Notre Dame Sweeps Tri-Meet; Pitt Women Beat Penn State for First Time Since 1989
Notre Dame swept a tri-meet that it hosted against the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State this weekend. It was highlighted by a scintillating men’s meet in which the Irish edged the Panthers, 177.5-175.5.
Most of the other dual meet results were lopsided. But they did include Pitt’s women’s team defeating Penn State, 199-154, the first win for the Panthers against their in-state opponent since 1989.
Men’s
- Notre Dame 257, Penn State 96
- Notre Dame 177.5, Pitt 175.5
- Pitt 156, Penn State 97
Women’s
- Notre Dame 232.5, Penn State 120.5
- Notre Dame 194, Pitt 159
- Pitt 199, Penn State 154
On the men’s side, Pitt started the meet strong, winning the first three individual events and
Capping the first day of the meet with a 1-2-3 result in the 400 individual medley. But Notre Dame rallied with its sprint depth.
That included smothering point totals from the relays, with Notre Dame sweeping all four. With the meet on the line, the Irish made no mistake in the concluding 400 free. Chris Guiliano, Tommy Janton, Luke Cvetko and Cason Wilburn went 2:51.19 to win by more than two seconds and secure the victory.
Guiliano was front and center. He anchored the winning 400 medley relay with a split of 41.00, joining Janton, Sean Faikish and Wilburn. The same quartet won the 200 medley relay in 1:25.11, Guiliano 18.58 off the end. Guiliano led off the winning 200 free relay in 19.40, joining Wilburn, Tanner Fillion and Janton to win in 1:18.17. Giuliano went 41.63 to lead off the 400 free relay.
Guiliano found time for three individual wins, too. He bested the field in the 100 free by more than a second in 42.16. Saturday, he won back-to-back events, going 19.35 to capture the 50 free, with Cvetko tied for second, and 1:33.75 to win the 200 free.
Notre Dame’s result wasn’t really in hand until a late 1-2 in the 100 backstroke from Janton (45.86) and Marcus Gentry. Janton was second in the 200 back. Wilburn won the 100 fly. Dillon Edge supplied two seconds and a third.
Pitt fielded winners throughout the two days. They threatened to turn the tide on Day 1 with a 1-2-3 result in the 400 individual medley, Massimiliano Matteazzi winning in 3:47.87, followed by Michael Piela and Javier Jover Zorzano.
Piela won the 500 free in a 1-2 with Guy Frimis. Matteazzi won the 200 IM on Day 2, then went 1-2 with Jerry Chen in the 200 breast after Chen had won the 100 on the opening day. Marcin Goraj won the 200 back and finished second in the 100 fly and 200 free. Adam Mahler charged late to win the 200 fly on Saturday to keep it close.
Pitt won both diving events. Dylan Reed won 3-meter and was second to teammate Cameron Cash on 1-meter. Cash was third on the higher board.
The Penn State men, shorthanded during the Pan Am Games, had only three podium finishes, with Andrew Christensen in the 1,000 free, Sean Honey in the 200 IM and Hayden Elliott on 1-meter diving all taking third.
Notre Dame’s distance contingent led the women to its wins. Maddie Graves won both the 500 free and 1,000 free, with teammate Mary Cate Pruitt third each time.
Ellie Jew swept the breaststroke events. She went 1:00.95 to win the 100 and went 1-2 with Sarah Bender in the 200, her victorious time 2:13.25. Peyton D’Emanuele won the 100 free in 49.73 in a tremendous race where nine swimmers were clustered within a second. Madelyn Christman was second in both backstroke events, the latter ahead of Jess Geriane, who was also the runner-up in the 50 free. Notre Dame went 1-2 in both diving events, with Grace Courtney leading Calie Brady both times.
Pitt made history for itself. In addition to the win over Penn State, the Panthers set school records in the 400 medley and 400 free relays. Avery Kudlac, Sophie Yendell, Sydney Gring and Claire Jansen went 3:18.23 in the 400 free to win and down the school mark, which had held since 2018. Jansen, Jessie Strong, Yendell and Kudlac started Friday by going 3:36.44 in the 400 medley to chip a tenth off the record they had set at ACCs last year, a squad that Jansen and Yendell were part of.
Pitt won all four relays, Yendell, Kudlac, Tara Culibrk and Jansen going 1:30.52 in the 200 free relay to edge Notre Dame by .19 seconds. Jansen, Strong, Yendell and Kudlac won the 200 medley in 1:38.40.
Pitt scored major points in a 1-2-3 result in the 100 fly, Yendell winning in 52.96 with Kudlac and Gring following.
Gring had a stellar final day of the meet, winning the 200 IM in 1:59.93 and the 200 fly in 1:59.13. Jansen swept the backstroke events, going 53.54 in the 100 and 1:54.82 in the 200. Yendell won the 50 free.
Penn State picked up two wins on the women’s side. Abby Henderson won the 400 IM in 4:19.56 and finished second in the 200 IM. Catherine Meisner claimed the 200 free in 1:47.56. Morgan Moore was second in both the 500 and 1,000, as was Cat Stanford in the 100 free.
.png "ACC Swimming - logo"){kind=logo}