Notre Dame Women Drop Michigan State

Emma Reaney places second in the prelims of the 200 breaststroke.

Photo Credit: Peter H. Bick

NOTRE DAME, Indiana, October 3. THE University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team registered 1-2 finishes in eight of 16 events tonight to take down Michigan State 182-118 in the team’s first dual meet of the season. American record-holder Emma Reaney won the 100 and 200 breast, while six others picked up wins to lead the Fighting Irish to their first win of the season.

Notre Dame Press Release

The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team opened its 2014-15 campaign in style Friday night at Rolfs Aquatic Center, as the Irish rolled to a 182-118 victory over Michigan State. The Irish collected 11 victories on the day while also registering 11 runner-up finishes against the Spartans from the Big Ten.

Led by interim head coach Tim Welsh, seven different Notre Dame (1-0) women won an individual event on the evening including Elizabeth House, Catherin Mulquin, Emma Reaney, Bridget Casey, Catherine Galletti, Katie Miller and Lindsey Streepey. The Irish used one-two finishes in the 200 medley relay, 200 free, 100 back, 200 fly, 50 free, 100 free, 200 back and 3-meter springboard to distance themselves from the Spartans (0-1).

“I thought it was a very solid performance from start to finish,” said Welsh, who is in his second term with the Irish women after coaching them from 1985-95. “I thought our balance looked good and our fitness was ok. Overall it was a good start for the team.”

Welsh used the meet against the Spartans as a barometer for where his Irish team is early in the season.

“We looked at today as a definition of where we are right now,” explained Welsh. “Most of the people swam what they want to focus on for the year. It was a chance to get a good look. We wanted to draw a line under this at the end of the day and say that is where we are.”

Mulquin, who represented the Irish at last year’s NCAA Championships, started her season off on a high note, registering two individual victories (100 back, 100 free), one relay victory (200 medley relay) and an additional individual runner-up performance (50 free) against Michigan State.

“As a team we swam well today. The start (of the season) has been pretty brutal, so it was good to be able to see some of the times we saw tonight knowing we aren’t rested and are pretty broken down,” said Mulquin. “It really shows potential for the rest of the season.”

Galletti returned to the pool after coming back from a season-ending hip injury last season and collected one individual victory (50 free), one individual runner-up performance (100 free) and was also part of the victorious 200 medley relay.

“It just felt good to be back and to race with the team again,” said Galletti. “The most painful thing about being out was missing that experience of the team. I think I swam well considering I’m still on the path to coming back. It’s going to take a lot of hard work. When it comes down to it, our team has a bunch of hard-working girls who have a lot of heart.”

Senior American record-holder Emma Reaney collected two individual victories (100 and 200 breast) against Michigan State and would have registered her third win (200 IM) had she not been swam as an exhibition swimmer in the event.

On the boards, junior diver Lindsey Streepey swept both events, claiming victory off both the 1- and 3-meter springboards.

The Irish return to Rolfs next weekend for the 50th annual Dennis Stark Relay next Friday, Oct. 10th. The meet is scheduled to begin at 5 pm.

Michigan State Press Release

The Michigan State women’s swimming and diving team dropped a 182-118 decision to Notre Dame on Friday night. The Spartans finished the night coming away victorious in five events.

“Our divers did pretty well tonight, it’s just so early in the season to tell,” said head coach Matt Gianiodis. “We did a pretty nice job tonight, but we have a long ways to go.”

The Spartans started off the night taking third-place in the 200 Medley Relay with the team of sophomore Lauren Kalwasinski, sophomore Kennedy Cutler, junior Elizabeth Brown and freshman Racheal Bukowski, with a time of 1:51.00.

Senior Becca Berman notched the first victory of the evening for MSU in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:17.42. Junior Chelsea Abbott took second place, clocking in at 10:30.57.

Berman was victorious in the 500 freestyle finishing in 5:08.44. Freshman Haley Kornburger took second place with 5:09.77.

“I was very impressed with Becca Berman,” said Gianiodis. “She was very consistent, which is something she has been working on her entire career. I am really happy for her, she works really hard.”

On the boards, senior Alison Menzies took second-place at 1-meter event with a score of 276.60. That score qualified Menzies for the 2015 NCAA Zone Diving Championships. Fellow senior Madeline Sewell took third place at 3-meter event with a score of 278.33.

Sophomore Sarah Love finished in first-place in the 100 fly, clocking in at 56.74.

In the 200 IM, Michigan State took four of the top five places. Brown took first with (2:11.20), freshman Mia Baric took third place (2:13.68), redshirt-freshman Nicole Chapko in fourth (2:13.76) and freshman Beatrix Panitz fifth with a time of 2:14.50.

The Spartans finished off the night taking first-place points in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of senior Shelby Lacy, Cutler, junior Emily Parsons and Bukowski finished with 3:37.16.

The Spartans return to action next Saturday as they host Denison and Grand Valley. The meet is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. at the IM West Outdoor Pool.

For all of the latest news follow the Spartans at msuspartans.com and follow @MSUSWIMDIVE on Twitter and Instagram.

Results: Michigan State vs. Notre Dame

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use