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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

ND thrashes Michigan State

Notre Dame got off to a strong start to its 2014-2015 campaign Friday night as it defeated Michigan State by a score of 182-118 at Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Irish (1-0) swept the top two positions in nine different events on their way to defeating the visiting Spartans (0-1). It was the first action of the year for Notre Dame, yet the team pulled out 11 event victories and runner-up finishes to help cruise to a large margin of victory.

Irish junior Catherine Galletti swims the backstroke during a 219-60 win over Valparaiso on Nov. 15.
Wei Lin | The Observer
Wei Lin | The Observer
Irish junior Catherine Galletti swims the backstroke during a 219-60 win over Valparaiso on Nov. 15.
“I was very pleased with their focus,” Irish interim coach Tim Welsh said. “I was very pleased with the way they prepared for each one of their races. … Thought they were good about keeping up the spirit from start to finish. That was very impressive and a good sign of the team discipline.”

Senior Emma Reaney, who won the national championship last season in the 200-yard breaststroke and set an American record in the event, swept the top spot on the podium in both the 100- and 200-yard races on Friday, beating Spartan senior Shelby Lacy by three seconds in the shorter race and then freshman teammate Sherri McIntee by five seconds in the longer.

The Irish also had one-two finishes in the 200-yard medley relay, the 200-yard freestyle (sophomores Elizabeth House and Katie Miller), the 100-yard backstroke (sophomore Catherine Mulquin and junior Sydney Golic), the 200-yard butterfly (seniors Bridget Casey and Courtney Whyte), the 50- and 100-yard freestyles (junior Catherine Galletti and Mulquin finished first and second in the 5o-yard race, then switched positions in the longer event), the 200-yard backstroke (Miller and Golic) and the three-meter springboard (juniors Lindsey Streepey and Emma Gaboury). Notre Dame also picked up another individual title on the one-meter springboard as Streepey swept both of the diving events.

“The [girls] are exactly where we want them to be,” Welsh said. “We wanted to see where we are. We swam the 16 events pretty much straight up, and we said wherever we are, we are going to draw a line under it.

“I thought diving was excellent, especially three-meter diving. … We’ll keep looking for improvement across the board. I think if you look at our times … there’s not a single time that we did Friday that we are going to be happy with in February.”

While Welsh was pleased with his team overall, one of the brightest spots for the team was when Galletti was able to return to the pool. The junior missed most of last year after undergoing double hip surgery and has been working extremely hard in rehab to get back into the pool, Welsh said.

“I think fight is exactly the right word,” Welsh said. “It has been a real struggle for her. As you can imagine double hip surgery is a very painful thing to have to go through. She’s had a lot of recovery to go through. … A person less of a fighter than Cat is could have said ‘Here are my goggles, I’m done.’ But she’s in no way hanging it up. She wants to be better this morning than she was last night and better this afternoon than she was this morning."

Notre Dame will be the pool again at the Dennis Stark Relays, now in the event’s 50th year. The meet will welcome a number of teams from around the Midwest to Rolfs Aquatic Center and is scheduled to begin Friday at 5 p.m.