The Indiana women’s swimming and diving team officially opened the 2013-14 dual meet season Saturday, posting a 155-145 win over host Notre Dame and falling 180-120 to Auburn at the event in South Bend, Ind.
Senior Lindsay Vrooman took two individual events, taking the 1,000 freestyle in 9:56.99 and the 500 free in 4:45.57. She led a 1-2 finish in the 500 free as Haley Lips finished second in 4:54.66. Senior Brenna MacLean deviated from her usual program, placing fourth in the 1,000 free in 10:28.10.
Lips added a win in the 200 free to her second-place finish in the 500 free, clocking a time of 1:50.17. Vrooman took fourth in the event at 1:51.87. Brooklynn Snodgrass and Allie Day were the top IU finishers in the 100 backstroke, with Snodgrass fourth (56.67) and Day sixth (57.22).
Bronwyn Pasloski touched the wall second in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:04.36, while Siri Kristiansen touched eighth a 1:06.81. Kait Flederbach led Indiana in the 50 freestyle with a fourth-place finish (24.07) while Cynthia Pammett was seventh (24.44).
In her dual meet debut, freshman Olivia Barker won the 200 butterfly with her time of 2:00.75. Gia Dalesandro was sixth at 2:05.12.
In diving competition, Kate Hillman was the top IU finisher in both events, taking third on the 1-meter (262.05) and fourth on the 3-meter (275.20). Cassidy Kahn took eight in both events (204.90/218.70).
Stephanie Armstrong paced the Hoosiers in the 100 free finishing fifth (51.96), one spot ahead of Flederbach (52.29).
Snodgrass added a second-place finish in the 200 backstroke (2:00.64), with Day fourth (2:02.67). Barker touched the wall fifth in the 100 butterfly (56.30) and Dalesandro sixth (56.39). Day finished with a fifth-place showing in the 200 IM (2:08.38), followed by Dalesandro in seventh (2:09.14).
Pasloski added one final win for Indiana with a time of 2:18.90 in the 200 breaststroke, with Kristiansen sixth (2:24.30).
In the relay races, the Hoosiers took third in the 200 medley relay (1:44.06) and second in the 400 free relay (3:28.39).
The women are back in action next weekend at the SMU Classic (Oct. 18-19) in Dallas, Texas.
The Auburn women’s swimming and diving team remained unbeaten Saturday at the Notre Dame Tri-Meet after sweeping 18th-ranked Notre Dame and 13th-ranked Indiana by scores of 180-120 each. The Tigers carried over their strong performance at Vanderbilt two weeks ago and continued to get strong performances from their freshmen, gaining six event wins, two by freshman Allyx Purcell.
Purcell claimed victory in the 50 free (22.87) and 100 free (50.30), putting her just a tenth of a second off an NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the 50 free and one full second off the ‘B’ time in the 100 free. Purcell’s win in the 50 free was also the second of Auburn’s 1-2-3 finishes as seniors Haley Krakowski (23.56) and Aubrey Peacock (23.76) finished a second behind.
“Our women improved greatly from their first meet a few weeks ago,” Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. “Emily Bos and Allyx Purcell were standouts today, but there were plenty of bright spots. That was what we wanted to do as a coaching staff in this meet and that was to improve on what we did at Vanderbilt and I thought we did that.”
As for the men, the Tigers split their duals, beating the Irish, 153-147, and falling to defending national champion, Michigan, 195-103. In their first competition of the 2013-14 season, Auburn tallied two event wins, claiming first in the 50 free and 200 back. Senior Marcelo Chierighini won the fastest race of the day, touching the wall in 19.93 in the 50 free, while freshman Joe Patching won the 200 back (1:45.85) by an almost full second.
“Today was a little of a struggle for the men,” Hawke said. “They weren’t quite ready in the first half of the meet, so we talked during the break and they picked up the pace the rest of the way. Our guys performed much better in the second half of competition and did what we needed to do to beat Notre Dame and put up some good races against a great Michigan team.”
