Notre Dame Press Release
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After breaking three different team records and another two pool records in the first-day of action of the 2017 Shamrock Invitational, Notre Dame concluded its annual meet with another record setting effort at the Rolfs Aquatic Center Saturday. The Fighting Irish men ran away with the team title (1192.5 points), while the women came in second (1053) behind Wisconsin (1194.5).
The men bested the Badgers (1007), Grand Canyon (721) and Missouri State (514.5). The women finished behind Wisconsin, but well ahead of Grand Canyon (596), Nebraska (501.5) and Clemson (107, who only competed in women’s diving).
STANDOUT SWIMS
More Records at the Rolfs
The male quartet of Robby Whitacre, Trent Jackson, Justin Plaschka and Daniel Speers broke the men’s 200 medley relay pool record with a time of 1:27.51. The previous pool record was 1:27.67. The record-setting swim came during Jackson’s last home meet of his career as the senior will graduate in the spring.
Abbie Dolan continued her impressive rookie campaign. The Irish freshmen essentially broke the 200 free record for the Rolfs Aquatic center twice. She won the 200 free with a time of 1:47.00, besting the previous mark of 1:47.14. Dolan’s initial mark wouldn’t last long. She swam 1:46.93 in the leadoff leg of the 800 free relay. The team of Dolan, Lauren Heller, Reilly Lanigan and Kyra Sarazen won the event with a time of 7:15.11.
Men’s 400 IM
Senior Tommy Anderson won the 400 IM with a time of 3:53.51. Teammate and fellow senior Kevin Bradley was not far behind taking third place with a time of 3:55.58.
Women’s 100 Breast
Sherri McIntee won the event with a time of 1:02.29 and teammate Meaghan O’Donnell came in third tapping the wall at 1:02.52.
COACH LITZINGER'S THOUGHTS
On his feelings after the Shamrock Invitational…
“It was an incredible competition and that’s the reason we set this meet as we do. It’s a lot of swimming in 24 hours, but it’s worth it when you have the quality of teams like Wisconsin, Missouri State and Grand Canyon. Every team here set a pool record this weekend. This invitational is not for the faint of heart. It’s conference time. It’s time to get ready and that’s what this meet did for us.”
On how he feels after the meet and looking towards the ACC Championships…
“I feel really good but we still have a lot of work to do as a team as we project towards the future. We improved our seed times in some areas and we had some kids do some really special things. We’ll have our moments at the ACCs and I feel pretty good heading into it.”
On his seniors…
“They’ve been super and great. They’ve served our team and our University in a great way. I’m looking forward to sending them off at a championship level. They’ve done a great job for us and we’re going to miss them dearly. “
SHAMROCK INVITATIONAL MEET NOTES
• Alice Treuth, Sherri McIntee, Sofia Revilak and Abbie Dolan scored second place points for the Irish women in the women’s 200 medley relay clocking in at 1:41.90.
• Katie Miller took third in the women’s 400 IM with a time of 4:25.45.
• Senior Trent Jackson earned second in the men’s 100 breast clocking a time of 55.82.
• Alice Treuth captured second in the 100 back with a time of 55.20 and senior teammate Catherine Mulquin finished third tapping the board at 55.36. Treuth also earned second in the 200 back with time of 1:56.50.
• Reed Fujan, Tabahn, Afrik, Trent Jackson, and Aaron Schultz earned second in the men’s 800 free relay with a time of 6:34.02.
• Robby Whitacre and Jack Montesi earned second and third, respectively, in the men’s 100 back. Whitacre clocked in at 48.86, while Montesi finished with a time of 49.93. Whitacre also came in second in the 200 backstroke tapping the wall at 1:45.71.
• Nikki Smith placed second in the women’s 400 fly clocking in at 54.72.
• Tabahn Afrik finished second in the men’s 200 free with a time of 1:37.05. Senior Reed Fujan came in third placed (1:37.45).
• Molly Treble earned key points for the Irish finishing second in the women’s 1650 free with a time of 16:56.29
• Senior Trent Jackson earned second place in the men’s 200 breast clocking in at 2:01.00.
• Nikki Smith came in second in the women’s 200 fly touching the wall at 1:59.98.
• Senior Joe Petrone gave the Irish second-place points tapping the board in the men’s 200 fly at 1:48.49.
• The women’s 400 free relay team of Abbie Dolan, Catherine Mulquin, Lauren Heller and Sofia Revilak came in second place with a time of 3:18.26. The time would’ve been good enough to break the pool record but the Wisconsin relay quartet went just a little faster (3:17.78).
• Notre Dame’s men’s 400 free relay team of Tabahn Afrik, Daniel Speers, Reed Fujan and Justin Plaschka placed second in the event with a time of 2:54.87.
Missouri State Press Release
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Missouri State swimming and diving team finished fourth and welcomed three new school records at the Shamrock Invitational, hosted at the campus of Notre Dame on Saturday, Jan. 28.
Host Notre Dame claimed the meet with 1192.5 points, followed by Wisconsin (1007), Grand Canyon (721) and Missouri State (514.5).
“This was a good meet for us to focus on some final details as we prepare for the Mid-American Conference Championships,” head coach Dave Collins said. “There is great competition from the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference.”
Collectively, the Bears brought in 17, top-10 finishes and the Missouri State “A” relay went 7-8-9 in the three relays of the day.
Sophomore Phillip Willett reigned in a fifth-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley, followed by Ethan Bresette who finished ninth in 4:03.92. Team captain Preston Selby, Thomas Heye and Kacper Cwiek all boasted top-10 times in their respective events.
