March 17, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second consecutive season Amywren Miller and Samantha Maxwell will compete at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, but this time they will be joined by diver Natalie Stitt. The trio recently helped the Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team claim its 13th consecutive BIG EAST Conference title in February.
Texas A&M University has been chosen to host the 2009 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. The event is scheduled to begin Thursday (March 19) and continue until the evening of Saturday (March 21) at the Student Rec Center Natatorium.
“We’ve very happy to be sending three great student-athletes to the national championships,” Irish head coach Brian Barnes said. “Both Amywren and Samantha know what it takes to compete at this level after being here last year, and I’m confident that Natalie will excel against some of the nation’s best divers as well.”
Miller, a sophomore, recorded the nation’s 24th-fastest time in the 50 Free (22.37) heading into the meet, and her best 100 Free (49.14) performance ranks 40th. She is an alternate for the 100 Fly with 53.88, placing her at 50th overall.
As a second-year breaststroker, Maxwell holds the nation’s 17th-fastest time in the 200 Breast (2:20.35) and is tied for 17th in the 100 Breast (1:00.38) entering this week’s meet.
Stitt, the 2009 BIG EAST Diver of the Year, earned an invitation to the national meet after a sixth-place showing off the 1-meter, scoring 537.50 points through the preliminary and final rounds.
Since the inception of the women’s program at Notre Dame, 21 individuals representing the Irish have earned All-American honors at the NCAAs, with Katie Carroll being the most recent with a seventh-place finish in 2007 with a time of 4:12.37 in the 400 IM. At least one Irish swimmer has garnered All-American recognition in every season from 1996-2007 with Carrie Nixon leading the pack by becoming a 12-time honoree from 1999-2002. She posted the highest finish of any Irish swimmer to compete in the NCAAs by placing fourth in the 50 Free in 2000.
Jeanine Blatt and Betsy Shadley were the program’s first All-Americans, claiming the honor in 1979 when the Irish competed at the Division III level.
Notre Dame went 6-3 during the dual-meet portion of its 2008-09 schedule and received votes in the final CSCAA top 25 poll.
Live stats and additional meet information will be provided through the Women’s Swimming and Diving schedule page at UND.com.
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