Dennis Stark Relays

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, October 8. THE Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team outlasted three visiting squads to win the 2010 Dennis Stark Relays Friday evening at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. Notre Dame earned 200 points while bettering Illinois State (196), Valparaiso (118) and St. Mary’s (112) on the leaderboard.

With Stark – the former head coach of both the Notre Dame men’s and women’s program – looking on from the pool deck, the Irish won 11 of 12 events and fell short of the sweep after a disqualification in the 400 medley relay.

“We’ve worked hard this week – and the last several weeks – and I’m liking the direction and the attitude this team is displaying right now,” Irish head coach Brian Barnes said. “It was good to watch the team compete in a tired state and still be tough. Kim Holden, Lauren Scott, Amywren Miller and Samantha Maxwell swam very tough together. And we’ve got a promising group of young swimmers who did a fine job for us.”

Notre Dame will now travel to Auburn for a double-dual meet along with LSU. The three teams begin action Oct. 22 at 6:00 p.m. (ET).

“We’re going to try to be much better in the next meet than we were tonight,” Barnes said. “When we head off to Southeastern Conference territory at the end of fall break we get to face two top-20 programs in Auburn and LSU. It’s two weeks away, and we’re going to continue to work hard. We’re going to show up down there better suited to compete than we were today. We’re just a bit race rusty.”

Meanwhile, the Notre Dame men started the 2010-11 men’s swimming and diving season in the same fashion it has done so for many others – by winning the Dennis Stark Relays. After suffering a setback to Michigan in the 2009 edition of the event, the Irish bounced back Friday evening at Rolfs Aquatic Center to accumulate 256 points while defeating Oakland (190) and Valparaiso (120).

“This was an excellent start for the team,” Irish head coach Tim Welsh said. “The team has showed an exciting exuberance in practice and that showed itself tonight in very spirited racing. We have worked hard on some technical improvements, and we saw signs of those improvements tonight. We are energized by this performance.”

Welsh and company won nine of 12 events, with Oakland taking first in three races.

Notre Dame remains at home and battles BIG EAST Conference rival Pittsburgh Oct. 22 (Friday) at noon.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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