“Watching this team is incredible because no matter who we race against, everyone gives it their all,” Selby said. “It is late in the season and everyone is tired, but we had guys swimming lifetime bests. Our minds are where they need to be going into the conference championships.”
Four Bears – Artur Osvath, Nicholas Theunissen, Uldis Tazans and Willett – snagged top-10 finishes in the 100yd breaststroke. Osvath, who touched the wall in a first-place time of 53.31 seconds, set a new career best along with a new program record in the event. Theunissen, Tazans and Willett followed, placing third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
Similarly, in the 200yd breast, Osvath earned his second crown as well as broke his second school record of the day. This time, the sophomore broke his own school record after recording a time of 1:54.17. Osvath set Rolfs Aquatic Center pool records in both the 100 and 200yd breast.
“Artur continues to amaze us,” Collins said. “To swim the sixth best time in the country unshaved is jaw dropping.” I think finishing one spot out of scoring position at NCAAs has really motivated him.”
Kicking off session three, Missouri State’s distance swimmers dominated the 1650yd free. Antonio Thomas earned his second victory of the season in the event as he recorded a time of 15:05.16. Breaking down the splits, the freshman improved his own school record in the 1000yd free to 9:05.39 and set the pool record in the mile.
Kang, the runner-up in the 1650yd free, shaved six seconds off his personal best and moved from fourth to third on the Missouri State all-time list when he touched the wall in 15:12:17.
“I am very pleased with Antonio and Minki,” Collins added. “They have been really grinding in training and have been challenging each other. Then on race day, they work together for a 1-2 finish. Antonio broke the 1000 team record on the way out and Minki swam a lifetime best. This is a great sign for them moving forward.”
Wisconsin Press Release
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Wisconsin swimming and diving team closed out its time at the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational with quadruple-win performances Saturday by Beata Nelson and Cannon Clifton.
“Beata and Cannon have been very consistent all year and we’re getting down to the time where everything is really important,” said UW head coach Whitney Hite. “The more consistent you are day in and day out, you see the results and both have done a really good job in training.”
The UW women went on to win the invitational with 1,194.5 points, followed by Notre Dame (1,053), Grand Canyon (596), Nebraska (510.5) and Clemson (107).
The men came in second place with 1,007 points behind host Notre Dame, which earned 1,192.5. Grand Canyon (721) and Missouri State (514.5) placed third and fourth, respectively.
“I thought it was a very good meet for us and I thought we competed well,” said Hite. “The great thing about it is that is tested us both physically and mentally with the tight turnaround. I thought it was a really good test for us and I’m very pleased with everyone’s efforts.”
Nelson kicked off her day as the butterfly leg of the winning the women’s 200-yard medley relay in 1 minute, 39.85 seconds, a Rolfs Aquatic Center record, along with Jess Unicomb, Marissa Berg and Chase Kinney.
Nelson then went on to win three individual races; the 100 fly (54.24), 100 backstroke (54.08) and the 200 backstroke in a pool-record time of 1:55.59.
Clifton earned his first win of the day in the men’s 100 fly, touching the wall in 47.51 before going on to dominate the 100 free to grab the win in a pool-record time of 43.05.
The senior was then an integral part of two winning relays, leading off the 800 free relay and the 400 free relay.
Clifton and his relay mates, Matt Hutchins, Ryan Stack and Brett Pinfold, won the 800 free relay by nearly four seconds, recording a pool-record time of 6:30.25.
The 400 free relay proved to be a much closer race as Wisconsin managed to fend off Notre Dame by 15 hundredths of a second, but the result was just as exciting as UW’s pool-record time of 2:54.72 ranks as the eighth-fastest time in school history.
Before swimming the anchor leg on the historic men’s 400 free relay, Pinfold earned an individual win in the 200 free in 1:36.51.
After swimming the freestyle leg on the winning women’s 200 medley relay, Kinney also picked up an individual win in the 100 free, touching the wall in 49.10.
The senior also helped the Wisconsin women to victory in the 400 free relay in a pool-record time of 3:17.78, along with Emmy Sehmann, Marissa Berg and Cierra Runge.
The Badgers earned three other wins on the day courtesy of Grace Tierney in the 1,650 free (16:48.23), Dana Grindall in the 200 fly (1:59.54) and Maria Carlson in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.52).
Carlson also led the team in the 100 breaststroke, finishing runner-up in 1:02.50.
Underclassmen, Sehmann and Michael Milinovich also had standout performances in their respective events, with Sehmann earning runner-up honors in the women’s 100 (49.77) and 200 (1:48.64) freestyle races while Milinovich secured a second-place finish in the men’s 400 IM (3:55.49).
On the diving boards, Ashley Peterson led the Wisconsin women, placing second in the 1-meter board with 292.90 points.
Hazel Hertting (262.15), Gabriella Comunale (258.80) and Alex Hafey (255.25) went 6-7-8 to close out their time in South Bend.
On the 3-meter, Andrew Pearce led the men with a sixth-place showing, posting 293.85 points.
Kevin Pomeroy (291.90) and Ethan O’Neill (264.10) went 7-8 while Matt Aronson (261.20) and Max Reynolds (253.50) were 10th and 11th, respectively.
“The divers did really well this weekend and Ashley was outstanding,” said Hite. It’s certainly exciting going into Big Tens with the diving piece coming to the forefront.”
The team returns home to take on in-state rival, Green Bay, this Friday, Feb. 3. Swimming competition is slated to begin at 5 p.m. (CT) at the UW Natatorium.
