The Irish dominated the pool this weekend with back-to-back wins over Valparaiso on Friday and Wisconsin on Saturday at Rolfs Aquatic Center.
The Irish (4-3) opened the weekend with a clean sweep over in-state competitor Valparaiso (0-6). The Irish won all sixteen events to defeat Valparaiso 219-60. Notre Dame took down No. 24 Wisconsin (3-3) in a 171-126 win Saturday to close out the weekend.
"I am very pleased with this team," head coach Brian Barnes said. "We performed very well this weekend."
Against Valparaiso, the Irish had the opportunity for several of their swimmers to compete. Notre Dame had thirteen swimmers win the fourteen individual events with junior Emma Reaney earning the top spot in the 200 fly (2:03.51) and the 100 free (52.60).
"It felt really nice to get an easy win in while still being able to swim some of our off events," Reaney said. "I was in the 200 fly which I never swim, and it's always fun to mix it up a little. I think it gave our team a little bit of a confidence boost as well."
Juniors Erin Foley (1,650 free) and Courtney Whyte (200 IM), and sophomores Catherine Galletti (100 back) and Genevieve Bradford (100 breast) all earned their first individual wins of the season.
In addition to individual events, the Irish also secured wins in the two relays. Notre Dame won the 200-medley relay in 1:46.22 with seniors Kelly Ryan, Lauren Stauder and Christen McDonough, and sophomore Genevieve Heidkamp. Ryan, Stauder, McDonough and senior MikelleMasciantonio also took the 200-free relay with a time of 1:37.25.
After a successful team performance Friday, Barnes said the Irish were ready to take on the Badgers the next morning.
"The team was feeling good about things heading into Saturday," Barnes said. "We saw some good swims Friday, and we faced Saturday confidently to face a ranked opponent."
"We knew [Wisconsin was] ranked and that we weren't yet, which was a little intimidating, but I think we really wanted to prove we could beat them," Reaney said.
Taking 10 out of the 16 events, the Irish proved that they could in fact beat the Badgers.
Notre Dame opened up Saturday with a victory in the 400-medley relay (3:44.10), consisting of freshmen Catherine Mulquin and Katie Miller, Ryan and Reaney.
Reaney led the Irish with wins in three events, while Miller and junior Allison Casareto followed closely behind, each tallying wins in two events. Reaney won the 100 free (1:50.42) as well as the 100 (1:02.04-NCAA B cut) and 200 (2:17.22) breaststroke. Miller claimed the 100 back (56.36) and 400 IM (4:21.40). Casareto dominated the diving boards with a score of 321.07 on the one-meter and 329.40 on the three-meter.
"During the meet on Saturday, we were winning race after race and our depth was finally starting to show, and I could really see our confidence grow as the meet progressed," Reaney said.
After winning four consecutive dual meets, the Irish have three weeks to train for the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa City, Iowa at University Aquatic Center on Dec. 6.
Contact Kit Loughran at kloughr1@nd.edu
