Jan. 15, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame won six events – including the final relay – during Friday evening’s matchup against visiting Michigan State at the Rolfs Aquatic Center, but the Spartans were able to escape with a 179-121 win in men’s swimming and diving action.
John Lytle (200 individual medley, 50 free), Bill Bass (200 free), Wesley Mullins (200 fly) and Michael Sullivan (500 free) each posted individual victories for the Irish, as the 400 free relay tandem of Joshua Nosal, Bass, Thomas Van Volkenburg and Andrew Hoffman finished first in the dual meet’s final race.
“Michigan State did an outstanding job preparing for this meet,” Irish head coach Tim Welsh said. “They were miles faster than they were last week against Purdue. All the credit goes to them to have done the extensive preparation to be ready tonight. On our part, we were a little flat. We are in a mode where we are trying to focus on championship times, so we adjusted some events. Some of that was good for us and some was not.”
The Irish (4-3) face Louisville at 1:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday (Jan. 16). Live stats and video will be available at UND.com.
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200 Medley Relay: The backstroke duo of Gabe Strickler and Jon LaRocque broke out to an early Spartan lead … at the breaststroke transition, Christopher Johnson started closing on the second-place spot … the field remained stagnant until Kevin Overholt pulled alongside neighboring Spartan Matt Massman for a heated final freestyle length … the Spartans claimed the 1-2 spots in 1:31.52 and 1:33.61 with Notre Dame claiming third in 1:33.73.
1,650 Freestyle: At the 500-yard mark it was Richard Forrest of Michigan State who had claimed the position of pack leader, trialed closely by Andrew Deters and Spartan Colby Ward … passing 1,000 yards, Forrest continued to capitalize on his early advantage while Ward and Deters gave definition to their battle for silver … in the final 100 yards, Ward had gained a strong lead over Deters and sealed up the silver finish in 16:02.38 … Forrest hit the wall in 15:57.50 and Deters took third in 16:06.68.
200 Freestyle: Spartan swimmer Josh Geschwendt rode a strong start to the lead at the halfway mark in the race tightly followed by Bass and Michigan State’s Sho Koba … in the final length the three leaders held even positioning as they charged into the wall … top honors went to Bass with a winning time of 1:41.94, out-touching Koba’s 1:42.00 performance.
100 Backstroke: Michigan State proved victorious with the trio of LaRocque, Jacob Jarzen and Strickler surfacing out in front off of the first turn … the Spartans continued to pound through the home stretch with LaRocque and Jarzen claiming victories in 49.89 and 50.68 respectively … Michael Sullivan finished first for the Irish in 52.50.
100 Breaststroke: Kevin Puskaric led the charge for Michigan State followed closely by his teammates at the second turn … Puskaric continued to push forward and led the Spartan sweep of the event with a winning time of 56.52 … Notre Dame’s top performer, Joseph Raycroft, followed in 59.67.
200 Butterfly: As the men cycled through the waves, a clear lead group composed of Mullins, Christopher Wills and Michigan State’s Sean Costello formed at the 100-yard mark … Mullins gained a lethal lead off of the final turn with Wills and Costello continuing their close struggle for second … Costello inched ahead of Wills enough to claim silver in 1:54.21, with Wills coming in at 1:54.36.
50 Freestyle: Lytle hammered out a small advantage off of the turn and charged into the wall with a winning time of 20.77 … Spartan sprinter Garrett Ruhland fought off Hoffman (21.40) for the silver spot with a finishing time of 21.32.
3-meter Diving: Nathan Geary (330.82) and Wesley Villaflor (326.85) finished directly behind first-place Ivan Zalessov (335.32).
100 Freestyle: Michigan State’s Joe Schmitt claimed lasting gains over the field during the third length, building into a 46.70 victory … Van Volkenburg headed up the Irish charge to capture the runner-up position in 47.16.
200 Backstroke: By the 100-yard mark, Michigan State’s Jarzen had already taken a comfortable lead … Jordan Berry targeted Strickler in an attempt to steal the second spot during the final lap, but started his charge too late … Jarzen brought home gold in 1:50.21 and Berry claimed bronze with a 1:55.62.
200 Breaststroke: By the halfway mark, Michigan State’s Puskaric had attained nearly a three-second lead over the field … competition developed between Spartan swimmer Lintjer and Peter Koppel for the silver honors coming down to the final 25 yards … Lintjer stretched ahead to seal the 1-2 Spartan finish … Puskaric completed the event in 2:02.16 and Koppel led the Irish in 2:10.12.
500 Freestyle: The opening lead went to the Irish tandem of Sullivan and Bass … the two Irish athletes continued to hold their lead as Spartan swimmer Forrest started to close in … the Spartan leaders opened a charge in the final 100 yards, targeting Sullivan’s golden position, but failed to close the gap … Sullivan took first in 4:36.87 with Michigan’s State’s Forrest following in 4:38.72.
100 Butterfly: The Spartan advance was commanded by LaRocque and followed up by Berry as the two pushed into the second turn … LaRocque held his lead with Berry making a small gain … LaRocque slammed into the wall in a time of 50.65 followed by Berry in 51.99.
1-meter Diving: Villaflor (305.10) and Geary (271.80) took second and third, respectively, behind Zalessov (328.27).
200 Individual Medley: Jarzen and Lytle entered into early contention for the top position with equally strong performances throughout the butterfly … during the breaststroke, Jarzen opened a body length lead over Lytle as the pair headed into the final stretch … Lytle blasted off of the final wall ahead of the Spartan to overtake Jarzen’s lead and claim gold for the Irish … respective finishes were posted in 1:53.60 and 1:53.97.
400 Freestyle Relay: The Spartans broke out to a quick lead due to the efforts of LaRocque … Van Volkenburg closed the gap on the coveted top spot leading into the final battle between Sho and Hoffman … Hoffman made his move off of the final turn, surfacing ahead of Sho and streaming into first to lock in the final Irish victory at 3:04.64.
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