Jan. 26, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind.- The 18th-ranked Notre Dame women’s swimming team closed out its dual-meet season with a 157-143 upset of 14th-ranked Michigan on Friday at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Irish took 10 of 16 events to finish the dual-meet season with a 10-1 mark. The victory came less than 24 hours after the Irish defeated #23 Northwestern. Notre Dame has now lost just one of 21 dual meets over the past two seasons, marking the fewest defeats in a two-year span in the program’s history.
The Irish were led by freshman Laurie Musgrave (Littleton, Colo.) and junior all-American Kelly Hecking (Rutherford, N.J.), who each registered a pair of individual victories while also being part of the victorious 400-medley relay team. Freshman Marie Labosky (Churchville, Pa.) and junior all-American Heather Mattingly (Houston, Texas) both took two individual events as well.
The Irish got off to a good start with a victory in the 400-medley relay. Then Labosky started off an outstanding afternoon with a win in the 1,000 freestyle while senior Kristen Van Saun (Lawrence, Kan.) finished second for Notre Dame. After Michigan swept the top three spots in the 200 freestyle, Hecking got Notre Dame back on track with the first of her two triumphs in the meet. She won the 100 backstroke with an NCAA qualifying time of 56.01.
In the 100 breaststroke, Musgrave and junior Allison Lloyd (Fort Wayne, Ind.) took the top two positions. The Irish continued to roll in the 200 butterfly, in which Notre Dame had the three best times. Sophomore Amy Deger (Pittsburgh, Pa.) won with freshmen Lisa D’Olier (Houston, Texas) and Lisa Garcia (Denver, Colo.) right behind her.
After the Wolverines swept the top two positions in the 50 freestyle, Mattingly took the one-meter diving competition with an NCAA-qualifying score of 293.17. Michigan took the 100 freestyle, but Hecking registered her 13th individual victory of the season in the 200 backstroke with another NCAA-qualifying time of 2:00.32. Musgrave then completed her sweep of the breaststroke competitions with a win in the 200-yard race.
Next was the 500 freestyle, which the Wolverines captured, but Labosky finished just .05 seconds off the pace and still posted an NCAA-qualifying time of 4:53.49. Michigan took the 100 butterfly before Mattingly took her second diving event with an NCAA-qualifying score of 324.67 in the three-meter event. It marked the third straight meet in which she captured both diving events, as she also did so yesterday against Northwestern and in the Wolverine Invitational (Jan. 12-13).
The incredible depth of the Irish in the 400 individual medley clinched the win for Notre Dame. Labosky took her second event of the afternoon and 15th of the season, while Deger and senior Tiffany O’Brien (Redmond, Wash.) finished second and third respectively. D’Olier also swam well, missing fourth place by just .09 seconds.
The Irish will have some time off before they swim next in the BIG EAST Championships in Long Island, N.Y. from Feb. 15-17. Notre Dame has captured the last four BIG EAST Championships.