Kentucky Women, Indiana Men on Top of Notre Dame in Tri-Meet as Asia Seidt, Mohamed Samy Shine

Asia Seidt won the 200 back with a 1:56.26. Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble

The Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams opened the 2019-20 season with three wins in a tri-meet with Kentucky and Notre Dame at the Lancaster Aquatic Center on Wednesday. Kentucky claimed a win over Indiana on the women’s side as they also claimed two wins.

RESULTS

Team Scores:

Men

Indiana 219, Notre Dame, 81
Indiana 204, Kentucky 96
Kentucky 176, Notre Dame 124

Women

Kentucky 161, Indiana 139
Kentucky 184.5, Notre Dame 115.5
Indiana 172, Notre Dame 128

Indiana Swimming and Diving Press Release

HOOSIER WINNERS

MEN

Zane Backes – 100 breaststroke (55.26); 200 breaststroke (2:01.39); 200 Medley Relay (1:27.55)
Brendan Burns – 200 butterfly (1:46.73); 200 Medley Relay (1:27.55)
Gabriel Fantoni – 100 backstroke (47.22); 100 butterfly (47.96); 200 backstroke (1:45.26); 200 Medley Relay (1:27.55)
Brandon Hamblin – 200 Medley Relay (1:27.55)
Mohamed Samy – 100 freestyle (43.88); 200 freestyle (1:37.59); 200 IM (1:47.36)

WOMEN

Cora Dupre – 100 freestyle (49.43); 200 freestyle (1:46.66), 400 freestyle relay (3:22.83)
Laurel Eiber – 50 freestyle (23.47); 400 freestyle relay (3:22.83)
Maria Paula Heitmann – 400 freestyle relay (3:22.83)
Cassy Jernberg – 500 freestyle (4:50.82); 1,000 freestyle (9:55.29)
Noelle Peplowski – 100 breaststroke (1:01.35); 200 breaststroke (2:12.30)
Ashley Turak – 400 freestyle relay (3:22.83)

NOTABLES

The Indiana men’s team has won 32-consecutive dual meets dating back to Jan. 16, 2016 against the Michigan Wolverines.
The men’s team won 10-of-16 events in the meet and went 1-2 in six total events.
The women’s team took first in eight of the 16 events contested.
Eight Indiana swimmers won at least two events, with three swimmers claiming three-plus event victories.

Kentucky Press Release

The University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving program opened its season with a tri-meet at the Lancaster Aquatic Center on Wednesday, sweeping Notre Dame and collecting a win over powerhouse program Indiana for the first time in more than 10 years.

The Kentucky women swept both of its opponents, defeating Indiana in a 161.00-139.00 decision. It marked the first time the women’s team has defeated the Hoosiers since 2007, but just the second time in 20 seasons. The UK women also defeated Notre Dame in the tri-meet, 184.50-115.50, to commence the season with a perfect 2-0 record.

On the men’s side, Kentucky defeated Notre Dame for the second straight season in a 176.00-124.00 decision. The Wildcats fell to Indiana, 204.00-96.00, giving the squad a 1-1 record to begin the season.

The Kentucky women led both Indiana and Notre Dame for the entire meet, forcing a lead after the first race. The foursome in freshman Caitlin Brooks, junior Bailey Bonnett and sophomores Izzy Gati and Riley Gaines topped the 200-yard medley relay field, posting a 1:40.67 to finish in first place.

Brooks, a newcomer from Gainesville, Florida, produced standout performances in her first collegiate meet. In addition to leading off the opening relay, she finished in first place in the 100-yard backstroke in 54.20. Later in the meet, she notched second place in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:57.24 – only behind senior and Southeastern Conference Champion Asia Seidt who took first place in 1:56.26.

Adding valuable points to the women’s team, sophomore Kyndal Knight swept the women’s diving events. The reigning SEC Co-Female Freshman Diver of the Year posted 155.70 points (three dives) on the 1-meter springboard, leading a UK sweep on that discipline. Behind her, freshman Morgan Southall recorded 139.40 points to finish in second place and senior Emma Dellmore posted 136.35 points to settle in third place.

