Despite taking first in six events, the No. 25 Notre Dame Women's swimming and diving teams were unable to down the Michigan Wolverines, falling 141-102 Saturday in Ann Arbor. The loss in the final meet of the regular season puts the Irish at 6-3 heading into the Big East Championships next weekend.
The day started of for the Irish with a second place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. The squad of freshman Colleen Fotsch and sophomores Samantha Maxwell, Kellyn Kuhlke and Amywren Miller clocked in at 1:43.51.
The Irish got their first win of the meet at the hands of senior distance swimmer Casey Wagner in the 1000-meter free with an impressive 10:08.67. The All-Big East swimmer would also snag third in the 500 free with a time of 5:00.57.
Miller built on her part in the 200 Medley with a handful of outstanding individual performances. A speedy 23.06 would earn her a big win in the 50 Free, while a time of 50.55 would be enough for second in the 100 free field.
Other Irish wins in came from Maxwell and junior Megan Farrell. Farrell's 2:04.32 would earn the gold in the 200 individual medley, while fellow junior Ashlee Edgell's touch in 2:06.65 would be good enough to hold off the Wolverines for second place. Maxwell, in dominating fashion, blew the field away in the 100 Breast, taking first three seconds ahead of the next finisher with a blazing time of 1:02.69.
In the dives, junior Natalie Stitt shined, racking up two wins for the Irish. Her first win came from a score of 298.27 in the 1-meter, and her second at the hands of an impressive 302.77 in the 3-meter springboard.
Senior Christina Riggins, freshman Amy Prestinario, sophomore Delia Cronin, and junior Maggie Behrens finished out the meet with third place in the 400 Free Relay at 3:30.50.
Prepping for the postseason, which will start with the Big East Championships in Indianapolis, the Irish are looking for a 13th consecutive league title. A win this weekend would extend the longest winning streak in the Big East for any sport.
