Notre Dame Swimming & Diving Wraps Up Virtual Meet With West Virginia

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Photo Courtesy: Sarah D. Davis/theACC.com

The No. 21/23 Notre Dame Swimming & Diving team concluded the season-opening virtual meet vs. West Virginia Saturday, featuring another pool-record performance by sophomore Jack Hoagland, marking a 8:51.86 in the 1000 Free.

RESULTS

Saturday was the second of two sessions in the virtual meet. Both teams executed the same events at their home facilities, and times were ranked after the session concluded to determine rankings and winners. Times achieved at the meet count for program and pool records, but will not count as NCAA-qualifying times.

“Both teams raced incredibly hard this morning after a quick turnaround from yesterday’s session,” Irish head swim coach Mike Litzinger noted after the meet. “We put them up against the wall on purpose to see how they would respond, and they responded very well.”

“It was exciting once again to get off the blocks, get off the diving boards, and have some fun with this virtual meet. We’re looking forward to a day where we can compete with another team head-to-head, and that’s coming up soon in December.”

The Irish took first in 17 out of 18 swim events Saturday, while sweeping the diving events. In addition to Hoagland’s pool record 8:51.86, which topped the previous pool record of 8:57.69, another notable performance came from freshman Sydney Whiting, who placed first in the women’s 200 Free (1:48.84).

“Our relays truly stepped up and are starting to gel,” Litzinger added. High points came in each relay, in which Notre Dame posted a clean sweep.

In the 200 Medley relay, the women’s team of Carly Quast, Ellie Jew, Cailey Grunhard and Rachel Wittmer turned in a 1:39.36, while the men (Brendan Santana, Josh Bottelberghe, Zach Smith and Cason Wilburn) marked a 1:27.97.

In the 400 Free relay, Skylar Fore, Grunhard, Peyton D’Emanuele and Kallie Chelsvig turned in a 3:21.51 for the women, and Wilburn, Alec DeLong, Santana and Sadler McKeen posted a 2:58.19 for the men.

On the diving end, Kelly Straub and Austin Flaute swept both events, as Straub scored a 304.58 in the 1 meter and 363.83 in the 3 meter, and Flaute posted a 331.88 in the 1 meter and a 379.20 in the 3 meter.

“Overall, we had a good day, an improvement from last night,” Notre Dame head dive coach Mark Bradshaw said. “Annie Wiese was consistently good both days, Kelly Straub finally let loose on 3-meter with a fantastic six-dive list, and Austin Flaute had a really steady day, as well, with a really good 3-meter event.”

According to Bradshaw, Straub, Wiese and Flaute attained zone-qualifying scores in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events, while David Petrison also marked a zone-qualifier in the 1-meter.

West Virginia Release

On Saturday, the West Virginia Mountaineer sprinters shined in the 50 free, taking the win in the men’s event and claiming two of the top-five spots in the women’s race. Senior Ryen Van Wyk captured a win after touching the wall in 20.45, while Emily Haimes and classmate Harna Minezawa used their speed to place second (23.29) and fifth (23.75), respectively.

“I was really proud of the teams this weekend,” coach Vic Riggs said. “They competed very well and had great energy. We’ve been doing some internal test meets the past few weekends, but knowing that Notre Dame was competing at the same time really added to the intensity, and the results indicate that.”

In the diving well, the teams were paced by redshirt junior Jacob Cardinal Tremblay and sophomore Holly Darling. Cardinal Tremblay finished in third place on 1-meter (295.05) and 3-meter (289.20), while Darling also notched a third-place finish on 3-meter with a mark of 254.10.

“In this COVID-19 season, we have been gifted with the opportunity to have very focused practices,” first-year diving coach Karla Helder said. “So, our competition with Notre Dame was a lesson that early-season focus is about how you’ve excelled in practice and can bring that into the competition. I thought our kids did a great job with that this weekend.”

Additional highlights from Friday included the men’s 200 free relay, as the team of seniors David Dixon, Max Gustafson and Van Wyk and sophomore Roberts Zemturis grabbed second place with a combined time of 1:22.19. Senior Ally VanNetta also notched a second-place finish in the 200 backstroke (1:58.97), while Dixon (48.14) and Haimes (54.43) paced the Mountaineers with a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 butterfly.

Dixon added another second-place finish in the 200 fly on Saturday, recording a time of 1:46.04. The Mountaineers also added a third-place finish from VanNetta in the 100 back, as she completed the swim in 55.31.

— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Notre Dame Swimming & Diving. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

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