MENS SWIMMING AND DIVING: Irish drop 2 meets but win 1
BY LISA REIJULA
Sports Writer
The Notre Dame mens swimming and diving team had a whirlwind weekend, competing in three dual meets in Philadelphia. After a 181-116 loss to the University of Pennsylvania Friday night, the Irish concluded with a split at Villanova.
The Irish fell 183-59 to Pittsburgh, but defeated Villanova 168-68.
The Irish (5-5) struggled at Penn, finishing second to the Quakers in 12 of 13 events to begin the competition. The first victory for Notre Dame came the eighth event, when Matt Obringer won the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 48.19 seconds.
The bright spot for the Irish was the performance of their divers, seniors Andy Maggio, Tong Xie and Joe Miller. Maggio finished first in the one- and three-meter events, while Xie was second in the one-meter and third in the three-meter. The Irish divers contributed 30 points to the team's total score.
A host of Irish swimmers placed second — Obringer in the 200-meter freestyle, Doug Bauman in the 100-meter backstroke, Tim Randolph in the 100-meter breaststroke, Frank Krakowski in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly, Tyler Grenda in the 200-meter breaststroke, J.R. Teddy in the 500-meter freestyle and David Moisan in the 200 individual Medley.
The next day at Villanova, Notre Dame easily outswam the host Wildcats but fell to Big East Championship favorite Pittsburgh. Pitt won all 13 meet events, but the Irish won 10 of 13 races against Villanova.
Obringer again shone for the Irish, winning both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. Jamie Lutkus (200 IM), Teddy (200 butterfly), Bauman (200 backstroke) and Moisan (200 breaststroke) also won against Villanova.
The Irish wrapped up a busy three weeks that included training camp in Mexico and the three dual meets. The team will have a brief break before resuming competition against Northwestern Saturday.
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 20, 2003
