Notre Dame Swimming Hosts Day One of ACC Tri Meet With Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh

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SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame swimming hosted the first of a two days of an Atlantic Coast Conference Tri Meet involving Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh.

Notre Dame Press Release

The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team won five of the 10 events Friday night against fellow Atlantic Coast Conference members Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh, putting the Irish in prime position heading into Saturday’s final day of the double dual meet at Rolfs Aquatic Center.

The Irish trail the Hokies by 20 points, 102-82, and lead the Panthers, 110-74, with 10 events remaining.

“We raced well tonight just like we did last week,” said interim head coach Tim Welsh. “But it’s even more true this week, we were faster today than we were last Saturday. Step-by-step that’s progress in the right direction. If you compare times to last week, which was our best meet to date, we were not only faster tonight we were significantly faster. I think the team did a nice job and raced really well. The challenge is to come back and do it again tomorrow morning. Similar to championships, we are looking at a night to morning turnaround.”

Highlighting Friday’s action was a sweep of the competition on the 1-meter board, as senior Allison Casareto (298.75) and juniors Lindsey Streepey (284.80) and Emma Gaboury (283.65) claimed the top three spots with NCAA Zone C qualifying marks.

“The thing about it is that it’s very believable (the divers’ performance),” said Welsh. “They train that well and dive that well every week. God bless them, they do a great job.”

In the water, senior Emma Reaney won a pair of individual events in NCAA B cut times by claiming victory in the 100 fly (54.38) and 100 breast (1:01.04).

Sophomore Catherine Mulquin posted the other individual victory for Notre Dame on day one, as she touched the pad first in the 100 free (50.82).

In the relays, Notre Dame won the 200 medley in 1:42.59 with Mulquin, Reaney, senior Courtney Whyte and junior Catherine Galletti jumping off the block for the Irish.

Fellow sophomore Katie Miller finished in second in the 400 IM (4:24.52) and the 200 back (2:02.13), while the 200 free relay team of Mulquin, Galletti, Hannah Bowen and Genevieve Bradford opened Friday’s meet with a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay (1:34.72) by just .01 seconds.

The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team showed improvement Friday evening as they finished the first day of their double-dual meet ahead of Pittsburgh but behind defending Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Champions Virginia Tech. Through 10 events, the Irish earned three first-place victories and five runner-up finishes.

“The guys swam well tonight, and again we got good times,” Irish head coach Matt Tallman reflects. “But we’re getting touched out at the finishes. This meet is a lot closer than the score indicates because of that.”

The Irish got off to a good start with a first place win in the 200 free relay. The lineup of freshman Justin Plaschka, senior Zachary Stephens, junior Matthew Buerger and freshman Joseph Krause touched the wall in 1:21.94.

In the 400 IM, Tom Anderson came in second (3:59.47) to Virginia Tech’s Robert Owen (3:58.54). Anderson’s Irish teammates Kevin Bradley (4:03.69) and John Nappi (4:04.47) finished fifth and seventh respectively.

Veteran butterflier Jonathan Williamson placed fourth in the 100 fly (49.39) and not far behind, Plaschka finished sixth (50.19) and classmate Patrick Olson claimed seventh (50.24).

In the 200 back, The Irish earned third, fourth and fifth place finishes, behind a pair of Virginia Tech swimmers. Robert Whitacre had the top time with his 1:49.91 showing.

After sitting out the 100 breast last week versus Purdue, Stephens won out against Hokies foe Brandon Fiala, 54.93. Olson, Cameron Miller and Andrew Jensen were right behind the top two finishers as they placed third through fifth.

In the 100 free, Matthew Buerger put in a strong showing but could not edge in front of a pair of Virginia Tech swimmers. Buerger was narrowly out-touched by Lucas Bureau to finish third (45.74). Joining him in the top 10 were teammates Plaschka (fifth, 45.94), Michael Hudspith (seventh, 46.34) and Kevin Hughes (eighth, 46.55).

