Notre Dame collects its sixth consecutive Big East Championship
By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Sports Writer
UNIONDALE, N.Y.
As they climbed onto the podium to collect their sixth consecutive Big East Championship, the Irish acted like seasoned champions, throwing their hands up in the air, holding their plaques high and erupting into cheers.
Irish head coach Bailey Weathers knew the routine, too — before the team award was announced, he unlaced his shoes, knowing he'd inevitably end up getting thrown into the pool by his exuberant swimmers.
Saturday, the Irish proved they had winning down to a concise routine as they collected their sixth consecutive conference title at the Goodwill Games Aquatic Center.
The meet belonged to the Irish from day one, when they jumped to a 100-plus point lead after only six events. They held on throughout the three-day competition, securing the title with 727 points, 275 points ahead of closest competitor Rutgers.
"It feels pretty good," said Weathers, who earned the Big East Coach of the Year award for the second consecutive year. "We were pretty confident going in, but you never want to take it for granted."
The standouts of the weekend were the backstroke trio of senior Kelly Hecking, freshman Kristen Peterson and sophomore Danielle Hulick, who took the top three positions on the medal stand in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke events. Hecking won the 100 title for the fourth time in her career, and the 200 for the third.
Hecking and Peterson guaranteed trips to Austin, Texas for the NCAA Championships with finishes in the 200-yard backstroke, with Hecking finishing in 1 minute, 57.70 seconds and Peterson following in 1:58.41, both automatic qualifying times. All three backstrokers made the consideration times for NCAAs in the 100-yard backstroke and Hulick also made a consideration time in the 200-yard backstroke.
Peterson and Hecking traded the lead in the 200-yard backstroke twice during the race before Hecking pulled slightly ahead during the last 75 yards.
"Kristen was out fast during the 200, and we were just trying to pace each other," Hecking said. "I was so excited. Especially with Kristen and Danielle right behind me, and their times close to NCAAs, too."
Senior Alison Lloyd also earned an individual title, closing out her Big East career with a win in the 200-yard breastroke Saturday. She won the event in 2:15.60, just a second shy of the automatic cut for NCAAs. Lloyd was second in the 100-yard breastroke Friday, clipped at the finish by Ryan Redmann of Pittsburgh.
Senior diver Heather Mattingly overcame a difficult performance on the 1-meter board Thursday to take home the runner-up position on the 3-meter board Friday.
"That was definitely the worst I've ever done at the meet," Mattingly said about her fourth-place finish on the 1-meter board Thursday. "Tonight, I just thought, `This is the last time, I just want to go out and have fun and do what I do in practice.'"
Sophomore Lisa Garcia also had a solid meet, earning an NCAA automatic cut in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:57.79 and placing second in the event. Garcia also won second in the 100-yard butterfly.
But in a meet where 11 records were broken by teams across the conference and point margins separating teams were closer than in the past, the Irish struggled through inconsistent performances during much of the weekend.
One struggle was the 400-yard freestyle relay, where the Irish team of Hecking, senior Carrie Nixon, freshman Katie Eckholt and Hulick were passed by University of Miami in the final five yards.
The anchor on the relay, Miami's Manon Van Rooijen, earned the meet's top honors of Most Outstanding Swimmer after winning four individual events.
Both relay teams made the NCAA consideration time for the event, but the Irish loss was evidence the conference has gotten faster during Notre Dame's tenure on top.
"If the Miami relay hadn't been right there with us, we probably wouldn't have gone that fast if there wasn't somebody to race," said co-captain Tara Riggs after the meet. "There was better competition... I think it caught us off guard because we didn't expect people to be fast."
Nixon struggled in her two final individual races of the weekend after winning the 50-yard freestyle Thursday. Unable to defend her 1999 titles in both events, Nixon placed second in the 100-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100-yard butterfly and saw her meet records in both events get broken.
Sophomore Marie Labosky, who qualified for NCAAs in the 400-yard individual medley in January and won the 200-yard individual medley at last year's Big East Championships also struggled through the weekend. Labosky placed sixth in the 400 IM in a field that included Sydney Olympian and Villanova swimmer Maddy Crippen, could not defend her 200 IM title and placed 12th in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
"I think they're both awfully tired," Weathers said about Labosky and Nixon, neither of whom fully tapered for the meet to focus more seriously on NCAAs. "They're pretty incredible athletes, and neither of them likes to get beat. Even if they were run over with a truck in the parking lot before the meet, they'd still be upset about it."
The Irish did have success in qualifying swimmers for NCAAs, however. Hecking, Peterson, Nixon and Labosky all have guaranteed trips to the national meet after the championship this weekend. The 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays, freshmen Kelli Barton, Georgia Healey, Hannah Pawlewicz, Brooke Taylor, sophomores Hulick and Lisa D'Olier, junior Nicole Kohrt, and Lloyd have all earned NCAA consideration times, and will find out by the end of the week if they will swim at the meet.
"We won't be completely satisfied until we send a full squad," said co-captain Tara Riggs. "We could send up to 13 — that's just a handful away from a full squad."
But with plaques in hand as they jumped into the water with coaches to celebrate their victory Saturday, the best team in the Big East conference cheerfully celebrated a victory that they had to work a little bit harder to earn.
"Talking to Tara after the first day, I was a little bit discouraged," said co-captain Maureen Hillenmeyer. "This is surreal. I think we've come a long way."
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 25, 2002