The women kicked the meet off on the right foot after winning the 200 medley relay to claim the first 11 points for the Tigers. The team of Bos, sophomore Annie Lazor, junior Megan Fonteno and Purcell clocked a 1:41.97 in the race to take their first lead that would never be relinquished.
Trying to build off her two wins from a meet ago, freshman Ashley Neidigh took a runner-up finish in the 1,000 free after a time of 10:00.51. Her time was still almost two seconds faster from her previous swim for a season-best.
Continuing with the freshmen surge from the women’s team, freshman MaryElizabeth Warhol earned her second top-three individual finish of her career after taking third-place in the 200 free (1:51.76), a tenth of a second faster than her previous best.
In the 100 back, Bos continued to perform well in her best event, taking home the prize with a time of 54.07, her first appearance in the 100 back this season. The win for Auburn was part of a 1-2-3 finish in the event as fellow senior Aubrey Peacock (55.25) and sophomore Sarah Reynolds (56.52) made it a Tiger sweep.
The Auburn women then took two of the three top spots in the 200 butterfly as junior Sarah Peterson (2nd, 2:03.14) and sophomore Alexandria Merritt (3rd, 2:03.30) gave the Orange and Blue seven more points towards the two dual wins.
Reynolds completed the final win for the Tigers on the day after winning the 200 back with a time of 2:00.35, just a little more than a second off the NCAA ‘B’ cut time. The individual win was the first for Reynolds in the young year.
As for the men, seniors James Disney-May, Chierighini and freshmen Kyle Darmody and Michael Duderstadt earned a runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay (1:29.84), the Tigers first race of the year. However, that would be the last top-three finish in any race for Auburn until Patching earned a runner-up finish in the 100 back (48.86).
Chierighini continued his strong start to the season in his second event of the day, the 100 freestyle. The senior took home second-place (44.36), just missing an NCAA ‘B’ cut time.
Today’s events were also the first day of competition for the Auburn diving team this year. Junior Morgan Mullins was Auburn’s high women’s scorer of the day, taking fourth-place in the 1-meter (258.50)) and third-place in the 3-meter (280.20), en route to earning NCAA Zone qualifying scores. Senior John Santieu was the high scorer for the Auburn men with runner-up finishes in both the 1-meter (324.30) and 3-meter (344.70).
“Morgan made some great improvements today,” Auburn head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. “The whole meet was a great first outing for the team. They’re starting to know what they need to do and where the focus needs to be heading forward.”
Auburn will have short rest before its next meet as it will travel to Charlotte, N.C. to take on Queens University on Oct. 25. Both the men and women will make the trip in two weeks as the women will be looking to stay perfect in the dual season. The meet is scheduled to last one day and will start at 4 p.m.
The first meet of the season provides an opportunity for a head coach to learn about the team and head coach Brian Barnes learned a lot about the 2013-14 edition of the University of Notre Dame women's swimming and diving program Saturday. The Irish registered a number of impressive swims both by returning veterans and newcomers to the squad, but fell short of a victory over Auburn University and Indiana University in the first two dual meets of the season.
"I learned a lot," Barnes said after the meet on Saturday. "I cautioned [the team] about how to evaluate this meet because we have a perennial SEC powerhouse on our campus along with the reigning Big Ten champions. We competed against them well and we went down to the wire against Indiana."
Junior Emma Reaney continued to pace the Irish as she registered two victories on the afternoon in the 100 breaststroke and the 100 butterfly while finishing a close second in the 200 freestyle. Reaney dominated the field with a blistering performance in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.94) and pulled away from the field over the last 25 yards to win the 100 butterfly.
Freshman Katelyn Miller distanced herself over the middle 100 yards of the 200 IM race to earn her first individual victory of her young Irish career.
On the boards, divers Allison Casareto (1-meter) and Lindsey Streepey (3-meter) swept the diving competitions for the Irish.