In the longest event of the evening, the Irish gave onlookers a preview of things to come with second, third and sixth-place finishes in the 1,650 free. Senior John Nappi finished second (15:56.64) but freshman Benjamin Jany pushed his senior teammate the whole way to finish third (15:59.09). Sophomore Joseph Petrone swam his way to a sixth-place finish with his 16:09.81 time.

The Irish swept the top two spots in the 200 medley relay with the A-team lineup of Whitacre, Miller, Plaschka and Stephens touching the wall in 1:30.68 and the B-team composite of Bogac Ayhan, Olson, Williamson and Krause clocking in at 1:31.46. The C-team relay Gabe Ostler, Jensen, Broderick Kelley and Jany claimed fifth with their 1:35.43 mark.

In the last event of the evening, Notre Dame took second and fifth in the 800 free relay. Hudspith, Kevin Hughes, Trent Jackson and Kevin Bradley teamed up and to log a 6:44.60 time, while Krause, Anderson, Harlin Bessire and Jany earned their fifth-place result with a 6:56.87 showing.

In diving, Michael Kreft had the top score in the men’s 3-meter event, placing second behind Virginia Tech’s Thomas Shinholser with his 335.85 score. The Irish earned additional scores from the diving blocks with Nick Nemetz’s fourth-place 323.35 score and Joseph Coumos’s 319.10, fifth-place showing.

Looking ahead to Saturday morning, Tallman says “Winning this meet is not out of reach; we’re swimming very well, we just have to hopefully get some things reversed tomorrow in our favor.

“Tomorrow should be a good day with a lot of key events for us – events that we swim well. We’ve got a good meet going with Pittsburgh, but we need to nip away at Virginia Tech’s lead in the morning,” he continues.

Virginia Tech Press Release

The Virginia Tech swimming & diving teams lead after the first session of a dual meet against Notre Dame and Pittsburgh on Friday night. The 12th-ranked H2Okie men won all but one of the individual events, and the women’s squad had top performances from their relay teams.

On the women’s side, Tech leads Notre Dame, 102-82, and is ahead of Pittsburgh, 125.50-58.50. For the men, the H2Okies are ahead of Notre Dame, 102-82, and lead Pittsburgh, 139-45.

“I thought we had a real strong first day,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “I like the racing mentality that we are showing. I also am impressed by our team’s desire to race to the finish. Hopefully, a good night’s rest will get us ready for a strong day two.”

Women’s meet
The H2Okies began the meet with a win in the 200 free relay where Margaret Parcell, Jessica Hespeler, Caroline Buscaglia and Holly Harper hit the wall in 1:34.71.

Fiona Donnelly continued the Tech success in the next race, taking the 400 IM in 4:21.60 with Laura Schwartz just behind her finishing third. In the 100 butterfly event, Klaudia Nazieblo and Maggie Gruber finished second and third, respectively.

Tech finished strong in the closing relays, taking second and fourth in the 200 medley relay and going one, two in the 800 free relay. The winning foursome of Donnelly, Buscaglia, Gabrielle Bishop and Emily Ryczek finished the race with a time of 7:31.46.

Men’s meet
Tech started off the competition taking second and third in the 200 free relay before Robert Owen picked up a win in the 400 IM, finishing in 3:58.54. After that, Morgan Latimer finished first in the 100 butterfly in 48.70. Two spots behind him, Owen Burns finished third.

Collin Higgins kept the winning-streak going in the 200 backstroke after finishing with an NCAA B-cut time of 1:46.21 ahead of second-place finisher Owen. In the 100 free, Owen Burns picked up another Tech win with a time of 44.43 and Lucas Bureau took second.

Jake Ores earned another Tech victory in the 1650 free with a time of 15:47.64 and Latimer, Bureau, Adam Stacklin and Burns won the 800 free relay in 6:26.23 to close out the night.
The only men’s diving competition for the evening was the 3-meter event, where Thomas Shinholser won with a score of 364.20 and Jared Butts finished third.

Pittsburgh Press Release

Unavailable

Results: ACC Tri Meet, Day One

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