Irish capture consecutive second-place finishes
By COLLEEN McCARTHY
Sports Writer
Trailing Rutgers and in third place after the first day of the Big East conference championships, the Notre Dame men's swimming team stepped up its effort to move into second place on Friday and held onto second Saturday.
After finishing second last year at the championship, the Irish made the necessary adjustments to repeat.
"This is what we hoped for," men's swimming coach Tim Welsh said. "We started the year hoping we could defend our second place finish and we are excited that we could do that."
The team's second place finish was the culmination of a meet that saw four Irish swimmers earn NCAA championship consideration times. Focusing on racing faster and getting many Irish swimmers in the finals, the Irish moved into second place Friday.
Senior Ray Fitzpatrick won the 200-yard freestyle event with a time of 1 minute, 38.36 seconds, shaving close to two seconds from his preliminary time and breaking his own University record of 1:38.83. His time also qualified him for the NCAA swimming championships. The win marked Fitzpatrick's first Big East individual title.
Fitzpatrick also played a part in two other relays. The 200-yard individual medley team of Brian Skorney, Michael Koss, Brendan Lechner and Fitzpatrick placed second. Fitzpatrick was also part of the 800-yard freestyle team of Jonathan Pierce, Austin Anderson and Matthew Gruenewald, who placed third.
Other key finishes came from junior Ryan Verlin, who placed fourth in the 400-yard individual medley, Michael Koss and Dan Szilier, who tied for fifth place in the 100-yard breaststroke and Brian Skorney, who finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke and broke his own University record with a time of 50.54.
The team came into Saturday's competition knowing it was leading Rutgers by 42 points, and feeling that every race was crucial.
"The meet was not over by any means Saturday," Welsh said. "We came in knowing that places two, three and four could change this morning. Those thoughts were with us all day long and we raced well. The team from beginning to end raced beautifully well."
Divers Herbie Huesman and Andy Maggio placed fourth and fifth respectively in Friday's three-meter diving competition after both finishing in the top eight in Thursday's one-meter diving.
"I thought that our divers did well today," Welsh said. "I thought Herbie and Andy did better than in the one-meter competition on Friday as well."
Key individual performances from Jonathan Pierce, Verlin and Szilier propelled the Irish Saturday.
Pierce, a sophomore, won his second Big East individual 1,650-yard freestyle title, breaking his own University record.
Pierce's victory in the event last year marked the first time a Notre Dame men's swimmer won an individual title in the Big East competition.
Pierce said he knew what he had to do to win the race.
"I knew I had to go out hard and try to hold on," Pierce said. "Throughout the race I knew I was catching people and I knew we needed the points and I just had to get out there and go for it."
Welsh was pleased with the sophomore's performance.
"Jonathan defending his title at a faster time was key," Welsh said. "Not only did he set a University record but it was also an Olympic trial cut time. It's hard to ask for more."
Verlin placed second in the 200-yard butterfly event, with a finish of 1:48.39, earning him his first NCAA consideration.
"I had a good race in the morning and felt there was a lot more I could do in that race," Verlin said. "I had high expectations for the finals. I improved my time and I was very pleased with that."
In the 200-yard breaststroke, the Irish dominated with Szilier finishing second followed by Jason Fitzpatrick in seventh place and Koss in 10th place.
Szilier's time also saw him qualify for the NCAA championships.
Welsh saw the victory as a pay-off for months of hard work.
"This team works very hard," Welsh said. "In swimming, there is no substitute for training hard. This team has trained hard and prepared well.
"The guys have done the work and it's not an accident that they raced well on race day. I'm really pleased for the team. We're looking forward to the Shamrock Classic meet and starting to think about next year."
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 21, 2000
