Notre Dame Swimming & Diving Close Out Shamrock Invite With Win
The No. 18 Irish men rounded out their home slate in dominant fashion on Senior Day, wrapping up the Shamrock Invitational with a final score of 268-86 over Missouri State. After a record-breaking performance Thursday, Notre Dame finished strong with wins in all categories following a Senior Day ceremony Friday morning.
In the evening, the No. 18 women began their meet with Session I vs. No. RV Akron, totaling two B-Cut times, two zone-qualifying diving scores and six event wins in the first stint. The Irish lead the Zips, 84-26.
Notre Dame swimming and diving press release
MEN’S SESSION III
In the diving well, the Irish demonstrated consistency in their final home meet of the season, as junior Austin Flaute won both events, posting a 350.18 (Zone B) in the 1-meter and a 379.43 (Zone B) in the 3-meter. Both Will Rains (333.45) and David Petrison (331.65) notched Zone C scores in the 3-meter, with Rains making a significant improvement from prior performances.
“Over the course of both days, we were the most consistent we’ve been,” head dive coach Mark Bradshaw noted. “We were steady, and there were personal bests for Austin, Will and David, all meeting zone scores yesterday. It was very good to see as we’re less than four weeks out from ACCs.”
“With Will, we had a discussion of what he’s capable of doing,” Bradshaw continued. “It was nice to see a young person really realize that, ‘Wow, this is what I can do.’ We just have to build on that and keep it going.”
In swimming, Notre Dame marked three more NCAA B-Cuts, bringing the total for the meet to nine for the men.
Sophomores started out strong, as Jack Hoagland kicked off events with a win in the 1650 Free, touching the wall in 14:59.49 (B-Cut). His classmate Jack Fitzpatrick followed it up with a win in the 200 Back, posting a 1:45.09. Sophomore Cason Wilburn won the 100 Free to a tune of a B-Cut 43.60.
Freshman Tyler Christianson notched his second win of the Shamrock Invitational, touching the wall first in the 200 Breast with a B-Cut 1:55.49, and junior Max Miranda won the 200 Fly with a 1:46.99. The men’s team of Wilburn, Hoagland, Alec DeLong and Sadler McKeen finished out the men’s competition with a 2:57.42.
“It was a great day to honor our seniors,” head swim coach Mike Litzinger shared. “We had a good day of competition, and now we have to dial in for West Virginia next week and the ACC Championships to follow.”
WOMEN’S SESSION I
The No. 18 Notre Dame women started off strong, as Carly Quast, Cailey Grunhard, Rachel Wittmer and Coleen Gillilan posted a 1:30.78 in the 200 Free Relay, taking first with a come-from-behind anchor leg from Gillilan.
Luciana Thomas started off the individual events with a win, touching the wall in 4:46.48 in the 500 Free (NCAA B-Cut). Gillilan posted her first individual win, courtesy a B-Cut 1:57.46 in the 200 IM. Grunhard rounded out individual events with another win, clocking a 23.11 in the 50 Free, followed closely by Wittmer with a 23.23.
In the 3-meter diving event, Kelly Straub posted a Zone A score of 353.18, followed by Annie Wiese (330.90 – Zone B) in second and Kate McCahan (272.78) in third.
To cap Session I, the team of Quast, Gillilan, Grunhard and Skylar Fore won the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 3:35.90.
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