Oct. 10, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After competing last night in the Dennis Stark Relays, an exhausted Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team hit the pool Saturday morning for a dual meet at the Rolfs Aquatic Center against Michigan. The Wolverines pulled away with a 165-133 win as the Irish dropped to 0-1 on the season.
“We faced a tough Big Ten team today in Michigan, and competed with them until the last couple of events,” Irish head coach Brian Barnes said. “It was a meet that really came down to close races, and we lost too many. That’s something we will learn from and try to improve upon. Winning the last relay was a nice way to end the day.
“We have our work cut out for us as we continue to compete against programs that swim at Michigan’s level. We are going to continue to schedule tough competition here at Notre Dame and it’s really the best thing for our women.”
Notre Dame’s next meet is Nov. 6 at Purdue.
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200 Medley Relay: After an even start in the backstroke, Notre Dame’s Sam Maxwell seized an advantage off the turn … the Wolverines retook the lead as Caitlin Dauw pounded forward in the butterfly … Amywren Miller gave chase to the Michigan forerunner Natasha Moodie, but ran out of time as the Wolverines held on for the win in 1:43.25 followed closely by Notre Dame with a 1:43.75.
1,000 Freestyle: Michigan’s Emily Brunemann pushed the pace early followed 10 yards behind by her teammate Emily Hanson at the halfway point of the race … Irish swimmers continued to makes runs at the lead Wolverine tandem, but fell short of closing the gap as Michigan’s leaders punched in respective times of 9:58.19 and 10:05.26, followed by Notre Dame’s Jaime Malandra in 10:26.31.
200 Freestyle: The field started showing distinction near the conclusion of the first half as Michigan’s Brunemann snagged a slight lead with dual pressures coming from Megan Farrell and Amy Prestinario on the outside … Brunemann’s early damage was enough to retain the win in a time of 1:50.92 over Farrell in 1:53.30.
100 Backstroke: An even mix of four competitors streamed into the second lap … Notre Dame’s Gwen Blythe seized an advantage with her underwater work off of the final turn … Michigan’s Liz Johnson overpowered the field in the last stretch and locked in a winning time of 56.87 trailed immediately by Blythe in 57.02.
100 Breaststroke: Maxwell went to work and immediately pulled ahead of her neighboring Wolverine competitors while moving off of the first turn … Maxwell continued her reign in the first place position and seized gold for the Irish in 1:02.77. 200 Butterfly: Katie Casey gained a strong advantage over second-place Dauw … Casey’s lead endured as fatigue seized the field, earning her the highest honors in 2:03.87.
50 Freestyle: Miller led the heat for the Irish charging into the turn and surfaced as the clear leader heading into the second half … Michigan’s Moodie powered forward in the final length, steadily chipping away at Miller’s lead … Miller hammered the wall first in 23.35 pursued by Moodie in 23.74.
100 Freestyle: The hands of Wolverine swimmer Moodie pierced the water just ahead of the field near the completion of the first lap, followed tightly by Prestinario on the outside … in the second half, Miller led the struggle for gold for the Irish as she attempted to run down Moodie who continued to slash forward in the final length … Moodie earned top accolades in 51.89, followed by Miller and Prestinario with respective times of 52.85 and 53.17.
200 Backstroke: Kim Holden emerged from the fourth turn just ahead of Michigan’s Mattie Kukors as the two entered into a tight battle to claim the second half of the race … competition remained tight as the rival duo entered even into the final turn … Kukors charged through the waters to open up a lead and claim the race over Holden with respective finishes of 2:03.90 and 2:04.34.
200 Breaststroke: The competition was tight as Maxwell attempted to hold onto her top position over Wolverines Julia Andracki and Melissa Lang in the second half … Maxwell endured and built on her lead slightly to win gold by finishing in 2:17.78.
500 Freestyle: Wolverine swimmer Brunemann quickly became the clear leader … Malandra entered into a race for third with Kally Fayhee of Michigan heading into the final lap … Brunemann hit the wall first in 4:54.95 with Malandra claiming third in 5:04.25 as the top Irish competitor.
100 Butterfly: A close battle developed early between Casey and Dauw … the crowed grew lively as Casey’s quick turnover closed in on Dauw in the last length … the finish came down to the final lunge as Dauw out-touched Casey … the two finished with respective times of 56.26 and 56.31.
200 Individual Medley: Farrell opened up to a solid start for the Irish during the butterfly … her lead continued throughout the backstroke until Michigan’s Kukors emerged off from the transition with a dominant pullout closing the gap on Farrell and gaining a large lead over the field … Claire Tyler targeted Farrell and managed to overtake the silver spot … Kukors and Tyler posted top times of 2:05.29 and 2:08.23 with Farrell coming in at 2:08.53.
200 Freestyle Relay: The wake emanated from the center of the pool as the even powers of Notre Dame’s Lauren Scott and Michigan’s Moodie charged into a tight battle … the struggle remained even until the third leg when Wolverine Alexa Mehesan took a small advantage … strong underwater work allowed Miller to reclaim the top position for the Irish heading into the final length as she blasted into the wall, stopping the clock at 1:34.62 for a Notre Dame victory.
3-meter Diving: Natalie Stitt (312.90) was first overall and Heidi Grossman took third with 286.05 points.
1-meter Diving: Stitt (281.10) took second and Grossman racked another third-place finish with a score of 274.05.
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