Irish Outlast Oakland

Notre Dame finished first in 11 events Friday evening
against Oakland at the Rolfs Aquatic Center to hand the visiting Grizzlies a
179-119 defeat in non-conference men's swimming and diving action. The win
improves Notre Dame¹s dual meet record to 1-0.

"We were a bit uncertain of things because we have so many new faces on our
roster," Irish head coach Tim Welsh said. "After watching the team race
tonight, I have to say we¹ve improved since starting the season two weeks
ago. This meet showed promise and we hope to make steady progress in each of
the next three weeks."

Notre Dame stays at home while welcoming Cleveland State and Miami (Ohio) on
Oct. 31. The first race will begin at 2:00 p.m. (ET). The meet will mark the
25th anniversary of varsity competition in the Rolfs Aquatic Center.

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200 Medley Relay: Petar Petrovic (23.98) gave Notre Dame a clear lead after
the first leg S Oakland inched ahead after the breast, while John McGinley
(23.34) gained a bit of ground in the fly S coming from behind was John
Lytle (20.04) who gave the Irish the win in 1:34.49 S Kevin Overholt rallied
the B-team to a second-place finish in 1:35.20 after going 20.72 in the
final stretch.

1,000 Free: Steven Brus (9:56.14) held an early lead but faded briefly prior
to the midway point S Ryan Belecanech (9:48.55) put up a fight before
finishing third S Brus was fourth overall.

200 Free: The outcome was never in doubt as Andrew Hoffman stroked to a
first-place finish in 1:43.21 S Thomas Van Volkenburg (1:43.37) was second.

100 Back: Petrovic held a lead of .06 after the first lap and finished in
50.75 for top honors S Kevin Rahill was third overall in 53.38.

100 Breast: Christopher Johnson (58.07) was victorious in his first
collegiate individual race S Joseph Raycroft (59.77) was third.

200 Fly: Tylor Gauger (1:54.76) was the first Irish swimmer to finish and
placed second S Christopher Wills was one spot behind in 1:55.63.

50 Free: Notre Dame swept the top three spots behind the efforts of Lytle
(20.81), Overholt (21.47) and David Anderson (22.03).

3-meter Diving: Eric Lex (369.15) led the top three scoring Irish divers S
second place went to Caleb Dunnichay (350.5) and Wesley Villaflor (339.75)
took third.

100 Free: Notre Dame had three of the top swimmers after the halfway mark S
Lytle finished over a body-length ahead of the pack in 45.97 for his second
individual win S Hoffman was second in 47.51 while Overholt held on to third
in 47.89 S Anderson was fourth in 49.55.

200 Back: Petrovic (1:54.61) finished five seconds off of first place and
touched third.

200 Breast: Raycroft (2:09.13) just missed out on silver honors while Bill
Bass (2:13.27) was fifth.

500 Free: Bass tacked on an individual victory in 4:41.19 S Belecanech
(4:43.69) took home the bronze.

100 Fly: Conor Evans was solid from the outside lane with a 52.67, good for
second place S John McGinley (53.22) was third and Wesley Mullins (53.48)
placed fourth.

1-meter Diving: Dunnichay (322.42) was first ahead of Lex (313.27) and
Villaflor (300.00).

200 Individual Medley: Bass posted another win with a strong 1:56.85.

400 Free Relay: It was all Irish to cap off the evening S Lytle, Overholt,
Van Volkenburg and Hoffman powered to a first-place finish in 3:07.40.



Freshman Alex Aceino, sophomores Tim Montague and Anders Jensen, senior Mike Templeton and sophomore Joe Rodgers all picked up wins to lead Oakland University at Notre Dame in men’s swimming and diving action on Friday night at Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Golden Grizzlies fell to the Irish, 179-119.
 
“As a staff, we were real pleased with our overall effort,” said head coach Pete Hovland.  “Notre Dame is a very talented team.  From top to bottom, we raced very well.  We turned in a number of exceptional early season times.  There were some impressive performances from Tim, Alex, Anders, Mike and Joe.”
 
Oakland captured the 400-yard freestyle relay with the team of senior Pat Downing, Templeton, Aceino and Montague. The relay team posted a time of 3:11.33.
 
Montague opened up the winning for the Golden Grizzlies in the 1000 free with a time of 9:43.30. He was followed in the winner’s circle by Jensen who touched the wall in 1:53.90 in the 200 butterfly.
 
Templeton then clocked a time of 1:49.46 to capture the 200 backstroke, while Aceino tallied a first-place finish in the 100 fly with a time of 51.24. Rodgers was the final first-place finisher for the Golden Grizzlies, finishing with a time of 2:08.49 in the 200 breaststroke.
 
Jensen posted a runner-up finish in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:57.28, while Montague finished second in the 500 free with a mark of 4:41.57. Aceino also tallied a runner-up finish, posting a time of 9:44.35 in the 1000 free for the Golden Grizzlies.
 
Oakland will host Wayne State in a combined dual meet on Saturday, Oct. 31. The Golden Grizzlies will raise breast cancer awareness during the meet and ask that all fans try and wear pink in support. OU will also hand out Summit League championship rings prior to the start of the meet.