MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — No. 18/18 Notre Dame took the lead on Day One of the road dual meet at West Virginia, with the Irish men leading 141-45 and the women ahead 99-67.
Standout performances came courtesy Kelly Straub, setting a program record for the second-consecutive week as both she and Annie Wiese topped the previous Irish platform mark of 267.35; Austin Flaute, who swept the day’s men’s diving events with Zone-A scores; and Cason Wilburn, who won two individual events and was part of two winning relays.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Mountaineers started off with a win in the women’s 200 Free Relay, as the Irish team of Carly Quast, Cailey Grunhard, Rachel Wittmer and Skylar Fore posted a 1:31.91 for second. Notre Dame took home the win in the men’s 200 Free Relay, as Topher Stensby, Wilburn, Brendan Santana and Alec DeLong turned in a 1:19.85.
Madeline LaPorte continued her dominance in the 500 Free event, touching the wall in 4:50.85 for the win, as Kallie Chelsvig came in third with a 4:53.91. On the men’s side, Jack Fitzpatrick took home the 500 Free win with a 4:25.68, as Thacher Scannell placed second with a 4:28.15.
Wittmer continued the wins with a first-place finish in the women’s 100 Fly, clocking a 54.09, as Luciana Thomas placed third with a 54.88. Wilburn won the men’s 100 Fly, posting a 47.70 in the event, as Charles Korndorffer came in third with a 48.17. Sydney Winters placed second in the 200 Back with a 2:00.98, while the Irish swept the men’s 200 Back with Jack Hoagland (1:44.76 – NCAA B Cut), Will Cumberland (1:45.83) and Sadler McKeen (1:46.40) claiming the top three spots.
Notre Dame’s Elizabeth Fry claimed the win in the women’s 100 Breast, posting a 1:01.97, as Sophia Bradac (1:03.31) and Meaghan Lyons (1:03.99) took second and third. The Irish also swept the men’s heat, as Josh Bottelberghe placed first with a 53.78 (NCAA B-Cut), followed by Jack Hoagland (54.33) and JP Becker (54.76).
The Irish were among the top in the women’s 100 Free, as Grunhard placed second (50.77) and Fore took third (50.95). Wilburn continued his success, posting the win in the men’s 100 Free (44.30), followed by DeLong (44.49) and Luke Uttley (44.64) in second and third.
Sarah Nicholls made noise as she won the women’s 400 IM, clocking a 4:26.52, while in the Men’s 400 IM, Max Miranda took first (3:49.84 – NCAA B Cut), joined by Andrew Winton (3:53.55) and Sean Faikish (3:56.82) on the podium.
To end the swimming events, Quast, Coleen Gillilan, Grunhard and Wittmer touched the wall in 3:38.09 for first in the 400 Medley Relay, as another Irish team of Bayley Stewart, Ellie Jew, Peyton D’Emanuele and Sydney Whiting took second. On the men’s side, three Irish relays crowded the podium, as the team of Fitzpatrick, Bottelberghe, Korndorffer and Wilburn claimed the 400 Medley Relay with a 3:12.82.
In the diving well, Flaute made his mark, taking the top spot in the men’s 1-meter event, scoring a 370.65 to best the closest competition by more than 18 points and notching a Zone A score. He followed it up with another Zone A score and the win in the 3-meter event, posting a 408.23 for first.
For the women, it was a battle on the women’s platform, with just .07 points separating first and second. Kelly Straub won out with a 273.45, and Annie Wiese took a narrow second with 273.38, both notching Zone-A scores. Both topped the previous Notre Dame program record on the platform (267.35) set by Lindsey Streepy in 2014. It marked Straub’s second-consecutive weekend breaking a program record, as she set a new program record for the 1-meter (six dives), scoring a 340.35, which broke the previous record that stood since 2012 (Jenny Chiang).
The Irish return to the pool Saturday, with events beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Follow along with @NDSwimDive on Twitter for updates.