MEET FACTS
- January 12-13, 2017
- Full Results
- Team Scores
- Southbend, IND
- 25 yards
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came out on top in their tri-meet with Illinois and Iowa, as the men dismantled Iowa by a score of 191-106, and the women handily defeated the Hawkeyes 180-117 and Illinois 210-87. The Iowa women also defeated the Fighting Illini 213-87.
Women
On the women’s side, Abbie Dolan led the way for the Fighting Irish with a pair of individual wins in the 200 free (1:48.44) and 100 free (50.55). She was also on the victorious 400 free relay along with Sofia Revilak, Katie Smith and Catherine Mulquin. All three of them were part of the winning 200 medley relay as well, and each won an individual event with Revilak taking the 100 fly (54.94), Smith the 50 free (22.76), and Mulquin the 100 back (54.80). Breaststroker Meaghan O’Donnell joined them on the medley relay that won in a time of 1:41.91.
All in all, Notre Dame won 12 of the 16 events, including 8 different individual winners in 12 pool events.
Emma Sougstad was the star for Iowa, winning both the 100 breast (1:02.09) and 200 IM (2:03.46). They also earned a victory from diver Thelma Strandberg in the 1-meter event.
Amelia Schilling claimed the lone event for Illinois, winning the 500 free in 4:58.13.
Men
Notre Dame’s Robby Whitacre put on a show on the men’s side, winning all three of his individual events. He won the 100 back (48.72), 200 back (1:46.27) and the 200 IM (1:51.62). Other double winners were Richard Mannix in the 500 and 1000 free, Justin Plaschka in the 50 free and 100 fly, Trent Jackson in the 100 and 200 breast, and Joe Cournos in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. Whitacre and Jackson swam the first two legs on the winning 200 medley relay, and Plaschka was a member of both the winning medley and free relays.
Also winning individually and in a relay was Tabahn Afrik, who won the 100 free and was a member of both relays.
Jerzy Twarowski was the lone winner for Iowa, winning the 200 fly in a time of 1:49.34 to out-touch Notre Dame’s Kevin Bradley by five-one-hundredths. Twarowski also took 2nd in the 100 fly.
Despite the lone win, the Hawkeyes had several other top finishes including a pair of runner-up finishes for Michael Tenney (500, 1000 free) and Joe Myhre (100, 200 free), and another from Kenneth Mende in the 100 back.
Press Releases
Illinois
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Illinois swimming and diving team was defeated by Notre Dame, 210-87, and Iowa, 212-87 on Thursday.
“We would have liked to come out on the winning side of the score, but we have a lot of positives that we can take away from the past two days,” said head coach Sue Novitsky. “Even though the Thursday session was not scored, the divers were able to put up higher scores than last week on the 3-meter and on the swimming side our relays were strong.”
Fighting Illini senior Amelia Schilling took first in the 500 free with a time of 4:58.13, just ahead of freshman Monica Guyett, who clocked a 5:01.64 in the event.
Guyett also turned in a second-place finish in the 1000 free, finishing in 10:17.28. Schilling was close behind with a time of 10:19.08 for third place. Junior Samantha Stratford finished in second in the 200 IM at 2:04.21.
The 400 free relay team of Guyett and seniors Gabbie Stecker, Audrey Rodawig and Schilling placed third with a time of 3:29.30.
“We came back on Friday and did not back off from start to the finish,” Novitsky said. “On the day we had at least 17 season best dual meet scores or times. It was gratifying to see the team staying focused, engaged and fighting to get to the wall. We have another tough day tomorrow and if we keep working to take steps forward it will continue to help us as a team.”
Illinois returns home to host Iowa State on Saturday, January 14 at 11 a.m. in the ARC pool.
Iowa
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The University of Iowa swimming and diving team produced four individual victories — three in the pool and one in the diving well — Friday in its first competition of 2017 at the Rolfs Aquatics Center at Notre Dame.
The Hawkeye women split a pair of duals, posting a Big Ten Conference victory over Illinois (213-87) and falling to the Fighting Irish, 180-117. The UI men fell to 21st-ranked Notre Dame, 191-106.
Senior Emma Sougstad produced two of Iowa’s victories by swimming to event titles in the 100 breast (1:02.09) and 200 IM (2:03.46). They were the Forest City, Iowa, native’s 10th and 11th individual wins this season.
Sougstad also finished as runner-up in two additional events, placing second in the 200 breast (2:16.93) and as a member of the 200-medley relay (1:42.53). She was joined on the relay by juniors Meghan Lavelleand Mekenna Scheitlin and freshman Hannah Burvill.
The Hawkeyes’ third and fourth wins came from a junior and freshman. Junior Jerzy Twarowski posted the men’s lone victory, swimming to a first-place finish in the 200 fly (1:49.34), while freshman Thelma Strandberg placed first off the 1-meter springboard with a career-best score of 291.45.
