Mens Swimming: Irish edged out by Northwestern
By LISA REIJULA
Sports Writer
The last home dual meet for the class of 2003 did not end the way the Irish seniors would have liked it to.
The Notre Dame mens swimming and diving team lost a hard-fought contest to Northwestern, 172-126, Saturday afternoon.
The Irish won six of 16 events, but would eventually come up short against the Wildcats. Northwestern got on the board early in the meet, with victories in the 400-medley relay and the 1,000 freestyle.
Notre Dame's Matt Obringer won the 200 freestyle, but Northwestern answered with a win in the 100 backstroke. The Irish scored points in the 50 freestyle, as Frank Krakowski and Drew Pittman finished first and second.
An exciting diving competition was a highlight of the afternoon. Notre Dame's Andy Maggio finished his home career in style, winning both the 1- and 3-meter events. The senior earned his 3-meter victory by a narrow .30 margin ahead of Northwestern's Mike Oxman.
The Wildcats put the meet away with first place finishes in the 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke. However, the Irish ended the meet with a strong victory, as the 400 freestyle relay team of Tim Randolph, Krakowski, J.R. Teddy and Obringer took first in 3:07.93.
The Irish (5-6) will look to rebound this weekend against Cleveland State, the first of three dual meets on the road before the Big East Championships.
"It was a tough meet," said Maggio of Saturday. "We had some promising performances and we're looking forward to Big East."
Saturday's loss closed out the home careers of seniors Mike Flanagan, John Hudson, Jason Fitzpatrick, Matt Hyde, Andy Maggio, Travis Kline, Joe Miller and Tong Xie. Entering Notre Dame in 1999, the Class of 2003 is 28-14 so far in dual meets in their four years. The seven seniors also performed well academically, with a combined grade point average of 3.140.
"We're looking to finish our careers well and pass our leadership down to the junior class," said Maggio. "We've been working hard and the end of the season will be when we'll reap the benefits of that."
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 27, 2003