While Notre Dame (0-2) fell to Auburn, 180-120, and to Indiana University, 155-145, junior Courtney Whyte did see positives for the Irish to build upon over the next three weeks before the Irish race again.
"They are both really tough teams and really competitive [each year]," said Whyte. "Each year I have been on the team we have come closer and closer to beating them so that is encouraging. A lot of us had a lot of good swims especially with this being the first dual meet of the season. I think we have all been tired this week and we have a lot of improvement to do even in the next few weeks. However, I think it is exciting to see where we are going to go."
Coach Barnes doesn't view this meet as a moral victory, though, and is ready to use the next three weeks of preparation to continue to work on the team's identity.
"We have three weeks until our next meet," said Barnes. "I like that amount of time. After [that amount of time] they are going to be tired of training and ready to compete so I am happy about that. A lot of the things that we learn from and evaluate here are going to be discussed in the next three weeks. We have to continue to do the things we did well this weekend and continue to get better. That is the challenge with this team."
The sentiment was echoed by Whyte, who said that the Irish leadership has been preaching accountability more this season.
"I think a lot [of the leadership] is definitely the juniors and the seniors stepping up and incorporating aspects that we learned last year and this year in our meetings with Mike Harrity (Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Development and Community Programming). We have been talking about accountability and keeping everyone accountable for their own training. We have been more encouraging and engaging in everyone else's training [this year]."
The Irish will continue to learn about their identity when they head to Purdue University for a November 1 showdown against in-state rival Boilermakers.
EVENT-BY-EVENT BREAKDOWN
200 Medley Relay: The foursome of Sarah Dotzel, Emma Reaney, Courtney Whyte and Kelly Ryan finished in a close second to Auburn with a time of 1:42.84 ... the group of Catherine Mulquin, Christen McDonough, Genevieve Heidkamp and Hannah Bowenfinished in fifth place for Notre Dame (1:46.18).
1,000 Freestyle: Freshman Katie Miller paced herself to a third-place finish, touching the pad at 10:21.52 ... Bridget Caseystopped the clock with a time of 10:29.16 for a fifth-place performance ... in the first heat Erin Foley came in a close second (10:30.27) while teammate Molly Barry finished at 10:39.20.
200 Freestyle: Emma Reaney used a powerful third lap to take the lead ... she held on to win the second heat for the Irish in 1:50.40 and second overall ... senior Kelly Ryan finished with a time of 1:51.93, which was good for fifth place ... in the first heat of action Suzanne Bessire finished in second (1:52.67).
100 Backstroke: Mulquin and Dotzel represented the Irish in the second heat and finished with times of 56.82 and 1:01:52, respectively ... Sydney Golic (1:00.71) and Heidkamp (1:00.99) took the pool for Notre Dame in the first heat.
100 Breaststroke: Reaney took the early lead and did not look as she won the event in a blistering time of 1:00.94 ... Christen McDonough finished in third with a time of 1:05.16 in the second heat ... freshman Danielle Margheret and Lauren Stauder finished first and second in the opening heat of the event with performances of 1:05.98 and 1:06.66, respectively.
200 Butterfly: Bridget Casey used a strong second half of the race to clock in at 2:03.39 ... teammate Courtney Whyte finished close behind in a time of 2:03.69 ... Melissa Scott (2:07.95) and Anna Grainger (2:16.13) raced for Notre Dame in the first heat.
50 Freestyle: Hannah Bowen, returning after not swimming last season due to an injury, was the first Irish swimmer to hit the pad in 24.28 ... McDonough finished next for Notre Dame in the second heat in a time of 24.56 ... Mulquin took the silver for the Irish (24.29) in the first heat while Heidkamp (25.62) rounded out the group of Irish swimmers in the event.
100 Freestyle: Ryan claimed third in the race with a time of 51.31 ... Bessire (52.78), Bradford (53.31) and Mikelle Masciantonio(54.68) all represented Notre Dame in the event.
