EVANSTON, Illinois, January 11. NO. 21 Northwestern held off No. 24 Notre Dame with a thrilling victory in the final relay of a double-dual meet Saturday at the Norris Aquatics Center, also defeating the University of Toledo in the two-session event.<\/p>\n
Trailing by four points heading into the 400 free relay, Northwestern needed a victory in the event to win the meet against its ranked opponent. Emily Wong (Nepean, Ontario\/St. Joseph's) got the Wildcats out to a huge lead with a 50.61 leadoff leg, giving the Wildcats a nearly two second cushion. Shelby Johnson (Wayzata, Minn.\/Wayzata) largely maintained NU's advantage before Teisha Lightbourne (Nassau, Bahamas\/Peddie School (N.J.)) swam a 52.04 third leg against Notre Dame's Amy Prestinario, whose 51.41 closed the gap.<\/p>\n
Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C.\/St. David's School) swam the anchor for the Wildcats against Notre Dame's Amywren Miller, who came out fast with a 23.61 opening 50. With the swimmers coming off the final turn nearly even and the crowd in the Norris Aquatics Center at a deafening level, Shishkoff crept ahead to finish the relay in 3:24.40 to defeat Notre Dame's 3:24.77 and give the Wildcats a five-point win in the meet.<\/p>\n
Northwestern (8-2) also defeated Toledo (3-5), 255-86, while Notre Dame (3-1) downed UT, 268-83.<\/p>\n
The meet took place in two parts, with the morning events starting at 10 a.m. and the afternoon races beginning at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
During the morning session, Northwestern kicked things off with a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay. The team of Liza Engstrom (Reno, Nev.\/Robert McQueen), Jenny Wilson (Bethesda, Md.\/Sidwell Friends School), Stacy Congdon (Windermere, Fla.\/Lake Highland Prep) and Wong swam a time of 3:47.46 to fall just short of Notre Dame's winning 3:47.24. Wong was able to cut the NU deficit in the race in half during her anchor leg, but the Irish's Miller held off the hard-charging Wong for the victory.<\/p>\n
Shishkoff ran away from the field to win the 500 free, besting her nearest competition by nearly six full seconds with a 4:51.64. Jenn Kocsis (Omaha, Neb.\/Marian) followed a pair of Notre Dame swimmers to take fourth place with a 4:58.42.<\/p>\n
Northwestern captured first, third and fourth place in the 100 free, with Wong out-touching Notre Dame's Miller by .04 of a second to win with a time of 51.41. Johnson took third with a 52.28 while Lightbourne was just behind her in fourth with a 52.36.<\/p>\n
Sophomore Erin Reilly (Frankfort, Ill.\/Lincoln-Way East) also had a good effort in the 100 free, turning in a season-best time of 52.61 in an exhibition swim that would have tied her for fifth in the race standings.<\/p>\n
Notre Dame won the 200 breaststroke but Wilson and Hannah Points (Tualatin, Ore.\/Tualatin) were second and third for NU, respectively. Wilson swam a 2:18.09 and Points finished in 2:20.14.<\/p>\n
In the 100 fly, Notre Dame again took the top spot but the Wildcats swept positions two-through-four. Congdon swam a 57.04 to take second, Alex Kraus (Birmingham, Ala.\/Birmingham Groves) was third in 57.75 and Katie Eschenburg (Hartland, Wis.\/Arrowhead) was .02 of a second behind Kraus. Both Kraus and Eschenburg led a pack of four swimmers tightly bunched within .10 of a second of each other, with Eschenburg out-touching Toledo's Amanda Thompson by .01.<\/p>\n
Following a 10-minute mid-session break in the action, Genny Szymanski (Haines, Alaska\/Haines) took home the 200 back with a 2:00.76. Engstrom was third in 2:04.84 for the Wildcats.<\/p>\n
Shishkoff won her second event of the morning again in runaway fashion, capturing the 400 IM by nearly six seconds with a 4:17.37. The effort was her best time of the year in the event and fell just .15 of a second short of an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time.<\/p>\n
Points followed Shishkoff in second with a 4:23.27 while Kathleen Patterson (Naperville, Ill.\/Neuqua Valley) was fourth with a 4:27.64.<\/p>\n
Northwestern concluded the morning session with a win in the 200 free relay. The team of Lightbourne, Johnson, Reilly and Wong swam a Wildcats' season-best time of 1:33.63 to take an 87-61 advantage over the ranked Irish into the night swims.<\/p>\n
In the kickoff of the evening swims, the team of Engstrom, Wilson, Congdon and Wong held off Notre Dame by .26 of a second for a win the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:44.04. After Engstrom got the Wildcats out to a half-second lead with a 26.91 backstroke leg, Congdon's butterfly split of 24.84 was the best in the pool to give NU an insurmountable lead.<\/p>\n
In the 200 fly, Shishkoff came in second for the 'Cats with a 2:01.62 while Points was third in 2:02.93.<\/p>\n
Notre Dame closed the score by sweeping the top two positions in the 200 free, while Toledo also scored a win versus the Wildcats when Laura Heckroth was third overall. Kocsis was NU's top finisher in the event with a 1:53.17 to take fourth place.<\/p>\n
The Irish got their third individual win in a row to start the second session with a victory in the 100 breast. Samantha Maxwell was .04 of a second away from a `B' cut with her winning time of 1:02.42 while Wilson finished behind her for the Wildcats with a 1:04.28.<\/p>\n
While Notre Dame again won the event with a 23.30 from Miller in the 50 free, Northwestern took the next three spots to keep the points close. Wong was second with a 23.37, Johnson took third with a 23.78 and Lightbourne finished fourth with a 24.00.<\/p>\n
Engstrom finished strong in the 100 back to get Northwestern back on the winning track, getting to the wall just ahead of her Notre Dame competition with a 57.02. In the 1,650 free, Notre Dame pushed into the lead against Northwestern with a second-place overall finish. Kocsis was third overall for the Wildcats with a 17:00.22. Toledo won its first event of the meet when Jacy Dyer clocked a 16:45.56 to win the mile.<\/p>\n
Shishkoff won her third event of the meet with a season-best 2:01.53 in the 200 IM. Points ended up third in the race with a 2:05.68 to help Northwestern close the gap against ND to four points, 169-165, heading into the final relay.<\/p>\n
Both diving events were held during the evening session with Notre Dame sweeping the top three scoring spots on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards to help the Irish with their evening comeback.<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Northwestern for contributing this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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