Feb. 16, 2001
The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team won four events and extended its lead on day two of the 2001 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships in Long Island, N.Y. The Irish now have 457.50 points to lead the 13-team field. Miami (Fla.), which Notre Dame defeated in the dual-meet season, remains second with 334.50 points after trailing the Irish by just eight points after one day of competition. Rutgers (325.50) and Virginia Tech (314) are third and fourth respectively. Notre Dame is pursuing its fifth consecutive BIG EAST championship since joining the conference six years ago.
Junior Kelly Hecking (Rutherford, N.J.), a two-time All-American, highlighted the day for Notre Dame, winning her third consecutive BIG EAST title in the 100 backstroke with a meet-record time of 54.98 that also set a new school record, breaking Tanya Williams’ record of 55.68 set in 1993. Freshman Danielle Hulick (Galesburg, Ill.) finished second in the event in 56.32. Hecking and Hulick also combined with freshmen Lisa D’Olier (Houston, Texas) and Laurie Musgrave (Littleton, Colo.) to win the 200 medley relay. Hecking has now won 13 BIG EAST event championships in her career, including three in 2001.
D’Olier also enjoyed individual success, capturing first place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.00 while fellow freshman Lisa Garcia (Denver, Colo.) finished fifth in the event. Junior Allison Lloyd (Fort Wayne, Ind.) also won her first individual conference event championship by taking the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.86.
Freshman Marie Labosky (Churchville, Pa.) continued to impress in her first BIG EAST championship meet, finishing second in the 400 individual medley. Her time of 4:16.94 broke Tanya Williams’ previous record of 4:19.88 set in 1991. Williams, the first All-American in Irish women’s swimming history, has seen all three of her school records fall this weekend as Labosky also bested her time in the 200 IM on Thursday. Prior to this weekend, Williams’ marks were the only ones in the Notre Dame women’s swimming record book that were set prior to 1997. Tiffany O’Brien (Redmond, Wash.) finished fourth in the event.
Full results from the first two days can be obtained at http://www.bigeast.org/sports/swimming. The 2001 BIG EAST Championships conclude Saturday with preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. and finals beginning at 6:30 p.m.