200 Backstroke: Miller was the top Irish swimmer in the event when she stopped the clock at 2:03.96 ... Whyte (2:04.34) andAnna Grainger (2:04.55) finished closely behind Miller.
200 Breaststroke: Margheret led all Notre Dame swimmers with her 2:22.27 showing ... McDonough also swam in the first heat with a time of 2:25.27... Bradford Lauren Stauder teamed to sweep the top two spots of heat one with performances of 2:22.95 and 2:24.73.
500 Freestyle: Second heat swimmers Casey and Foley swam to fifth and ninth place finishes overall with times of 5:06.32 and 5:10.65, respectively ... the freshmen duo of Molly Barry (5:09.11) and Elizabeth House (5:17.14) rounded out the Irish effort.
100 Butterfly: Reaney pulled away late to win the event with a time of 55.03 ... Whyte finished close behind in with a 56.67 showing ... Dotzel sprinted to a time of 58.15, finishing a close second to Auburn's Alexandria Merritt with a time of 56.25 in the first heat.
200 Individual Medley: Miller surged ahead on the backstroke and breaststroke lengths to claim another gold for the Irish with her time of 2:03.14 ... Bradford (2:09.10), Scott (2:10.93) and Golic (2:13.29) all competed for the Irish as well.
400 Free Relay: The Irish squad of Ryan, Mulquin, Bessire and Miller finished in third place overall with a time of 3:29.58.
1-meter Diving: The Irish pair of Allison Casareto (297.05) and Lindsey Streepey (276.75) swept the top two spots in the event for the Irish.
3-meter Diving: Streepey continued on a strong performance at the Dennis Stark Relays with a victory off the 3-meter board, totaling 296.50 points ... Gaboury (270.20) also had a top-five finish for Notre Dame.
With two high-caliber opponents on the schedule for the second consecutive day, the University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team faced a difficult challenge in both defending NCAA champion Michigan and Auburn. The Irish battled to the end with both opposing teams, dropping a competitive 153-147 decision to Auburn and a 201-99 verdict to Michigan Saturday at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
A total of three pool records were set on the day, bringing the total from the dual meet and Friday’s 49th annual Dennis Stark Relays to five record times swam over the weekend.
Notre Dame senior Frank Dyer was the first Irish individual winner on the day, placing first in the 100 free after touching in with a time of 44.34. Dyer added a runner-up result in the 200 free (1:37.42) and the 200 fly (48.55) in individual racing, and was a member of the third place 200 medley relay ‘A’ squad to help pace Notre Dame.
Junior Zach Stephens added the second Notre Dame win later in the day, becoming the only swimmer in the 200 breast to break the two-minute barrier with his gold time of 1:59.91. Stephens chipped in a runner-up finish of his own in the 100 breast (55.49, and clocked in third in the 200 IM after a swim of 1:49.43.
Other top Notre Dame finishes were turned in by junior John Williamson, who navigated the 200 fly in 1:48.68 to place third in the field, and fifth-place efforts for senior Colin Babcock (100 breast, 56.64), sophomore Bogac Ayhan (100 back, 50.59), junior James McEldrew (200 back, 1:51.05) and junior Cameron Miller (200 breast, 2:04.50).
Freshman diver Joseph Coumos enjoyed a clean sweep during his NCAA dual meet debut, sweeping the action off both the 1 and 3-meter boards. Coumos scored 328.25 points in his 1-meter attempts and added a final score of 354.90 in the 3-meter event as a double-winner. Junior Nick Nemetz contributed a score of 330.00 off the 3-meter board to finish in third place in that event, adding a fifth-place result in the 1-meter competition (291.85). Freshman James Lichtenstein (fourth place, 292.85 in the 1-meter) and junior Ted Wagner (fifth place, 288.70) added top five results for the Irish.
Notre Dame returns to dual meet racing on Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. (ET) at the United States Air Force Academy.
