Notre Dame Men, Women Take 2009 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championship Titles

With the winner of the men’s 400-free relay poised to take home the title, Notre Dame inched by Louisville to win its second-straight BIG EAST Championship with 782.5 points at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis, Ind. The Fighting Irish women won their 13th-straight title in commanding fashion with 828 points.  
 
Louisville finished second overall on the men’s side with 773 points, giving the Irish the title by just a 9.5 point margin. Pittsburgh rounded out the top three with 442.5 points. The Cardinals were also the runner-up for the women, accumulating 581 points. Pittsburgh finished third in the women’s standings with 492.5 points.
 
After four days and 40 events, 25 meet records fell, including six during session seven.
 
West Virginia junior Morgan Callaway was named the women’s BIG EAST Most Outstanding Swimmer, while Notre Dame junior Natalie Stitt grabbed the women’s Most Outstanding Diver award.
 
Cincinnati junior Josh Schneider was awarded the men’s BIG EAST Most Outstanding Swimmer honor. Pittsburgh senior Alex Volovetski was named the men’s Most Outstanding Diver.
 
Louisville head coach Arthur Albiero was awarded the men’s BIG EAST Swimming Coach of the Year, while Pittsburgh’s Julian Krug took men’s Diving Coach of the Year honors.
 
Notre Dame swept the women’s BIG EAST coaching awards. The Swimming Coach of the Year honor went to Brian Barnes and the women’s Diving Coach of the Year award was given to Cai Ming Xie.    
 
The grinding women’s 1,650-free opened the championship’s final session. West Virginia senior Lindsay Largo went the distance, winning in 16:22.31. Largo’s finish was good for an NCAA ‘B’ cut. Junior Amanda Henleben of Louisville finished second in 16:32.26 and touching third was Lauren Sylvester in 16:34.68.
 
Notre Dame claimed the men’s 1,650-free with a first-place finish of 15:26.43 by junior Andrew Deters. Deters was the clear winner, as the next finisher was over eight seconds behind. Cincinnati sophomore Stephen Cunningham took second in 15:34.77 and Bearcat sophomore Nathan Williams finished third in 15:34.85.
 
A pair of NCAA ‘B’ cuts were reached in the women’s 200-back. West Virginia won its second straight event of the night as junior Morgan Callaway finished in 1:55.65. Rutgers placed the next two swimmers as sophomore’s Catherine Whetstone touched in 1:56.33 and Kirsten Fontana took third in 1:58.01.
 
Louisville broke into the win column of session seven with a first-place showing in the men’s 200-back. Freshman Pedro Oliveira touched in 1:44.86, earning the only ‘B’ cut of the event in the win. Notre Dame sophomore Michael Sullivan finished second in 1:45.10 and Connecticut sophomore Alex Davidson finished third in 1:46.02.
 
West Virginia’s women continued their hot streak with a win in the 100-free. Junior Kayla Andrews registered the first-place time in 48.53. Notre Dame sophomore Amywren Miller touched second in 49.14 and Louisville junior Whitney Campbell finished third in 49.51.  All of the top-three finishers made the NCAA ‘B’ cut.
 
Josh Schneider broke the record he had set from the morning session in the men’s 100-free with a 43.08 first-place showing. Schneider, along with the next two finishers, all earned a ‘B’ cut with their times. Notre Dame junior John Lytle took second place in 43.46, while Louisville freshman Brendon Andrews finished just behind Lytle in 43.54.
 
Notre Dame snapped the women Mountaineers’ three-event streak with a win in the 200-breast. Sophomore Samantha Maxwell reached the wall in 2:10.35, breaking her own meet record set in the morning session. Louisville sophomore Therese Bergstrom finished second in 2:12.62. Connecticut freshman Caitlin Gallagher took third in 2:15.33. Maxwell, Bergstrom, Gallagher and fourth-place finisher, Pittsburgh sophomore Laura Barnes, all completed an NCAA ‘B’ cut time.
 
Another meet record fell in the men’s 200-breast as Louisville junior Carlos Almeida finished first in 1:55.21. West Virginia senior Michael Walker touched second in 1:55.72. Another Cardinal, senior Vali Preda, finished in third place (1:56.95). All three finishes made the ‘B’ cut, as well as Syracuse sophomore Kuba Kotynia in fourth place (1:57.75).
 
Notre Dame’s women won their second straight event with a 200-fly first-place showing by sophomore Katie Kessey (1:57.72). Kessey’s finish was good for a ‘B’ cut. No other swimmers broke the 2:00 mark, as Notre Dame sophomore Kellyn Kuhlke touched second in 2:00.77 and Fighting Irish senior Claire Hutchinson finished third in 2:00.82.
 
