Notre Dame Impressive In First ACC Meet Against Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, November 9. IN its first Atlantic Coast Conference meet, the University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team swept Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, while the men beat Pittsburgh and fell to Virginia Tech. Notre Dame previously competed in the Big East Conference in swimming, but joined the ACC this summer. The Fighting Irish had several impressive performances against its new opponents, including triples by Kelly Ryan and Emma Reaney.

Pittsburgh Press Release

Despite strong performances across the board from the University of Pittsburgh men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, the Panthers were defeated by Virginia Tech and Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon at Trees Pool.

On the women’s side, Virginia Tech topped Pitt by a score of 202-98, while Notre Dame outscored the Panthers 162-132. For the men, Virginia Tech defeated Pitt 204-106 and Notre Dame topped the Panthers 193-107. The Panthers lost to two teams that are nationally ranked.

“The strength and depth of the new ACC swimming and diving conference was evident today,” head coach Chuck Knoles said. “We are now in the best swimming the conference in the country. Our athletes performed well today having many personal-best performances. Our goal will be to move up on these two teams throughout the season in anticipation of meeting them again at the ACC Championship Meet.”

Despite the losses, the Panther swam very strong throughout the afternoon, which was highlighted by Kourosh Ahani winning the 100-yard butterfly and Kaleigh Ritter taking the 1,000-yard freestyle.

After exciting 200 yard medley relays to start the swimming portion for the afternoon, Ritter tallied Pitt’s first individual victory in the second swimming event of the day. Ritter won the 1,000-yard freestyle and posted Pitt’s best time of the season by swimming a career-best 10:13.67.

Ahani then confirmed that he is one of the top butterfly swimmers in the ACC by out-touching Tech’s Morgan Latimer in the 100 fly with a time of 48.39, which was his fastest of the season. Now a quarter of the way through his junior campaign, Ahani remains undefeated during dual meets and invitationals in that event.

In diving, Harry Bergman performed very well in the 3M competition, placing second overall. He finished with a total score of 341.85, which was his best score of the year and the second best of the season by a Panther.
Pitt continues its home stand by hosting the Pitt Panthers Invitational two weekends from now. The three-day meet runs November 22-24 and will feature teams such as Cincinnati and Clemson, amongst others.

Notre Dame Women’s Press Release

The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team made quite a first impression at the inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference tri-meet in program history Saturday as the Irish won 10 of the 16 events against ACC foes Pitt and Virginia Tech at Trees Pool to earn a pair of victories.

The Irish (2-3) rolled past the host Panthers, 193-107, and slipped past the Hokies, 162-138, to cap off a great day in the pool and on the boards.

“I’m very pleased with how the team competed and raced today,” said head coach Brian Barnes. “We performed better against Purdue than we did the opening weekend and we performed better today than we did against Purdue. That’s a good trend to have. I thought we did a better job with the details of racing, which is something we talked a lot about this week. We also showed great depth today and we just looked like a better prepared and better coached team. I’m proud of them.”

Highlighting the day for the Irish were three individual victories each from standouts Emma Reaney and Kelly Ryan and two individual wins by freshman Katie Miller.

Ryan, who is a two-time NCAA qualifier, swept the short distance freestyle events as she was victorious in the 50, 100 and 200.

“Kelly did a heck of a job today in winning the three free events,” said Barnes. “She wasn’t scheduled to race all those free events, but after we saw her in the 200 free relay and 200 free, we knew she could win the 50. It was a strategy move and it worked out for us.”

Reaney, who improved her season individual event record to 8-1, easily claimed both breaststroke events in NCAA B cut times and also won the 200 IM. A two-time honorable mention All-American in the 200 IM, Reaney was competing in the event for the first time this season.

Miller, meanwhile, continued her impressive freshman campaign with two more individual victories in the 100 back and 500 free and a runner-up finish in the 1,000 free. A versatile IMer, Miller has won three different individual events this season – 200 IM, 100 back and 500 free – while also turning in strong performances in the 1,000.

“I like to take my meet schedule one event at a time and I prepare myself for the next event after each race,” said Miller. “I love swimming different strokes and different events. It keeps each meet really interesting for me.”

Also earning an individual victory for the Irish was junior Bridget Casey, who won the 200 fly for the first time this season after advancing to the NCAAs last season in the event.

The Irish started off the meet on the right foot with a victory in the 200 medley relay as freshman Catherine Mulquin, Reaney, sophomore Catherine Galletti and Ryan churned through the water to touch the pad first.

In addition to Miller in the 1,000, junior Courtney Whyte (100 fly), Mulquin (100 back) and sophomore Lindsey Streepey (1-meter dive) claimed runner-up finishes.

Notre Dame returns home to Rolfs Aquatic Center next weekend for a 5 p.m. Friday dual against in-state opponent Valparaiso and an 11 a.m. Saturday dual with Big Ten foe Wisconsin.

