INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, February 21. WITH the winner of the men's 400-free relay poised to take home the title, Notre Dame inched by Louisville to win its second straight BIG EAST Championship with 782.5 points at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis, Ind. The Fighting Irish women won their 13th straight title in commanding fashion with 828 points.
Louisville finished second overall on the men's side with 773 points, giving the Irish the title by just a 9.5 point margin. Pittsburgh rounded out the top three with 442.5 points. The Cardinals were also the runner-up for the women, accumulating 581 points. Pittsburgh finished third in the women's standings with 492.5 points.
After four days and 40 events, 25 meet records fell, including six during session seven.
West Virginia junior Morgan Callaway was named the women's BIG EAST Most Outstanding Swimmer, while Notre Date junior Natalie Stitt grabbed the women's Most Outstanding Diver award.
Cincinnati junior Josh Schneider was awarded the men's BIG EAST Most Outstanding Swimmer honor. Pittsburgh senior Alex Volovetski was named the men's Most Outstanding Diver.
Louisville head coach Arthur Albiero was awarded the men's BIG EAST Swimming Coach of the Year, while Pittsburgh's Julian Krug took men's Diving Coach of the Year honors.
Notre Dame swept the women's BIG EAST coaching awards. The Swimming Coach of the Year honor went to Brian Barnes and the women's Diving Coach of the Year award was given to Cai Ming Xie.
The grinding women's 1,650-free opened the championship's final session. West Virginia senior Lindsay Largo went the distance, winning in 16:22.31. Largo's finish was good for an NCAA ‘B' cut. Junior Amanda Henleben of Louisville finished second in 16:32.26 and touching third was Lauren Sylvester in 16:34.68.
Notre Dame claimed the men's 1,650-free with a first-place finish of 15:26.43 by junior Andrew Deters. Deters was the clear winner, as the next finisher was over eight seconds behind. Cincinnati sophomore Stephen Cunningham took second in 15:34.77 and Bearcat sophomore Nathan Williams finished third in 15:34.85.
A pair of NCAA ‘B' cuts were reached in the women's 200-back. West Virginia won its second straight event of the night as junior Morgan Callaway finished in 1:55.65. Rutgers placed the next two swimmers as sophomore's Catherine Whetstone touched in 1:56.33 and Kirsten Fontana took third in 1:58.01.
Louisville broke into the win column of session seven with a first-place showing in the men's 200-back. Freshman Pedro Oliveira touched in 1:44.86, earning the only ‘B' cut of the event in the win. Notre Dame sophomore Michael Sullivan finished second in 1:45.10 and Connecticut sophomore Alex Davidson finished third in 1:46.02.
West Virginia's women continued their hot streak with a win in the 100-free. Junior Kayla Andrews registered the first-place time in 48.53. Notre Dame sophomore Amywren Miller touched second in 49.14 and Louisville junior Whitney Campbell finished third in 49.51. All of the top-three finishers made the NCAA ‘B' cut.
Josh Schneider broke the record he had set from the morning session in the men's 100-free with a 43.08 first-place showing. Schneider, along with the next two finishers, all earned a ‘B' cut with their times. Notre Dame junior John Lytle took second place in 43.46, while Louisville freshman Brendon Andrews finished just behind Lytle in 43.54.
Notre Dame snapped the women Mountaineers' three-event streak with a win in the 200-breast. Sophomore Samantha Maxwell reached the wall in 2:10.35, breaking her own meet record set in the morning session. Louisville sophomore Therese Bergstrom finished second in 2:12.62. Connecticut freshman Caitlin Gallagher took third in 2:15.33. Maxwell, Bergstrom, Gallagher and fourth-place finisher, Pittsburgh sophomore Laura Barnes, all completed an NCAA ‘B' cut time.
Another meet record fell in the men's 200-breast as Louisville junior Carlos Almeida finished first in 1:55.21. West Virginia senior Michael Walker touched second in 1:55.72. Another Cardinal, senior Vali Preda, finished in third place (1:56.95). All three finishes made the ‘B' cut, as well as Syracuse sophomore Kuba Kotynia in fourth place (1:57.75).
Notre Dame's women won their second straight event with a 200-fly first-place showing by sophomore Katie Kessey (1:57.72). Kessey's finish was good for a ‘B' cut. No other swimmers broke the 2:00 mark, as Notre Dame sophomore Kellyn Kuhlke touched second in 2:00.77 and Fighting Irish senior Claire Hutchinson finished third in 2:00.82.
Oliveira won his second event of the night in the men's 200-fly with a 1:43.51 first-place finish. The top four finishers qualified for a ‘B' cut. In second was Cardinal senior Adam Madarassy who finished in 1:43.68. West Virginia senior Pablo Marmolejo touched third in 1:44.03 and Notre Dame junior Mack Leblanc was fourth in 1:45.06.
Notre Dame junior Natalie Stitt took top honors in the women's 3-meter dive with a score of 294.30. Connecticut senior Liza Marianni finished second with 284.65 points and Notre Dame sophomore Heidi Grossman rounded out the top three with 284.30.
Louisville took first place in the women's 400-free relay with a time of 3:18.16. The Cardinals mark broke the meet record and made the ‘B' cut. West Virginia's squad finished second in 3:18.20 and Notre Dame was third to touch in 3:21.61. Making up Louisville's winning team were juniors Whitney Campbell, Anna Dishuck, Liz Halet and sophomore Sarah Andrews.
In the race that would decide the men's title, Notre Dame edged Louisville to take top honors in a meet-record 2:54.08. The Cardinals touched the wall in 2:54.40 to take second place. Though the top two were alone in the battle for the win, Pittsburgh made a strong third-place showing in 2:57.42. The squad that gave the Fighting Irish the championship title consisted of juniors John Lytle and Andrew Hoffman, sophomore Josh Nosal and senior Danny Lutkus.
Special thanks to Big East for contributing this report.
Results: Big East Championships
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