Oct. 25, 2008
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Senior Daniel Rave and juniors MacKenzie LeBlanc and John Lytle each won individual events for the Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team Saturday at McDonald’s Swim Stadium but the Irish eventually fell to host USC, 159.5-126.5. Notre Dame dropped to 0-1 with the Trojans moving to 1-0 after both team’s first dual meet of the season.
Lytle actually tied for first in the 200 Free (1:39.88) with USC’s Zoltan Povazsay, who represented his native Hungary in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Junior Andrew Hoffman was Notre Dame’s highest finisher in the 50 Free (21.47) and placed fourth in the 100 Free (46.64).
The distance events saw freshman Ryan Belecanech and junior Andrew Deters turn in solid swims for the Irish. Belecanech (4:42.33) was second in the 500 Free with Deters (4:44.02) touching the wall soon after. Deters (9:39.44) was third in the 1,000 Free and Belecanech (9:40.68) placed fourth.
Senior Jeff Wood (51.94) finished just behind USC’s T.J. Auner (51.43) in the 100 Back and placed third in the 200 Back (1:53.58). Sophomore Michael Sullivan took home silver honors in the 200 Back (1:51.61) with sophomore Joshua Nosal earning points with a fourth-place finish in 1:56.03.
Rave (1:01.20) and Belecanech (1:03.54) added to Notre Dame’s overall score with their efforts in the 100 Breast.
LeBlanc followed his second-place finish in the 100 Fly (50.71) with a 1:52.16 in the 200 Fly to top the pack.
Three Irish swimmers placed in the top four of the 400 IM led by Deters (4:08.97), sophomore Steven Brus (4:12.83) and Rave (4:19.47).
Senior Michael Bulfin (324.15) was the highest finisher for Notre Dame off the 1-meter board. Sophomore Eric Lex (319.05) was fourth and junior Caleb Dunnichay (314.17) was fifth. Bulfin (356.32) was second from 3-meters above the water.
The Irish took the top three spots in the 400 Free Relay with the fastest mark coming in 3:06.65. The best 200 Medley Relay time was 1:36.27, third-best in the final heat.
The Trojans placed first in 12 of the 16 meet events.
–ND–