Oliveira won his second event of the night in the men’s 200-fly with a 1:43.51 first-place finish. The top four finishers qualified for a ‘B’ cut. In second was Cardinal senior Adam Madarassy who finished in 1:43.68. West Virginia senior Pablo Marmolejo touched third in 1:44.03 and Notre Dame junior Mack Leblanc was fourth in 1:45.06.
 
Notre Dame junior Natalie Stitt took top honors in the women’s 3-meter dive with a score of 294.30. Connecticut senior Liza Marianni finished second with 284.65 points and Notre Dame sophomore Heidi Grossman rounded out the top three with 284.30.
 
Louisville took first place in the women’s 400-free relay with a time of 3:18.16. The Cardinals mark broke the meet record and made the ‘B’ cut. West Virginia’s squad finished second in 3:18.20 and Notre Dame was third to touch in 3:21.61. Making up Louisville’s winning team was juniors Whitney Campbell, Anna Dishuck, Liz Halet and sophomore Sarah Andrews.
 
In the race that would decide the men’s title, Notre Dame edged Louisville to take top honors in a meet-record 2:54.08. The Cardinals touched the wall in 2:54.40 to take second place. Though the top two were alone in the battle for the win, Pittsburgh made a strong third-place showing in 2:57.42. The squad that gave the Fighting Irish the championship title consisted of juniors John Lytle and Andrew Hoffman, sophomore Josh Nosal and senior Danny Lutkus.

Big East Women’s Final Scores
1 Notre Dame                      828
2 Louisville                          581
3 PITT                                 492.5
4 Rutgers                            380 
5 West Virginia                    377 
6 Connecticut                      279.5 
7 Villanova                           264.5
8 Cincinnati                         192
9 Syracuse                         181.5
10 Seton Hall                      64
11 Georgetown                    61 
12 Providence                     54 

Big East Men’s Final Scores
1 Notre Dame                      782.5
2 Louisville                          773 
3 PITT                                 442.5
4 West Virginia                    405 
5 Cincinnati                         357.5
6 Connecticut                      287 
7 Syracuse                          243 
8 Seton Hall                        181.5
9 Georgetown                      104
10 Villanova                         78
11 Providence                      60 

Irish Extend Streak With 13th BIG EAST Title
The longest BIG EAST Conference Championship winning streak just got longer.

The Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team put the finishing touches on its 13th consecutive title Saturday at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI, to extend the league’s longest championship winning streak in any sport.

Notre Dame totaled 828 points, nearly 150 ahead of second-place Louisville (581). Pittsburgh was third with 492.5 points.

Samantha Maxwell set a school and BIG EAST record in the 200 Breast with Katie Casey achieving similar status after her effort in the 200 Fly.

First-year head coach Brian Barnes was honored as the BIG EAST Women’s Coach of the Year and Caiming Xie took away the league’s hardware as the top diving coach.

“We talked several times this year about how we are not going to ride on the shoulders of one or two people,” Irish head swimming coach Brian Barnes said. “To win a championship, whether it is an NCAA championship or a conference championship, that’s not what it takes. It takes a team effort and that’s what happened this week.

“It wasn’t just this week – we have prepared for this throughout the entire season,” Irish head diving coach Caiming Xie said. “Overall, the divers did very well this week, whether it was the men or the women. But our goals stretch beyond the BIG EAST Conference meet. Hopefully we can qualify some divers for the NCAA’s next month.”

1,650 Free: Notre Dame was paced by third-place Lauren Sylvester (16:34.68) and fourth-place Casey Wagner (16:40.80).

200 Back: Lauren Parisi went from fourth to second in a flash after a season-best 2:00.67 during her preliminary heat, while Maggie Behrens (1:58.57) made it to the wall just in front of Rutgers’ Catherine Whetstone (1:58.75) to wrap up the morning heats … Parisi went 2:00.39 in the evening and Behrens (1:59.10) was sixth in the final heat.

100 Free: Amywren Miller (49.27) posted the prelim’s second-fastest time with Amy Prestinario (50.72) adding a top 10 finish … Miller’s 49.14 in the finals gave her an all-BIG EAST accolade as she finished second.

200 Breast: Keeping her form that was revealed in the three days prior, Samantha Maxwell (2:12.08) broke her own school (2:12.46) and BIG EAST (2:12.76) record during the prelims … Ashlee Edgell was a few spots behind in 2:17.70 … Maxwell proceeded to finish the finals with another record of 2:10.35 for first – just missing an NCAA A-cut – while Edgell (2:16.41) was fifth.

