Jan. 16, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame and Louisville exchanged blows event after event Saturday afternoon at the Rolfs Aquatic Center, but the 14th-ranked Cardinals won the final event of the day to take down the home team by a 154-146 margin. Notre Dame (0-4) nearly earned the swimming and diving Senior Day win while falling to its BIG EAST rival in front of a packed house.
Natalie Stitt won the 1- and 3-meter diving events while Amywren Miller (50 free) and Samantha Maxwell (100 breast) recorded NCAA B-cut performances. In all, Notre Dame won nine of the 16 events with both Maxwell and Miller having a hand in three wins. Kim Holden finished among the head of the back in each of her four respective events.
“It was a competitive meet which came down to the last relay, just like last week against Northwestern,” Irish head coach Brian Barnes said. “These are the types of meets we need to win. I know we could have won this meet today, but there are certainly a few areas in which we could have been better to get the victory.
“I see a lot of people on the upside of their season, so it’s encouraging to compete at a high level with a top-15 program like Louisville. This team is showing some fight, and we’ll have to continue to see what we’re made of when championship time comes around.”
The Irish have two weeks to rest before hosting the Shamrock Invitational (Jan. 29-30).
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200 Medley Relay: Holden and Louisville’s Eszter Povazsay slid even into the wall to complete the backstroke … Maxwell gained an edge with a superior pullout off of the relay start … Nicole Landisch charged up and regained ground throughout the fly leg to give Louisville a slight advantage moving into the last lap … Miller pounded through the water to bring the Irish back into the lead and slammed home a victory in 1:42.61.
1,000 Freestyle: Lauren Sylvester and Gracie Fredlake opened up an early lead for the Irish … at the half, Louisville’s Amanda Henleben made her attack on the Sylvester’s top spot that built into small lead … entering the final 100 yards, Fredlake led the Irish squad in an attempt to run down Henleben for the gold … the Cardinal swimmer held on to take first in 10:06.48 with Fredlake following up in 10:08.03.
200 Freestyle: By the half, the field remained extremely tight with four competitors in clear contention for the high rank … during the third lap, Louisville’s Leslie Vanwinkle and Liz Halet jumped ahead of their counterparts … the Cardinals continued their advance and locked in a 1-2 finish in 1:49.31 and 1:50.54, respectively … Megan Farrell earned third-place points in 1:51.55.
100 Backstroke: Holden had a strong lead due to strong underwater work off of the turn midway through the race … Louisville’s Povazsay quickly charged up on Holden and made the race an even contention for top honors heading into the final length … Povazsay’s quick turnover propelled her to a Louisville victory in 55.47 followed by Holden in 56.13.
100 Breaststroke: Maxwell surfaced ahead of the field off of the start giving a strong lead to the Irish and continued her assault on the field bringing home the win in 1:01.53, giving her an NCAA B-cut.
200 Butterfly: Louisville’s Sarah Andrews spun her arms into the lead through the first half of the race with Katie Casey in tight pursuit … Andrews and Casey continued to build on their advantage over the field into the final length as the duet slugged at the water striving for the win … Andrews touched first in 2:00.89 followed by Casey in 2:01.03.
50 Freestyle: Heading into the midpoint transition, Miller hit her feet against the wall first followed closely by Louisville’s Lacey Bobo on the outside … Miller (22.72) continued to blast ahead of the pack and locked in an NCAA B-cut time in the top finish for the Irish.
3-meter Diving: Stitt got her first win with 328.35 points … Jenny Chiang held on to third with a score of 294.43.
100 Freestyle: The field started even as the women surfaced together out of the first turn … Miller popped out of the second turn slightly ahead of the field followed closely by Amy Prestinario and Louisville’s Anna Dishuck … with the gold locked in Miller’s sights, the Irish focus turned to Prestinario’s struggle with Dishuck for the silver spot … the Irish teammates capped off their assault with respective 1-2 finishes in 51.03 and 51.28.
200 Backstroke: Holden opened up an early lead on neighboring competitor Povazsay … the Cardinal swimmer started a campaign to close the deficit in the third lap … Povazsay inched ahead of Holden with a few yards to go and touched first in 2:00.13 followed closely by Holden’s 2:00.54.
200 Breaststroke: Maxwell exited the fourth turn leading the Irish with Cardinals Therese Bergstrom and Fanny Lilliestrom in close proximity … by the sixth turn, the Cardinal tandem had cut Maxwell’s lead in half … Maxwell fought back in the final lap to retain her remaining lead and won top honors in 2:15.23.
500 Freestyle: The first half of the race yielded a three-yard advantage for Fredlake with Sylvester in close contention with Henleben and Andrews for the silver ranking … Fredlake maintained her lead moving into the final 100 yards with Sylvester continuing to battle the second ranked Andrews … the two contending women heated the waves in the final length as Andrews managed to out-touch Sylvester with respective times of 4:59.13 and 4:59.15 … Fredlake earned top accolades with a time of 4:57.46.
100 Butterfly: Louisville’s Landisch exited the first turn as the clear leader followed by Casey and Kellyn Kuhlke on either side … Casey started a run against Landisch in the third length and carried her momentum forward through the final turn … Casey overtook Landisch’s lead position in the final ten yards and finished first with a time of 55.71.
1-meter Diving: Stitt (286.27) was first while Chiang (260.47) took home another bronze medal.
200 Individual Medley: Farrell earned the early lead with her work during the butterfly … Farrell held onto lead in the backstroke with Louisville’s Vanwinkle and Lilliestrom closing in … the pair of Cardinals sprung ahead during the breaststroke leg of the race opening up large leads over the field … Vanwinkle led the charge in the final length followed closely by Lilliestrom to punch in 1-2 victories in 2:03.42 and 2:04.43 … Farrell’s 2:05.24 was good for fourth.
400 Freestyle Relay: The Irish entered the event with a one-point lead over the Cardinals … Louisville’s Whitney Campbell bolted out to a strong start as Prestinario gave chase in the center of the pool … in the second leg of the race, Andrews emerged ahead with a two-yard lead pressing into the wall to transition the advantage to Cardinal teammate Vanwinkle … in the final 100 yards, Miller ate away at the lead of Cardinal Halet, but the distance proved too large … Louisville captured the event and the meet in 3:22.84, followed by Notre Dame in 3:24.83.
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