Freshmen swimmers John Lytle and Ross Moore along with sophomore diver Michael Bulfin all won two events as the No. 16 Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team defeated Oakland University 181-119 on Friday evening in the OU Aquatics Center. The win improves the Fighting Irish record to 5-0 on the season, the best start since the 1992-93 campaign. Notre Dame won 11 of 16 events during the meet. 

Lytle’s first win came in the third event of the night as he took the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:42.16. The Irish would also take spots two and four in the race. Brian Freeman took second in 1:43.51 and Rob Seery was fourth in 1:45.51.

The freshman’s second victory came in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 46.77. His senior teammate Ted Brown would place third in the event by touching the wall in 47.36.

Brown captured a win of his own in the 1,000-yard free with a time of 9:33.99. Notre Dame went 1-2-3 in the event as Jay Vanden Berg was second in 9:36.84 and Chris Zeches was third in 9:47.74. 

With the Irish off to a strong start, Oakland would win the 100-yard back and the 100-yard breast to inch closer. Notre Dame sophomore Jeff Wood  took second in the 100 back with a time of 51.14. Sophomore Sam Pendergast was second in the 100 breast in 57.58 for the Irish, while his senior teammate Tim Kegelman was third in 58.88.

Moore snapped the Oakland streak with a win in the 200-yard butterfly. His time of 1:51.78 topped the field, while his classmate Andrew Deters placed third in 1:55.16 and fellow freshman MacKenzie LeBlanc was fourth in 1:55.72.

Oakland’s Nicholas Bonucchi won the 50-yard freestyle in 21.50, yet senior Louis Cavadini was right behind him in second for the Irish with a time of 21.75.

The one-meter board was the first diving event of the night and Bulfin registered 323.12 points for the win. His junior teammate Sam Stoner was second with 292.65 points and fellow junior Steven Crowe was fourth with a 262.98 total. Bulfin and Stoner would also go 1-2 off the three-meter board with respective scores of 343.80 and 342.53.

Wood, who was also a part of the winning 200-yard medley relay along with Kegelman, Pendergast and Ray Toomey in a time of 1:32.70, captured the 200-yard backstroke in 1:51.58.

Oakland’s Zoltan Horvath won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:06.01, while Notre Dame sophomore Daniel Rave was close behind in second with a mark of 2:06.21.

The Fighting Irish returned to the win column in the 500-yard free as Deters and Seery went 1-2 with respective times of 4:38.41 and 4:42.05.

Notre Dame secured some crucial points by going 1-2-3 in the 100-yard fly as Cavadini placed first in 50.48, with Kegelman in second (50.66) and Toomey in third (50.90).

The second victory of the night for Moore came in the 200-yard IM as he touched the wall in 1:54.58.

In the final event of the night, the Golden Grizzlies won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:06.22. Notre Dame’s quartet of Lytle, Cavadini, Brown and Kegelman was second in 3:09.23.

The Fighting Irish return to the pool tomorrow as they compete at Cleveland State. The meet, which begins at noon (ET), also includes Quinnipiac and Xavier.