Yeadon Takes Down 500 Free Pool Record; Notre Dame Beats Northwestern

NOTRE DAME vs. NORTHWESTERN

  • Jan. 17, 2020
  • Hosted by Notre Dame
  • Short Course Yards
  • Full Results

TEAM SCORES

WOMEN

  1. Notre Dame 169
  2. Northwestern 74

MEN

  1. Notre Dame 151
  2. Northwestern 92

The Notre Dame men and women took victories at home over Northwestern on Friday in dominant fashion. Multiple Pool Records went down during the meet.

Zach Yeadon took down the 500 free Pool Record. Yeadon set the pace early on, racing to a 4:19.30 to break the mark. He won the race by over 4 seconds. In his other individual event, the 1000 free, Yeadon was disqualified for a false start. Although he was disqualified, his time would have been an 8:55.43, which would have put him 10 seconds ahead of the field.

On the women’s side, Coleen Gillilan took down the Pool Record in the 200 fly. Finishing in 1:55.94, she was over 3 seconds faster than anyone else. Gillilan also took victory in the 200 IM, where she was the only woman under 2:00 as she hit the wall in 1:57.38.

Abbie Dolan was also among the standouts for Notre Dame. Dolan set the pace early on to win the 200 free in 1:47.19. She earned her 2nd individual win in the 500 free, dominating in 4:52.35.

PRESS RELEASE – NOTRE DAME:

NOTRE DAME, Ind.  The No. 17/RV University of Notre Dame Swim & Dive team topped the NR/No. 25 Wildcats of Northwestern Friday night in the first home meet of 2020. The night was punctuated by two pool records set by Irish swimmers Coleen Gillilan (women’s 200 Fly) and Zach Yeadon (men’s 500 Free), along with strong finishes in the top three across the board.

Men

No. 17 Notre Dame: 151, Northwestern: 92

Women

RV Notre Dame: 169, No. 25 Northwestern: 74

“We had a lot of energy tonight,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Litzinger noted after the meet. “It really felt more like our team. We’re starting to develop that championship identity, and every swim is starting to count more and more.”

With swimmers that, on paper, were evenly matched with the Wildcats, the Notre Dame performers pulled away to strong leads early, and hung on.

“We came out on top this time, but we know that Northwestern is a great team,” Litzinger added.

The night started with a win for the Irish in the men’s 400 Medley Relay, with the team of Jack Montesi, Josh Bottelberghe, Zach Smith and Aaron Schultz posting a 3:13.88. From there, the individual wins started rolling in, beginning with Luciana Thomas in the women’s 1000 Free (9:57.90). Jack Hoagland followed suit, winning the men’s 1000 Free with a 9:05.74.

Abbie Dolan (1:47.19) and Sadler McKeen (1:36.14) posted their first wins of the night in the 200 Free, with McKeen’s time qualifying for B-cut status. Gillilan stacked another win for the Irish, posting a B-cut 1:57.38 in the 200 IM.

On the men’s side, Marci Barta (1:49.50), Max Miranda (1:49.83) and Andrew Winton (1:50.10) swept the podium in the 200 IM. Following, in the 50 Free, junior Rachel Wittmer (23.20) and senior captain Schultz (20.69) won both events.

Gillilan struck again, this time posting a pool record for Rolfs Aquatic Center in the women’s 200 Fly with a 1:55.94, her 21st B-cut performance of the season. Thomas followed behind with a B-cut time of 1:59.00.

Wittmer (50.77) and McKeen (44.25) won the 100 Free events, while Bayley Stewart posted a win in the women’s 200 Back (1:57.64). Carly Quast followed behind with a 1:59.53 in the event.

Notre Dame put on a show in the 500 Free heats, with Yeadon setting a pool record, marking down a 4:19.30 (B-Cut). Hoagland (4:23.86) and Miranda (4:31.58) took second and third place. On the women’s side, the Irish made their mark, as Dolan placed first with a 4:52.35 and Madeline LaPorte placed third with a 4:59.12.

