LEXINGTON, Ken. — Just before returning to campus for the start of second semester, the Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs made a pitstop in Lexington for a dual meet against Kentucky. While the Irish won 10 events on the day — six on the women’s side, four on the men’s side — Notre Dame ultimately fell to the Wildcats in both meets. Kentucky earned a 158-141 victory against the women and a 187-112 win over the men. Both Notre Dame and Kentucky’s men’s teams entered the meet receiving votes in the CSCAA Top 25.
On the women’s side, the Irish started and ended the meet with victories in the 400 medley (Emily Hamill, Julieta Tracy, Carli Cronk, Hollie Widdows) and 200 free relays (Widdows, Kate Simon, Becky Rentz, Hamill), respectively.
Notre Dame dominated in the sprint freestyle events, with sophomore Widdows taking gold in both the 50 and 100 free (22.68/49.23). Freshman Rentz won the 100 fly, while sophomore Cronk won the 200 fly (1:56.87) and took second in the 100 fly (53.70) and 200 free (1:48.39). Rentz also placed second in the 100 free behind Widdows with a time of 50.12.
Of the men’s four wins on the day, two of them came in the backstroke events by Marcus Reyes-Gentry. The Mexican National Team member won the 100 with a time of 45.69 and the 200 with a time of 1:43.92.
Sophomore Jeremy Kelly also won the 200 free (1:35.93), and rookie diver Matthew Wong won the 1-meter (337.43), the first dual meet win of his collegiate career.
Additionally, sophomore Shane Eckler narrowly missed victories in both sprint freestyle events, taking second in the 50 and the 100 (19.77/43.82).
Up next, Notre Dame closes out its home slate for the season with the Tim Welsh Invite at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The meet will have three sessions on Jan. 23-24, including a Senior Day celebration on Saturday.