Notre Dame Men, West Virginia Women Lead After First Day of Notre Dame Invite

NOTRE DAME, Ind., Dec. 5. THE University of Notre Dame men and the West Virginia women lead after day one of the 2002 Notre Dame Invitational at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.

The Notre Dame men, behind strong relay performances and good depth, are in first with 555 points. Denison University is second with 359.50, while Wyoming and West Virginia are tied for third with 340 points. Indianapolis, behind the strength of two individual victories, is fourth with 241 points, while North Dakota (237.50), Wisconsin-Green Bay (213), Louisville (175), St. Louis University (150), Shippensburg (88) and Hillsdale College (26) round out the men's competition.

On the women's side, West Virginia rode a victory in the 400 medley relay to the top of the team race, finishing day one with 385.50 points. Denison is second with 335, while Iowa is third at 315. Wyoming is fourth with 272.50 points, while Bowling Green is nipping at their heels at 270. Indianapolis (216), North Dakota (212), Wisconsin-Green Bay (203), Northern Michigan (165), Louisville (164), St. Louis University (106), Shippensburg (73) and Hillsdale College (28) fill out the rest of the women's field. The Notre Dame women and Wisconsin-Milwaukee men and women only sent divers to the meet.

The evening started off with the women's 200-yard free relay with the Denison team of Sarah Peck, Erin Stanley, Lauren Clark and Chrissy Havach taking first place in an NCAA Division III qualifying time of 1:35.46. West Virginia was a close second in 1:36.42.

Notre Dame took first place in the men's 200-yard freestyle relay with Adam Cahill, Tim Randolph, Frank Krakowski and Jason Fitzpatrick narrowly touching out North Dakota. Notre Dame finished in 1:23.76, while the Sioux posted a time of 1:23.80. Indianapolis took third in 1:23.93.

In the women's 500 freestyle, Louisville's Lauren Bullock took first place by dominating the field and finishing in 5:02.87. Iowa's Katelyn Eustis was second in 5:04.83, while Bowling Green's Jesse Humes was third in 5:05.98.

North Dakota's Rodrigo Cintra set a NCAA Division II meet qualifying time finishing in 4:29.61 in the men's 500-yard freestyle. Kleyton Franca from West Virginia and Jerram Chudleigh of Wyoming rounding out the top three, with times of 4:30.31 and 4:30.82, respectively.

Megan Grunert of the University of Indianapolis swam an NCAA Division II qualifying time of 2:05.47 with her first-place finish in the women's 200 individual medley. Lauren Clark of Denison set a NCAA Division III qualifying time of 2:07.05 with her second-place finish, while Iowa's Andrea Hemphill was third in 2:07.54.

In what was the most exciting race of the night, Indianapolis' Orel Oral set a pool and meet record with his time of 1:50.14 in the men's 200 individual medley. Oral bested the previous record of 1:50.62 set by Denison's Aaron Cole in 1999. Notre Dame also had a strong race as Irish swimmers took second through fourth in the 200 IM. Freshman Jamie Lutkus was second in 1:53.65, while sophomore David Moisan was third in 1:53.75 and junior Josh Dermott was fourth in 1:54.66.

Dena Quick of Northern Michigan University won the women's 50 freestyle in a quick time of 23.94. Devlyn Quinn from West Virginia and Chrissy Havach from Denison placed second and third, respectively, in 24.09 and 24.28.

Indianapolis continued its strong meet as it won its second individual event of the event when Bruno Fonseca placed first in the men's 50 free. Fonseca blistered the field winning in a time of 20.51.Matt Drozd of West Virginia was second in 20.89, while Notre Dame sophomore Frank Krakowski and freshman Tim Randolph were third and fourth. Krakowski finished in 21.05, while Randolph touched in 21.27.

On the diving side of the competition pool, Notre Dame's Meghan Perry-Eaton won the women's one-meter diving event with 295.45 points. Iowa's Lisette Planken and Nancilea Underwood earned big points for the Hawkeyes in the team race as they placed second and third. Planken finished with 289.60, while her teammate was right on her heels with 286.20 points.

The men competed on the three-meter board Thursday with Louisville's Sean Wilkinson taking first in 539.40. Notre Dame's Tong Xie was second in 429.95, while teammate Joe Miller was third in 423.45.

In the 400-medley relay, West Virginia got back into the team competition with a first-place finish. The team of Lee Ann Johnston, Megan Carlson, Jackie Graulty and Quinn were first in 3:55.93. Iowa was second in 3:56.83, while North Dakota was third in 3:57.05.

Wyoming's team of Ethan Maclean, Scott Usher, Jerram Chudleigh and Grant Kritzinger won the men's 400 medley relay in 3:22.12. Notre Dame rode freshman Doug Bauman, senior Jason Fitzpatrick, Krakowski and Randolph to a second-place finish in 3:23.73. North Dakota was third in 3:24.64.

Day two of the Notre Dame Invitational will take place Friday with the preliminaries at 10 a.m. followed by the finals at 6:30 p.m. Admission to the event is free.

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