Bottelberghe closed out the individual events with a win in the men’s 200 Breast (1:58.97), followed by a third-place finish from Rex Riley (2:02.84).

The Irish claimed both 400 Free Relays, with the women’s team of Dolan, Gillilan, Quast and Wittmer posting a 3:21.84, and the men’s group of Yeadon, Cason Wilburn, Schultz and McKeen touching the wall in 2:56.90.

On the diving end, the Irish got off to a hot start with two first-place finishes. Kelly Straub won the women’s 1-meter (329.93), while Austin Flaute placed first in the men’s 3-meter (336.53). In the second session, Straub completed her sweep of the diving events, winning the women’s 3-meter (307.20). Flaute placed second in the men’s 1-meter with a 351.60.

According to Litzinger, the massive success for the Irish was the result of multiple aspects of Notre Dame’s schedule and training program. Friday marked Notre Dame’s first home meet since Oct. 4.

“First of all, it’s good to be home,” he added. “We race really well at home. But, the second piece is, I think it really shows the production that we got from training camp.”

Even with multiple pool records broken and NCAA B-Cut times posted, Litzinger explained that as the squad nears championship season, winning swims serve best when contributed to the overall team.

“There’s always going to be individual success, and we’re certainly proud of those athletes,” he noted. “But, at the end of the day, this was a true team effort.

“We’re starting to truly form that identity that we talked a lot about in the fall.”

Next week, Notre Dame will remain at home to host the Shamrock Invitational Jan. 24-25, and will return to Rolfs Aquatic Center again the next weekend to host Ball State and Michigan State on Feb. 1. Follow along with @NDSwimDive on Twitter for updates.

PRESS RELEASE – NORTHWESTERN:

SOUTH BEND, IND – Northwestern fell to #17/RV Notre Dame on Friday Night in South Bend, Ind with the men scoring 92 points and the women scoring 74.

The Wildcats started the meet with the women’s relay team of junior Calypso Sheridan, first-year Hannah Brunzell, sophomore Miriam Guevara and senior Malorie Han out touching their competition by almost two second to bring home the win in the 400 medley relay.

The  ‘Cat came back with a 2-3-6 finish in the 200 IM, led by Sheridan in 2:02.10 followed by Brunzell and sophomore Tara Vovk.

Sophomore Andrew Zhang led the 2-3-4-8 finish in the men’s 50 free with juniors Ezra MizgalaPeter Lewczyk and Keegan Bundy to earn 9.5 points for the Wildcats.

First-year Federico Burdisso out-touched his competition by over two seconds in the 200 fly, to score nine NU points. Sophomore Manu Martos Bacarizo followed suit, leading the 1-2 punch in the 200 back with sophomore Ryan Gridley.

Brunzell was dominant in the 200 breast, leading teammate Sophomore Angus to secure 13 points for the ‘Cats in a 1-2 finish.

Sophomore Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson was the top finisher in the 1M dive, out-scoring second place by over 25 points.

Chicago’s Big Ten Team will be back in the pool tomorrow afternoon as they face off against Iowa on senior day starting at 12 pm at the Norris Aquatics Center.

••••••
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Swimfan257
4 years ago

Seems strange that Notre Dame would beat Northwestern so easily after NU’s dominance over better ranked teams this season….Also that ND was breaking so many pool records in a dual meet….Did the ND team rest for this meet?

Irish Dad
Reply to  Swimfan257
4 years ago

No rest and unsuited. Great swims all around including the DQ.

Huge Fan
Reply to  Irish Dad
4 years ago

There is no way they didn’t rest if compare their times from their previous dual meets. They were swimming on average 3 seconds faster per 200.

Marmot
4 years ago

It’s still ridiculous to me that they can let you swim 40 or 66 laps at race pace after false starting (especially in a dual meet). That’s definitely an area where swimming is behind T&F.

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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