Twarowski also finished second in the 100 fly in 48.28 seconds.
Lavelle added to her second-place finish in the 200-medley relay by posting a pair of top-three finishes in the two backstroke events. She was the runner-up in the 200 back in 2:01.24 and third in the 100 back in 55.58.
The Hawkeye women also got runner-up finishes from Burvill in the 200 free (1:49.95), junior Tereysa Lehnertz in the 100 fly (55.53) and 200 fly (2:01.74), and Scheitlin in the 50 free (23.50). Iowa’s 400-free relay of Burvill, Allyssa Fluit, Carly O’Brien, and Amelia Armstrong-Grant closed out the dual with a second-place showing in the 200-free relay in 3:27.92.
The freshmen were the story for the Iowa men.
Michael Tenney produced a pair of runner-up finishes in the distance free events, placing second in both the 500 free (4:32.82) and 1,000 free (9:30.51). The 1,000 free time is the best by a Hawkeye this season.
Freshman Joe Myhre swam to three second-place finishes. He touched in 1:40.14 in the 200 free, 45.10 in the 100 free, and was a member of the runner-up 400-free relay (2:59.80) that swam the team’s second-best time of the season. He was joined on the relay by sophomore Jack Smith, freshman Will Scott, and senior Jackson Halsmer.
Iowa also got runner-up showings from sophomore Kenneth Mende in the 100 back (49.92) and senior Brandis Heffner off the 3-meter springboard (323.55).
Iowa returns to action Jan. 21, hosting Northwestern on Senior Day at 11 a.m. (CT) at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. The team’s 10 seniors will be recognized prior to the start of the dual.
Notre Dame
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame swimming and diving program earned victories against Big Ten neighbors Iowa and Illinois in the first dual meet of the year. The men scored a victory over Iowa 191– 106 and the women topped Illinois 210 – 87 and Iowa 180 – 117. Head coach Mike Litzinger was pleased in his team’s return to competition since before the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Solid outing today coming off a training camp after being on break for almost three weeks,” said Litzinger. We’re still a work in progress but we had some really nice highlights and we had some things we have to continue to work on but overall a good performance against two Big Ten teams.”
On The Diving Board
Contributing to the team’s performance was on the diving side of the pool as the trio of Erin Isola, Claire Andrews and Anne Crea earned the top 3 spots in the 3-meter dive. For the men Joe Coumos earned the top spot in both the 1 and 3 meter diving board.
Standout Swims
200 Yard Medley Relay
Notre Dame had a first place sweep in the relay for the evening. On the men’s side they earned top 2 finishes. The foursome made up of Robby Whitacre, Trent Jackson, Justin Plascka and Tabahn Afrik were first to tap at 1:29.83. Behind them were teammates Jack Montesi, Zach Stump, Matt Grauslys, Daniel Speers coming in at 1:31.22. For the women the quartet of Catherine Mulquin, Meaghan O’Donnell, Sofia Revilak and Katie Smith earned first place honors at 1:41.91.
1000 Yard Freestyle
The Irish earned firsts for both the men and women. Richard Mannix leading the pack at 9:19. 50 and teammate Molly Treble clocking in at 10:10.13.
Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle
Notre Dame claimed first and third on the event. Abbie Dolan coming in first at 1:48.44 and teammate Lauren Heller in third at 1:50.80.
Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke
Fighting Irish men were top 3 earning first and third place points for their squad. Robby Whitacre tapping first at 48.72 and Jack Montesi behind at 50.26 good for third.
Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke
Top two spots in the event went to the Irish. Trent Jackson at 56.18 in first and Steven Shek in second with a time of 57.75.
Women’s 200 Yard Butterfly
Fighting Irish women earned 3 of top 4 spots in the competition. 1. Nikki Smith (1:59.36), 3. Erin Sheehan (2:01.90), 4. Katie Rentz (2:04.08).
Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle
Top two spots went to Notre Dame with Justin Plascka earning first at 20.28 and teammate Daniel Speers second at 20.54.
Women’s 100 Yard Freestyle
Abbie Dolan and Katie Smith claimed the top 2 spots. Dolan clocking at 50.55 and Smith at 51.44.
400 Yard Freestyle Relay
In the meet’s last event Notre Dame earned firsts on both the men and women’s side. Foursome of Abbie Dolan, Sofia Revilak, Katie Smith and Catherine Mulquin ended the day on a high note clocking in at 3:23.51. For the men it was Afrik Tabahn, Daniel Speers, Justin Plaschka and Reed Fujan tapping in at 2:58.03 to conclude the day successfully for the Fighting Irish.
The Irish get on the bus tomorrow morning and head to the Chicagoland area to face Northwestern at 2 p.m. ET at the Norris Aquatics Center.