Notre Dame Men’s Press Release

The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team won a total of six individual race titles Saturday in a tri-dual meet against Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, downing the Panthers 162-138 and falling to the Hokies 181-119 at Trees Pool. It was the first official meet for the Irish against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents since Notre Dame joined the ACC last summer.

Notre Dame (2-4) earned its first race win of the day in the 200 freestyle. Senior All-American Frank Dyer was the first to the wall with an NCAA B-cut time of 1:37.84 for the gold medal in the event. Sophomore Michael Hudspith (1:41.29, seventh), freshman Trent Jackson (1:41.54, eighth) and junior Kevin Hughes (1:41.59, ninth) rounded out the Irish swimmers in the event.

Dyer became the first Notre Dame double-winner of the meet in the 500 freestyle, shaving nearly 10 seconds of his previous season-best to post a victorious 4:26.77. Hughes checked in with a sixth-place swim of 4:36.40.

Junior All-American Zach Stephens added a win of his own in the 200 breastroke, traversing the course in 2:01.14 for the Irish gold medal. Junior Cameron Miller added a third-place time of 2:04.44, while junior Patrick Olson (2:07.22, sixth) and sophomore Andrew Jensen (2:08.32) rounded out the Notre Dame competitors.

Stephens then joined Dyer as a multi-event winner with a season-best 1:49.36 in the 200 IM that paced the field. Senior co-captain Colin Babcock insured a 1-2 Irish finish with a readout of 1:52.12 for runner-up honors.

Babcock was the fifth overall Irish winner on the day, logging an effort of 55.76 in the 100 breaststroke to finish just ahead of Miller (55.93). Jensen placed ninth with a swim of 58.42.

Freshman diver Joe Coumos continued his shining rookie campaign with a victory off the 3-meter board. Coumos scored 345.35 points to take the top spot in the event over Pittsburgh’s Harry Bergman (341.85). Junior Nick Nemetz was the fourth-place finisher in the event with a score of 320.25.

Nemetz added a runner-up result in the 1-meter dive, scoring a total of 321.00 points to lead Notre Dame.

Sophomore Bogac Ayhan logged a season-best swim in the 100 backstroke, touching the pad in 50.01 to score runner-up points for Notre Dame. Sophomore Matthew Buerger completed the race in sixth place with a time of 51.58, while senior Bertie Nel was right behind with a seventh-place run of 51.63.

Stephens swam his fastest 50 freestyle time of the season, placing third in the field after clocking in at 20.54.

Junior James McEldrew contributed the top Notre Dame 200 backstroke time of the season, logging a 1:50.14 to place fourth. McEldrew bested his own mark of 1:51.05 set in a tri-dual meet against Michigan and Auburn Oct. 12 at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.

Notre Dame returns to the Rolfs Aquatic Center to host Michigan State Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. (ET). Live results for the meet will be available at UND.com

Virginia Tech Press Release

The Virginia Tech swimming and diving won three of their four contests in Pittsburgh on Saturday evening, as the H2Okies defeated both Pittsburgh and Notre Dame on the men’s side, while the women defeated Pittsburgh.

On the men’s side, junior Morgan Latimer took first place in the 200 Butterfly and second place in the 100 Butterfly, while also swimming the second leg of the first-place 400 Freestyle relay.

Joe Bonk swam the opening leg of that 400 Freestyle relay, while also taking the top spot in the 100 Freestyle and second place in the 50 Freestyle, as well. Collin Higgins was also dominant in the backstroke events, bringing home wins in the 200 and 100 Backstroke.

In all, the men took home 22 top-three finishes en route to their victories over Pittsburgh (204-106) and Notre Dame (181-119). The H2Okie men moved to 3-0 against conference opponents with the wins.

For the women, Holly Harper took home a win in the 200 Backstroke, while also finishing second in the 200 IM and third in the 100 Backstroke.

Kelli Stockton earned her second win of the season, this time in the 3-meter diving event, as she finished first with a score of 339.35. Stockton also finished third in the 1-meter event, which Kaylea Arnett won with a score of 303.55.

Freshman Maggie Gruber won the 100 Butterfly by more than a second, while also swimming the opening leg in the first-place 400 Freestyle relay. The freshman also finished second in the 200 Butterfly and swam the third leg of the second-place 200 Medley Relay team.

The women earned 19 top-three finishes on the evening, as the H2Okies downed Pittsburgh in a dominant 202-98 performance. Tech dropped a tough 138-162 decision to Notre Dame, as well.

“We had many strong performances today on the boards and in the pool,” Head Coach Ned Skinner said. “Our team showed great energy and poise in a really long meet.”

The H2Okies will be back in the pool in two weeks, when they host the H2Okie Fall Invitational at Christiansburg Aquatic Center on Nov. 21-23. William & Mary, Ohio, Liberty, South Carolina and UConn will all join Virginia Tech at the CAC for a three-day meet.

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