No. 19 Fighting Irish Garners 154-89 Victory Over Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, February 3. THE No. 19 Notre Dame women's swimming and diving team ended the dual-meet regular season, with a 154-89 victory over BIG EAST rival Louisville on Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Ralph Wright Natatorium. The Irish women claimed victory in 12 of 13 events to improve their season record to 8-1 this season. The eight wins in dual meet competition is the 15th time the Irish have totaled eight or more dual meet victories in a season.

Senior Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) continued her impressive campaign with a pair of individual victories in the 200-yard butterfly (2:00.46) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:52.35). Both of Carroll's times were pool records and she has now won 17 individual events this season. Carroll also was part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team along with Christa Riggins (Phoenix, Ariz./Sunnyslope), Megan Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) and Rebecca Grove (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) that won their event in a pool record time of 3:27.48.

Grove also was a member of the champion 400-yard medley relay team (3:49.54) with Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale), Keri Masterson (West Hempstead, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) and Julia Quinn (Evanston, Ill./Evanston). Grove had some individual glory, as well, as she won the 50-yard freestyle in a season-best time of 24.08.

In winning the 100-yard freestyle Megan Farrell tied her season-best time of 52.30. Farrell also finished as the runner-up in the 200-yard IM (2:05.85).
Sophomore Claire Hutchinson (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) set a pool record with her victory in the 1,000-yard freestyle in a time of 10:07.18.

The 200-yard freestyle saw two Irish women finish among the top-three, with Riggins winning the event in 1:50.94 and fellow sophomore Casey Wagner (Glenshaw, Pa./Shady Side Academy) finishing in third in season-best time of 1:52.61. Wagner also finished as the runner-up in the 500-yard freestyle (4:59.54).

Seniors Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) and Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) also had impressive meets. Barton won the 200-yard backstroke with her time of 2:05.27, while Stephens picked up her first win of the year in the 200-yard breaststroke in a season-best time of 2:18.75.

The Irish divers also competed well. Natalie Stitt (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa) won the one-meter dive with 275.25 points. Her classmate, Tiffany Robak (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) was crowned the three-meter diving champion with 287.25 points. Robak finished just ahead of teammates Tara Hyer (Tampa, Fla./Academy of Holy Names) (271.20) and Lucy Hirt (Mundelein, Ill/Mundelein) (264.53), who placed second and third, respectively.

Next, Notre Dame will return to the pool and head to the 2007 BIG EAST Championships from Feb. 14-17 in East Meadow, N.Y. at the Nassau County Aquatic Center. The Irish women have won a conference record-tying 10 consecutive league titles

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