PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Building off Day 1 success at Pittsburgh, Notre Dame soundly defeated the Panthers on the final day of competition. As usual, the Irish capitalized off of individual wins, posting 21 individual wins from 12 different swimmers and three divers on the weekend. Notre Dame also improved relay finishes during the weekend, winning six of eight relay events.
Final Scores | Complete Results
- Men: Notre Dame – 222, Pittsburgh – 130
- Women: Notre Dame – 223, Pittsburgh – 125
After Day 1, the Irish led the Panthers 121-46 (women) and 112-55 (men).
Notre Dame began Day 2 strong, with wins in the men’s and women’s 200 medley relay. The women’s team of Carly Quast, Coleen Gillilan, Erin Sheehan and Rachel Wittmer posted a 1:42.24, while the men’s team of Jack Montesi, Matt Limbacher, Zach Smith and Aaron Schultz marked down a 1:29.46.
From there, the Irish kept up the momentum, with Sadler McKeen touching the wall first in the 200 Free (1:37.69), and Gillilan doing the same in the women’s 200 IM (2:00.93). Kelly Jacob sprinted to a win in the women’s 50 Free (23.74), while perennial Irish standout Abbie Dolan raced to a victory in the women’s 200 Fly (1:59.87).
Quast kept it going for the Notre Dame women, marking down a 54.83 in the women’s 100 Back, good for first place. Jack Montesi answered on the men’s side with a win in the 100 Back of his own (48.60).
Gillilan put up her fourth individual win of the weekend (sixth overall) in the 200 Breast with a 2:15.65, while distance veteran Zach Yeadon raced to a win in the men’s 1000 Free. He was followed in the standings by Jack Hoagland, Will Barao and Luke Thornbrue, continuing their success in the distance events from last week.
Immediately following Yeadon’s win in the 1000 Free, he got back in the pool to swim the last leg of Notre Dame’s 400 Free Relay, teaming up with McKeen, Aaron Schultz and Topher Stensby to post a win (2:58.01).
“We were able to spread the wealth around at Pittsburgh, but also challenge some of our athletes with some interesting doubles,” said Mike Litzinger, head swim and dive coach.
“[A win] that stands out are Zach Yeadon’s back-to-back wins in the 1000 Free and swimming the anchor on the 400 Free Relay for the win,” he noted, referencing the immediate turnaround for Yeadon. “That is a tough one, and he handled it well.”
The Irish saw success during the weekend in relay competition, winning six of eight relay events over the extended two-day meet.
“In this event schedule, we are able to swim multiple relays, and it gives us some flexibility to see other athletes’ performances,” Litzinger explained. “Our relays are still a work in progress, and we are looking to point them toward a peak performance at the end of the year.”
On the diving end, Irish athletes won three of four events, beginning the weekend with David Petrison’s win (255.75) in the men’s platform competition. On Saturday, Erin Isola (293.78) and Austin Flaute (309.15) posted wins in the 1-meter diving competitions.
“I am very pleased with how the whole team and the divers took advantage of this opportunity to compete,” Litzinger expressed. “Now, we can dial in on the Ohio State Invite and close out the semester.”
The Irish will have two weeks to prepare before traveling to the Ohio State Invitational Thursday, Nov. 21.