Knight also won the 3-meter springboard event on 166.30 points (three dives).

The Kentucky men added a pair of first-place finishes on the boards, helping UK sweep all four of the springboard events in the tri-meet. Sophomore Danny Zhang recorded 189.75 points (three dives) to earn first place in the men’s 3-meter springboard, while junior Chase Lane recorded 170.90 points on the men’s 1-meter springboard to lead the field.

In addition to Lane’s and Zhang’s gold performances, senior Peter Wetzlar added useful points to the men’s final score. The Zimbabwean earned the fastest time in the men’s 50-yard freestyle on a time of 20.11. He also helped the men’s 400-yard free relay team earn first place in 2:57.69 to close the meet. Leading off the relay team was senior Jason Head, followed by Wetzalr, newcomer Lukas Kraft and anchored by senior Glen Brown.

Sophomore Izzy Gati stepped up on the women’s side, leading a 1-2 sweep in the 200-yard butterfly. She touched the pad in 1:59.35 to finish in first, while Seidt recorded a 1:59.69 to finish in second.

Notre Dame Press Release

The Notre Dame Swimming and Diving team (M-12, W-16) fell to Kentucky (M-RV, W-18) and Indiana (M-6, W-9) at the first road meet of the season Wednesday. The Irish earned impressive individual victories over the two highly-ranked squads, including consistent veteran junior Zach Yeadon and freshman Coleen Gillilan, as well as multiple top-three finishes.

“We swam against an IU team that won a B1G championship one year ago and a UK team that, like us, is on the rise,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Litzinger shared. “While the time [10 a.m.] was a bit unconventional, the competition is the same, and it took us awhile to adjust.”

The Irish held their own in the opening event, the women’s 200 Medley Relay, with the Notre Dame team of Carly Quast, Coleen Gillilan, Cailey Grunhard and Rachel Wittmer claiming a third-place finish (1:42.92). Lindsay Stone placed second in the women’s 100 freestyle (10:05.51), while Zach Yeadon claimed his second win of the season in the 1000 free (9:01.58). Yeadon later won the 500 free, with a 4:23.73 time.

Freshman Gillilan earned a win in the 100 Fly (53.11) by more than 1.5 seconds, cruising to a nearly three-second win in the 200 IM (1:58.57) and earning NCAA B-cut times in both. Gillilan also placed third in the 100 breast (1:01.97).

“Coleen has been very consistent in the practice pool, and that helps translates to performance. But, what makes her special is her competitiveness,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Litzinger said. “She likes to win. That is something that is built-in for her.”

Junior Cailey Grunhard also reached the top three in the women’s 100 Fly, placing third with a 54.99 time. Abbie Dolan posted two second-place finishes in the 200 free (1:47.67) and 100 free (50.25). Bailey Stewart touched the wall second in the women’s 100 back (55.24) and third in the women’s 200 back (1:57.55), while Luciana Thomas placed third in the women’s 200 Fly (2:02.69).

Both Notre Dame 400 Free Relays placed third in their heats, with the men touching the wall with a time of 2:58.85 and the women in 3:26.75.

The Notre Dame divers continued their success this week, with sophomore Austin Flaute placing second in the men’s 1-meter (151.70) and third in the men’s 3-meter competition (172.85). On the women’s side, senior Erin Isola earned a second-place finish in the women’s 3-meter (164.55), trailed by Irish teammate junior Kelly Straub (160.20).

“We have a very strong diving program, and these women have made it so,” Litszinger expressed. “Like the rest of us, they ran into two teams that were very tough.”

CSCAA preseason rankings, announced today, place the Notre Dame Men at 12th in the nation, with the Women at 16th. Up next, the Irish will return home to prepare for their next road meet at Purdue on October 25.

“Rankings are nice, as it shows how your peers perceive you,” Litszinger explained “However, our concern is how we perform at the end of the ACC and NCAA championships. It’s early in the season, and there is much more work ahead of us.”–

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