7:21.79).
West Virginia claimed first, setting a new meet and pool record (7:06.87).
200 MEDLEY RELAY: Notre Dame earned its second third-place finish on the evening as the 200 medley relay team (1:40.94) finished behind Louisville (1:38.68) and West Virginia (1:39.99). Earning all-BIG EAST honors were Holden, Reaney, Dotzel and Prestinario. The time was the fastest on the year for the Irish by over two seconds (1:42.75).
Team Standings
1. Louisville 144 points
2. Notre Dame 135 points
3. Connecticut 108 points
4. Rutgers 101 points
5. West Virginia 88 points
6. Villanova 76 points
7. Pittsburgh 63 points
8. Cincinnati 52 points
9. Seton Hall 36 points
10. Providence 27 points
11. Georgetown 26 points
–ND–