200 Fly: Kellyn Kuhlke managed to swim a season-best 2:01.11 to win her preliminary heat … Katie Casey laid down a great swim in the morning’s final race with a 1:58.77 to earn the evening’s top seed … she was flanked by Claire Hutchinson (2:02.12) and Emily Barton (2:01.51) … in the finals, Casey proceeded to smash the school and conference records with a  first-place 1:57.72 … Kuhlke (2:00.77) was second, Hutchinson (2:00.82) was third and Barton (2:01.56) cleaned up with a fifth-place showing.

400 Free Relay: The tandem of Zeina Shanata, Amy Prestinario, Chrisa Riggins and Amywren Miller tapped in at 3:21.61 and a third-place finish.

3-meter Diving: Natalie Stitt (294.30) picked up her second title of the meet … also earning all-BIG EAST honors was Heidi Grossman (284.30) … in seventh was Lucy Hirt (257.20).

Championship Goes Down To Wire, Irish Stage Relay Upset To Win Title
In a championship meet that came down to the final relay, the Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team came through with one of the most dramatic performances in program history to earn its second consecutive BIG EAST Conference title.

With the luck of the Irish and plenty of heart and gut, John Lytle, Danny Lutkus, Joshua Nosal and Andrew Hoffman overcame the odds to down the top-seeded Louisville 400 Free Relay team to score enough points for the team title.

Notre Dame entered the final race as the third seed while holding a slight advantage over Louisville in the point standings, and was a seven second underdog to the relay squad of the top-ranked Cardinals.

Lytle came from behind in the first to give the Irish a lead they would not relinquish, while Lutkus and Nosal maintained the margin to put the icing on cake as Hoffman added a cherry to the top.

“I hardly know what to say … congratulations to every team that swam in the championships,” Irish head coach Tim Welsh said. “What is so important about our guys is how much more unified the team became this week. The championship came down to one race, and that time was five seconds faster than last year’s time with the same guys. I am so proud of our guys, our team and our program.

“We told the guys before the meet that it might come down to the last race, and if we were victorious, we would win. Our guys knew all along it might come to this and they were prepared for it. All I knew is that the guys were going to give it everything they had and we knew we would race well. The seniors and the upperclassmen will remember this forever. We have been getting e-mails and calls from former players supporting us and it feels great to win the championship.”

Louisville, who defeated Notre Dame in a dual meet earlier this season by a 178-117 margin, finished second in the standings with 773 points, giving the Irish the title by just a 9.5-point margin. Pittsburgh rounded out the top three with 442.5 points.

Lytle, Michael Sullivan and MacKenzie LeBlanc set school records in their respective individual events and the 400 Free Relay team cemented a new Irish record.

1,650 Free: Steven Brus and Andrew Deters were neck-and-neck for the first 1,000 yards when Deters made his move … he went on to win the title with a season-best 15:26.43 … Ryan Belecanech (15:34.84) was fourth and Brus finished in 15:48.14.

200 Back: Sullivan (1:46.07) was a nail off the school record (1:46.06) to earn the top seed in the preliminary heat … Nosal (1:46.88) and Jeff Wood (1:48.08) also fit themselves into a seat for the finals … Christopher Wills went 1:47.10 to finish second in the consolations … Sullivan (1:45.10) rallied late in the finals to place second and establish a school record … Nosal (1:47.40) was fifth overall.

100 Free: Adding to his ever-extending resume was Lytle with a 43.48 and school record in the prelims … Lytle earned the second seed for the finals and Hoffman gunned his way to a 44.29, the sixth-fastest time overall on the morning … Lutkus (44.76) came up big by willing himself into the finals … Lytle (43.46) broke his own record in the finals with a second-place finish … Hoffman (44.23) was fifth and Lutkus (44.90) was eighth.

200 Breast: Joseph Raycroft went a season-best 2:02.66 but Daniel Rave bettered his teammate with a 2:00.96 in the prelims … Raycroft went 2:01.79 in the consolation finals to place second … Rave was eighth in the finals at 2:01.29.

200 Fly: Patrick Augustyn (1:47.99) forced his way into third during his preliminary race and Colin Francesco (1:55.56) was seventh … one heat later, MacKenzie LeBlanc came from behind to touch in a season-best and NCAA B-cut time of 1:46.53 and Christopher Wills went 1:50.72 … Augustyn (1:48.76) was fourth in the consolation heat … LeBlanc finished the course in 1:45.06 to rack a fourth-place finish in the finals … in doing so, he set a school record while posting the program’s top time ever at a BIG EAST meet.

