Notre Dame Women, Men Take Team Titles At BIG EAST Championships

The Notre Dame women won their 12th-straight BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships title with 767 points on Feb. 23 at the Nassau County Aquatics Center in East Meadow, N.Y. The Irish men won their third award in four years with 820 points.

This year’s score is the highest winning-point total for the Irish women. ND’s previous high was 829.5 points in 2000. The men bested their 2005 winning-point total by 11 points.

The Louisville women and men finished second with 527.50 and 615 points, respectively. This year’s finishes are the highest for the squad. The West Virginia women took third with 447 points and the Pittsburgh men finished third with 436 points.

At the end of four grueling days, 22 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships records were set and 19 NCAA automatic qualifying times were earned.

A pair of Louisville swimmers collected the top individual swimming awards. Junior Leslie Van Winkle was named the 2008 BIG EAST Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer, while Cardinal junior Andrei Radzionau earned the Men’s Most Outstanding Swimmer Award.

Connecticut senior Allison Coleman was named the 2008 BIG EAST Women’s Most Outstanding Diver. Pittsburgh junior Alex Volovetski took the Men’s Most Outstanding Diver trophy.

Both Irish head coaches and their staff were recognized, as Carrie Nixon was named the Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year and Tim Welsh was named the Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year.

Rutgers diving coach Fred Woodruff earned the BIG EAST Women’s Diving Coach of the Year award. Volovetski’s coach, Julian Krug, took home the Men’s Diving Coach of the Year award.

The West Virginia women took the first event of the evening, as junior Lindsey Largo finished the 1,650 freestyle first with a NCAA Invitational time of 16:25.44. Notre Dame grabbed the next two spots, with sophomore Alexandra Shue and junior Casey Wagner finishing second and third with times of 16:25.44 and 16:31.96, respectively. Both are NCAA ‘B’ qualifiers.

The men’s 1,650 freestyle title belongs to Louisville freshman Shane Lichtenberg. The Cardinal finished 14.87 seconds ahead of the rest of the field with a time of 15:12.91. Sophomores followed the rookie on to the winner’s podium, with Notre Dame’s Andrew Deters clocking in at 15:27.78 and WVU’s Justin Galbreath finishing at 15:32.94. All three times are NCAA ‘B’ cuts.

The Mountaineers swept the 200 backstroke events, with sophomore Morgan Calloway winning the women’s award with a NCAA 2007 Invitational time of 1:57.95. Van Winkle finished second at 1:58.54, while Notre Dame freshman Lauren Parisi took third at 1:59.00. Both times are NCAA ‘B’ qualifiers.

Junior Michael Walker grabbed the men’s title, touching the wall at 1:47.24. Walker’s teammate, sophomore Tim Field, took second at 1:48.18 and Connecticut freshman Alex Davidson collected the third-place points with a time of 1:48.26.

The night’s fastest race belonged to the women’s 100 freestyle participants, as the top three finishers all attained NCAA automatic qualifiers. West Virginia sophomore Kayla Andrews broke her own meet record with a finish of 48.33. Notre Dame collected second and third place, with freshman Amywren Miller stopping the clock at 49.10 and junior Christa Riggins trailing at 49.39.

Radzionau set his second individual meet record of the week with a 43.52 winning time in the 100 freestyle. The finish is a NCAA 2007 Invitational mark. Cincinnati sophomore Josh Schneider took second at 44.08 and Notre Dame sophomore John Lytle finished third at 44.34. Both times are NCAA ‘B’ cuts.

Notre Dame freshman Sam Maxwell nabbed a NCAA automatic qualifier and set a BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships record with a 2:12.76 finish in the 200 breaststroke. Connecticut senior Courtney Haney also set a record and earned an automatic qualifier with her second place time of 2:13.21. Rutgers sophomore Shayna Longacre took third at 2:15.52, a NCAA ‘B’ cut.

Mountaineer senior Kevin Donohue set a record in the men’s 200 breaststroke with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:55.78. A pair of Pittsburgh Panthers followed Donohue, with junior Adam Plutecki touching the wall second at 1:58.32 and senior Warren Barnes clocking in third at 1:58.46. Both marks are NCAA ‘B’ cuts.

The Notre Dame women won the meet’s final individual race, with freshman Katie Casey taking the 200 butterfly with a NCAA 2007 Invitational time of 1:59.37. Pittsburgh junior Agnes Mago collected the second place points with a 2:00.16 finish and Syracuse freshman Natalie Mazzetta took third at 2:01.91. Both times are NCAA ‘B’ cuts.

The men’s 200 butterfly title went to Louisville junior Adam Madarassy, who set a meet record and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship with a time of 1:44.56. Notre Dame sophomores followed Madarassy, with MacKenzie LeBlanc finishing second at 1:45.94 and Ross Moore taking third at 1:46.85. Both are NCAA ‘B’ marks.

Volovetski completed his sweep of the men’s diving events, winning the 3-meter board with 381.55 points. Notre Dame collected the second and third place points, with senior Sam Stoner earning 379.60 points and junior Michael Bulfin scoring 368.60 points.

The night ended with two meet records in the 400 freestyle relay. The Notre Dame team of sophomore Megan Farrell, freshman Lauren Parisi and Riggins and Miller finishing first with a NCAA 2007 Invitational time of 3:19.38. WVU followed at 3:20.35 and Louisville took third at 3:20.88.

The men’s 400 freestyle relay record belongs to Louisville. Senior Chris Lindauer, sophomore Carlos Van Isschot and Radzionau and Madarassy clocked in at 2:55.24, a NCAA 2007 Invitational mark. Notre Dame took second at 2:59.05 and WVU finished third at 3:02.53.