No. 13 Notre Dame topples No. 16 Northwestern 201-99 to remain undefeated
By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Sports Writer
For Notre Dame's face-off against Northwestern, the plan was simple: break up the Wildcats' first place finishes, and earn enough seconds and thirds to sneak ahead in the point spread.
But Thursday night at Rolfs Aquatics Center, the competition didn't exactly go according to plan.
It went better.
"I think we were expecting this to be a little bit closer," said sophomore Lisa D'Olier after Notre Dame's 201-99 win against Northwestern.
The meet was another stepping stone to a potentially undefeated season for the Irish. The meet, which pitted No. 16 Northwestern against the 13th-ranked Irish, was expected to be a tightly contested dual. The Irish defeated Northwestern by only eight points last year — and anticipated a similar match up this year.
That wasn't the case, as the Irish took control of the meet from the start. Notre Dame left the Wildcats in their wake after securing both first and second place in the 400-yard medley relay.
"The key for us all season has been to get control of the meet," said head coach Bailey Weathers. "That's a best-case scenario — it's about as good as you can start a meet."
It got worse for Northwestern in the next event when freshman Kelly Barton teamed with sophomore Marie Labosky for a 1-2 finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
The two events set the tone that the Irish weren't just going to break up Northwestern's top finishes — they weren't even going to let them get there.
"That helped a lot," said senior Kelly Hecking. "Last year we lost the first relay and we struggled to catch up the whole time."
Northwestern couldn't sneak in many top finishes at all, managing to catch first-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle, and the 100-yard and 200-yard breastroke.
Even when the Wildcats did manage a win, Notre Dame answered. Freshman Sarah Alwen, junior Hedi Hendrick and senior Maureen Hillenmeyer placed second, third and fourth in the 200-freestyle behind Northwestern, and sophomore Laurie Musgrave and senior Alison Lloyd teamed for second and third place finishes in the 100-yard breastroke.
Other top performances included Labosky's wins in the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley; a 1-2-3 sweep of the 100-yard backstroke by Hecking, freshman Kristen Peterson and sophomore Danielle Hulick; a 200-yard butterfly win by Lisa D'Olier and a sweep of the 50-yard freestyle with senior Carrie Nixon in first, freshman Hannah Pawlewicz in second, and Hulick in third.
Irish swimmers also took the top three places in the 200-yard backstroke, with Peterson in first, Hecking in second and Hulick in third. Nixon won the 100-yard freestyle, and senior diver Heather Mattingly won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events.
"They showed the mental focus to do what they needed to," Weathers said. "They got the job done right away."
The team heads to Ann Arbor, Mich. Saturday to compete in their final dual meet against the University of Michigan. The Wolverines, who are ranked No. 17 in the country, will compete against Northwestern tonight — and the Irish will be looking for the results.
Michigan heads into the dual with a battle-injured squad, with four key swimmers sidelined. With only 19 swimmers competing, the Wolverines' biggest disadvantage will be the loss of sophomore Samantha Arsenault, a 2000 gold medal winner at the Syndey Olympics in the 800-meter freestyle relay. Arsenault was benched with a shoulder injury in November.
Still, while the Northwestern win gives the Irish confidence, the team needs to be careful heading into Saturday, Weathers said.
"They don't back down," Weathers said. "They expected us to swim well against Northwestern, and come back and swim well against them. The struggle will be for us not to overlook the situation."
The meet begins Saturday at 3 p.m.
Notes:
* Nixon finished the 50-yard freestyle in a pool record of 22.94. Her 100-yard freestyle finish of 50.17 was also a season-best time.
* The senior class was also recognized at the meet. The class, which includes Hillenmeyer, Nixon, Hecking, Lloyd, Brooke Davey and Tara Riggs, has been a part of three Big East Championship teams and has notched a dual meet record of 42-5 during their time at Notre Dame.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 1, 2002