400 Free Relay: One of the most memorable races in Notre Dame and BIG EAST history was quite a spectacle for the raucous crowd … Lytle gave Notre Dame the lead after the first leg … Lutkus exploded off the block and extended the lead over Louisville which was maintained for Nosal, who handed it off to Hoffman … the race came down to the final turn and length with Hoffman holding off a charging Louisville swimmer to inch ahead of the second-place Cardinals (2:54.40) … the school and league record went down in 2:54.08.

Pitt Women’s Swimming and Diving Finishes Third at Big East Championship Meet
Freshman Megan Bender broke a rookie record in the finals of the 200 back, as the University of Pittsburgh women’s swimming and diving team finished third with 351.5 points in the Big East Championship, held at IU Natatorium.
 
Bender trailing behind several swimmers when she picked up speed in the final lap of the 200 back to place fourth overall and set a rookie record at 1:58.52.
 
Also competing in the finals, sophomore Laura Barnes recorded her second fourth-place finish of the meet with a time of 2:15.42 in the 200 breast.
 
Sophomore Cookie McIntyre improved upon her prelim time and was fourth in the 200 fly at 2:00.97, while junior Sophie Cross was seventh at 2:03.32.
 
Three Panthers competed in the finals of the 3M board, as sophomore Morgan Speece placed fourth with a score of 269. 65. Sophomore Mallory Mullady trailed slightly for fifth with 267.85 points, while junior Alyssa Ferarro earned eighth overall with 220.90 points.
 
Additionally, junior Margo Ekstrom placed 10th (258.85) and senior Sabrina Jennings was 11th (248.55) in the 3M diving event.
 
Earlier in the meet, sophomore Katherine Cutrell finished seventh in the finals of the 1650 free (16:53.76). In the prelims, senior Erin Meehan finished 21st in the 1650 free with a season-best time of 17:35.12.
 
Winning the consolation heat of the 100 free, sophomore Kristen McMullan turned in a personal best of 50.45, in the event. Swimming alongside McMullan, junior Lisa McDonnell finished 12th overall (51.14), while freshman Elena Spak placed 13th (51.30).
 
Junior Ryann Kishbaugh finished third in the consolation heat at a season-best 2:00.68, placing 11th overall. Likewise, junior Allie Horvath recoded a faster time of 2:01.66 in the same race for a 14th-place finish.
 
The 200 free relay team ended the meet with a fifth-place finish of 3:24.04. Members of the squad included McMullan, McDonnell, Spak and senior Ruth Seiffert.
 
Krug Earns Men’s Diving Coach of the Year, Volovetski Wins Most Outstanding Diver
Assistant Head Coach for Diving Julian Krug earned his sixth Men’s Diving Coach of the Year honor, while senior Alex Volovetski repeated as the Most Outstanding Diver on the final night of competition at the Big East Swimming and Diving Championship, held at IU Natatorium. Pitt finished third in the meet with 442.5 overall points.
 
Krug led Volovetski to back-to-back titles in the 1M and 3M diving event, while all six of the men’s divers scored points for the Panthers on each board. This is Krug’s second honor at the championship meet in as many years.
 
Additionally, Volovetski was named the Most Outstanding Diver for the second-consecutive season. Volovetski recorded a BEC meet record in the finals of the 3M last night to solidify his sixth Big East diving title, in four years.
 
Also earning All-Big East honors in the final event of the meet, Pitt’s 400 free relay team finished third with a NCAA provisional time of 2:57.42. The members of the team included freshman Otto Pagel, sophomore Andrezj Dubiel, freshman Jake Lucas and junior Justin Corvin.
 
Individually, Dubiel pulled away in the final stretch of the consolation heat of the 200 back, to touch the wall first at 1:46.98. Dubiel’s time was a lifetime best and earned him ninth overall in the event. Sophomore Bobby Smith finished 13th at 1:49.70, in the 200 back.
 
Later, in a very close race, Lucas emerged as the winner of the 100 free consolation heat, with a personal-best of 44.48. Finishing next for Pitt was Corvin at 44.88 for 13th overall. Junior Alex Kubicek and Pagel rounded out the field with times of 45.85 and 47.08, respectively.
 
Senior Jonathan Buchanan recorded a seventh-place finish in the 1650 free with a time of 15:45.34. Earlier this afternoon, freshman Ryan Lynn recorded a 16th overall finish in the mile and classmate Dawid Goszczycki was 17th after recording personal best times.
 
Freshman Rousseau Kluever recorded an eighth-place performance for the Panthers, when he touched the wall at 1:47.69 in the finals of the 200 fly. In the consolation heat beforehand, sophomore Alex McLaren improved upon his prelims time and placed 15th overall at 1:50.17.