Men finish in 4th, break many school records
By LISA REIJULA
Sports Writer
UNIONDALE, N.Y.
At the 2003 Big East Championships, the Notre Dame mens swimming and diving team turned in a solid fourth-place finish. The Irish scored 462.50 total points, and shattered seven school records over the course of the three-day event.
Pittsburgh's victory (708 points) gave them their seventh title in a row. Virginia Tech (555) finally pulled ahead of Rutgers (538.50) to earn second place. St. John's (348) placed fifth, followed by West Virginia (281), UConn (265), Syracuse (199), and Seton Hall (168). Rounding out the field of 12 was Villanova (94), Boston College (66) and Miami (40).
"From an objective point of view, we swam faster this year, scored more points than in the past few years, and were closer to first place," said Irish head coach Tim Welsh.
In the 200 medley relay, Virginia Tech set a new meet record (1:28.49). Rutgers' team was second in 1:29.93, and Notre Dame placed third. The Irish team consisting of Doug Bauman, Jason Fitzpatrick, Frank Krakowski and Tim Randolph set a new Notre Dame record (1:30.58).
Notre Dame's Jamie Lutkus placed second in the 400 IM with a time of 3:54.38. Sean Smith of Rutgers won in 3:52.25. ND's David Moisan (4:00.29) and Patrick Heffernan (4:03.29) finished seventh and 12th overall, respectively.
With his second-place finish, Lutkus, a freshman from Granger, broke the school record he set in the prelims. Lutkus also posted the highest individual finish for the Irish.
In 100 butterfly, Krakowski set yet another record for the Irish. In one of the most exciting and close races of Friday evening, Krakowski finished seventh with a fast time of 48.92. Dustin Rogers of UConn placed first (48.35) and Pedro Pinto of West Virginia (48.41).
Junior Matt Obringer placed fifth in the 200 free for the Irish in a record time of 1:38.49. Winner Kleyton Franca touched in 1:37.31 and second-place finisher Marshal Livingstone followed in 1:37.52.
In the 100 breaststroke, senior Jason Fitzpatrick was third with a time of 55.35. Winner Kevin Furlong of Virginia Tech set a new Big East record (53.54). Also for the Irish, Randolph came in ninth with a time of 56.68. Teammates Josh Dermott (56.71) and Tyler Grenda (57.16) finished 10th and 13th overall.
Fitzpatrick's time was a new school record as well as a "B" qualifying time for the 2003 NCAA meet.
It was all about freshmen for the Irish in the 100 backstroke. Bauman placed sixth with a time of 50.29, and fellow rookie Steve Shomberger was 15th (51.43). Winner Steve Tozer of Virginia Tech touched in 49.13, followed by teammate Chris Lindberg (49.25).
In diving action, Andy Maggio and Joe Miller qualified for the 3-meter finals. Maggio finished in third place with 494.80 points. Miller was eighth with a score of 356.50. Miguel Velazquez completed his sweep of the diving events with a victory of 657.20 points, followed by Pitt's Dennis Nemtsanov (564.20).
The 800 freestyle relay team of Obringer, J.R. Teddy, Patrick O'Berry, and Brian Guarnier finished sixth in 6:46.46. St. John's placed first in 6:36.32, and second-place Pitt touched in 6:37.28.
In the 1,650 freestyle final, Eric Limkemann of Pitt finished first in 15:21.48, followed by Michal Szapiel of St. John's (15:32.43). Notre Dame's Matt Bertke placed seventh in 16:04.20.
Shomberger was eighth (1:52.76) in the 200 backstroke final, while teammate Bauman finished 12th. Winner Anders Frahm of Virginia Tech touched in 1:46.98, followed by Rutgers' Jon Stinson (1:47.90).
Freshman Shomberger, despite missing the majority of the season due to an elbow injury, set a new school mark in the 200 backstroke prelims (1:49.54).
"Our freshman stepped up tremendously," said Welsh. "If you look across the field in Saturday's championship finals, which was by far not our best night, nevertheless it was mostly freshman and sophomores in the finals."
Senior Michael Grube of Pittsburgh won his third 100 freestyle championship in a row, with a time of 44.18. For the Irish, sophomore Krakowski finished seventh (45.47) and Obringer was 12th (45.60).
200 breaststroke winner Randy Gertenbach of Pittsburgh set a new meet record with his time of 1:59.42, breaking the old mark of 1:59.45. For the Irish, David Moisan finished eighth (2:04.86), Fitzpatrick was 11th (2:04.36), Tyler Grenda 13th, Josh Dermott 14th and Lutkus finished 16th.
Freshman Patrick Heffernan placed eighth overall in the 200 butterfly (1:51.66). Pittsburgh's Jason Miller won in 1:47.75. Also for the Irish, Lucas Wymore (11th), J.R. Teddy (12th) and Brian Guarnier (13th) contributed to a strong effort.
In the last event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, the Irish team of Randolph, Krakowski, Fitzpatrick, and Obringer placed fifth (3:01.91) in a close race. Pitt finished first with a time of 2:57.74, followed by Virginia Tech (3:01.95), UConn (3:01.68), and St. John's (3:01.82).
The Irish records that were set during the meet included new marks in the 200 backstroke, 400 medley relay, 50 free, 200 freestyle relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke.
Coach Welsh praised the team's record-breaking efforts.
"The team this year was very focused and did a good job in terms of performance and team building," he said. "The ones [records] that we missed we missed close. We only missed the 500 [free] by a tenth [of a second], 200 [free] by hundredths, and 200 back by hundredths."
Sophomore Frank Krakowski was a standout for Notre Dame, having a hand in four of the seven records set during the weekend. The sophomore was a part of both relay teams and as an individual broke the previous marks in the 50 free and 100 butterfly.
Despite the numerous new records and the consistent performance of the Irish at the meet, there was a feeling of unfinished business.
"It's a young team and we'll be back," said Welsh. "We know how hard it is to move up and we will continue to work hard towards that. We hope that it happens next year. We left something to be done."
Contact Lisa Reijula at lreijula@nd.edu.
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 24, 2003
