In an early season battle between two top-25 programs, the University of Notre Dame men¹s swimming and diving team dropped its first dual meet of the 2007-08 campaign to No. 15 Southern California at the Rolfs Aquatic Center on Friday.

The 22nd-ranked Irish earned 104 points, falling short of the Trojans¹ total of 158 in the first-ever head-to-head matchup between the programs.

”The races were better than what the final score indicated,” said Irish head coach Tim Welsh. “We learned a lot about racing side-by-side, and that¹s the fun part of our sport.”

”There were good races all night, but they touched wall first more than we did. We¹d always choose a win over a loss, although our younger swimmers gained some great experience tonight. I know this will help us get better.”

In fact, second-year swimmers won each of the four events in which Notre Dame claimed individual victories. Sophomore Andrew Deters (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) notched a pair of wins in the distance events, capturing first in the 500 Free (4:41.46) and 1,000 Free (9:36.41). The next closest finisher in the latter event was USC¹s Kevin Little, who clocked in at 9:44.12.

Sophomores John Lytle (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) and Ross Moore (Champaign, Ill./Champaign) also earned top nods in their respective events. Lytle handled the competition in the 100 Free (45.50), and Moore left the 100 Fly field in his wake by posting a mark of 50.00. Lytle was also second in the 200 Free (1:39.49), and joined a trio of teammates for a second-place finish in the 400 Free Relay (3:08.56).

Moore was accompanied by Jeff Wood (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport), Sam Pendergast, (Melbourne, Australia/Warrnambool), and Andrew Hoffman (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) for a second-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay (1:33.00). Wood also took home a runner-up finish in the 100 Back (52.04), and freshman Michael Sullivan (Franklin, Mass./Bishop Feehan) completed the 200 Back (1:50.31) in the same spot.

 

On the women’s side Southern California¹s Rebecca Soni broke a pair of Rolf Aquatic Center pool records on Friday evening as No. 17 Notre Dame was defeated in its first dual meet of the season by USC, 158.50-103.50.

Soni claimed victories in the 100 Breast (1:00.81) and 200 Breast (2:11.47) events, and in doing so recorded NCAA qualifying times in each of the races.

Notre Dame¹s Christa Riggins came out of the pool with solid performances in the 50 Free (23.90) and 200 Free (1:50.00), placing second in both events. Her 200 Free mark was an NCAA ?B¹ cut time.

By finishing the 1,000 Free in 10:02.29, Lauren Sylvester topped the pack with Casey Wagner (10:12.24) coming in two spots later.

Katie Casey picked up a win in the 200 Fly with a ?B¹ cut time of 2:02.14, and Amywren Miller bested all swimmers in the 50 Free by clocking in at 23.53.

The final first-place finisher of the day for Notre Dame was Lauren Parisi, who swam a 2:01.98 in the 200 Back.

Finishing second and third in the 400 Free Relay were a pair of Irish tandems. Megan Farrell, Delia Cronin, Riggins, and Miller finished second in 3:28.74. Behind them were Caroline Johnson, Lauren Sylvester, Casey, and Parisi who recorded a 3:34.95 mark.