Dennis Stark Relays
- October 6th, 2017
- Rolfs Aquatic Center
- Notre Dame, Indiana
- Full results
Notre Dame kicked off its racing season today, hosting the annual Dennis Stark Relays meet against the University of Louisville, Oakland University, Indiana State, and Olivet Nazarene University.
The Fighting Irish won 10 of the 22 events, but were edged out 130-128 on the men’s side and 134-130 on the women’s by the Cardinals.
Mallory Comerford swam on four of the first-place relays for Louisville, leading off the 3×100 fly relay in a 52.96, followed by teammates Grace Oglesby and Nastja Govejsek in 54.29 and 55.07, respectively, for a final time of 2:42.32. Comerford anchored the 800 free relay in 1:44.79, over five second faster than anyone else on her team, carrying the Cardinals to a win in 7:19.39. Her 48.17 anchor leg of the 4×100 medley relay was a full two seconds faster than any other team’s final swimmer, with the Cardinals grabbing another win in 3:40.69. Comerford’s final relay win came as the leadoff swimmer in the 200 free relay, dropping a 22.81 en route to the victorious final time of 1:31.31.
The Notre Dame men got the commanding win the 3×100 backstroke relay, Robby Whitacre leading off in a 48.80, followed by Jack Montesi in 48.49, anchored by Will Cumberland in 49.0, for a final time of 2:26.29 (new meet record). They were followed by Oakland University in 2:32.44. The Irish men also edged out Oakland for the win in the 3×100 breaststroke relay, with Garrett Clarke leading off in 56.99, followed by Steven Shek in 56.90, anchored by Rex Riley in 56.56, for a final time of 2:50.45. Notre Dame men also took the win in the 200 free and 400 free relays, going 1:21.31 and 2:58.11, respectively (both were new meet records).
The Irish women took the win in the 3×100 breaststroke relay, with Meaghan O’Donnell leading off in 1:02.49, followed by Sherri McIntee in 1:02.55, anchored by Alyssa Storino in 1:04.90 for a final time of 3:09.94 (new meet record). Notre Dame also won the 3×500 free relay in 14:47.50 (new meet record), with a team of Lindsay Stone, Alice Treuth, and Molly Treble. The final women’s race of the day went to Notre Dame in the 400 free relay. The team of Abbie Dolan, Rachel Wittmer, Lauren Heller, and Sofia Revilak Fonseca split 49.40/49.92/50.79/49.36 for a final time of 3:19.47 (new meet record) to edge out Louisville by only .05 seconds.
Notre Dame will take on Louisville head-to-head in Saturday’s ACC opener.
This is ridiculous! why risk hurting the starting, point scoring, good swimmers in such a pointless meet… Their bodies are not used to events like these and can easily be hurt resulting in the swimmer sitting out of practice time. They should just let the bench swimmers or the ones on the practice squad aka walk ons swim this and get some energy out I cant believe this such a shame
Are you kidding me? These people are not NFL football players. They get up and race like this every day in practice. This is fun and there isn’t the pressure to win. Maybe you should ask the coaches why this meet is important?
I don’t understand what you mean about them not being used to events like this. Swimming a 4×100 breast relay is really no different from a 100 breast on a medley relay. Having swam at similar meets with my high school team, I think that relay meets are a fun way to start the season.
They are only swimming a leg of their regular stroke…how is that risking injury?? Gives them a chance off the block, to work on relay starts, get a time, work out first meet jitters, and HAVE FUN! I was there and it was a very fun and high energy meet. Most only did 2 or 3 events. It also gives the whole depth of the team a chance to get a relay split time in their main events, when they may never have that chance all year. Also gives coaches a good idea of where everyone stands at the beginning of a season and can help determine relay lineups. So well done, ND! Keep the tradition alive!
Why is this an actual NCAA event? I’d like to see how these teams will fair against Texas. Hook’em Horns!
Texas would DQ it
3×100 fly relay?
the meet features a number of unconventional relays
Why not have some FUN early in the season?