WINTER AND SPRING SPORTS: 2002 in Review
Observer Staff Report
Men's Swimming
They didn't get the second-place finish they were hoping for at the Big East Championships, but the men's swimming and diving team was satisfied with its performance.
Rallying from sixth place during the three-day competition, the Irish wrapped up their season in Uniondale, N.Y., with a fourth place overall finish.
"We got faster and scored more points, we just stayed in the same place. It's clearly a sign of how much improvement is taking place throughout the Big East Conference," said Irish head coach Tim Welsh after the competition. "We are getting better and so is the meet."
Irish senior co-captain Jonathan Pierce set a Notre Dame school record in the 400-yard individual medley at the meet, lowering the mark to 3 minutes, 56.34 seconds. Pierce also placed high in the distance events at the meet, earning a fifth place finish in both the 1,650-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle.
"It will be hard to replace great swimmers like Jonathan Pierce, but we have a lot of youth in this team," said sophomore distance swimmer J.R. Teddy at the meet. "This was a growing experience for us."
- Noreen Gillespie
ND Women's Swimming
The Irish again established their dominance in the Big East in February, collecting their sixth consecutive conference championship.
The team, which graduates eight seniors this weekend, secured the championship by more than 275 points ahead of second-place Rutgers.
"It feels pretty good," said Irish head coach Bailey Weathers after the meet. Weathers also won his fifth Big East Coach of the Year award at the championship.
It was the stroke specialists who propelled the Irish to the top of the podium at the Goodwill Games Aquatic Center in Uniondale, N.Y. The backstrokers were the powerhouses of the weekend, with senior Kelly Hecking, sophomore Danielle Hulick and freshman Kristen Peterson capturing the top three places in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke.
Notre Dame, also undefeated in the dual meet season, sent seven athletes to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas, in March. Senior diver Heather Mattingly and senior sprinter Carrie Nixon earned individual All-America accolades at the meet, where the team placed 19th overall.
- Noreen Gillespie
SMC Swimming
The Belles made a major move this season, a move from being a nameless team into a team that is a real threat to the MIAA. Last season, the Belles finished at the bottom of the pack — last place in the MIAA. This season they moved up to fifth and are looking to finish next season in the top three.
"I think a few more divers and a few more swimmers next year and we'll be right there with everyone else," said junior Lauren Smith. "… Anything can happen next year. Everyone's working really hard and I think our team will prove [that we can compete]."
Saint Mary's ended the three-day MIAA conference meet with eight top 12 finishers, four who finished in the top six. The strong third-day finish left an impression on the MIAA.
"Especially on the third day, I had so many coaches come up and say, `Wow, what a day you had,'" said head coach Greg Petcoff.
- Katie McVoy
Fencing
Despite a strong start by the women's side, the Notre Dame fencing team finished third at the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. The third-place finish marked head coach Yves Auriol's seventh — and last — top five finish since taking over as head coach of both the women and men in 1996. The Irish coach retired after the tournament.
Although the third place finish was disappointing for a team that expected to win the national championship, several individuals turned in strong finishes. The women's foil team won 45 of 46 bouts. The only loss came when undefeated freshman Alicja Kryczalo beat her teammate, freshman Andrea Ament. Kryczalo beat Ament again in the finals to win the individual foil championship.
Sophomore Kerry Walton also won an individual title as she won the women's epee title.
Senior Carianne McCullough closed her career by earning third team All-American honors for the first time in her career.
On the men's side, only junior Ozren Debic was named a first team All-American. Junior Jan Viviani, freshman Derek Snyder and senior Andre Crompton earned second team honors.
- Mike Connolly
Hockey
After starting out the season a disastrous 1-5-2, the Notre Dame men's hockey team finally found its groove with a productive December and January and a five-game winning streak to end the regular season.
The turning point of the season came after a two-game sweep by Alaska-Fairbanks in early February. The Irish lost consecutive games, 7-5 and 6-5. Irish head coach Dave Poulin was not happy with the defensive effort.
The week after the Fairbanks sweep, the Irish changed up their defensive scheme. The scheme worked and Notre Dame ended up finishing eighth in the CCHA and qualifying for the CCHA postseason.
In the first round of the best-of-three series, the Irish were paired up against the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks.
The Irish drew Northern Michigan in the semifinals. Although they lost that game 3-1 to end their season, it didn't take away from a great season.
- Matt Orenchuk
SMC Basketball
The last two games of the 2001-2002 season summed up the kind of team that the Saint Mary's basketball team had become over the year.
After losing by 23 points to rival Kalamazoo two weeks earlier, the Belles used a 37-24 second half scoring advantage to pull off the stunning 66-53 upset in their last regular season game at home. Two days later Saint Mary's nearly upended another opponent, before losing 62-54 in the first round of the MIAA tournament against Adrian College.
The Belles battled through injuries to key players, players quitting the team and a tough MIAA schedule to play their best basketball at the end of the year.
"We went through a lot of obstacles, team issues with different things and just basketball in general, but I think we overcame it all and came together well as a team," three-year captain Anne Blair said. "We kept on building on the ladder that Saint Mary's basketball is trying to reach."
- Joe Hettler
Rowing
A strong spring season for the Notre Dame women's rowing team should provide a springboard at this weekend's Central Region Championships at Milton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The meet is one of the most important of the year for Notre Dame as some of the best teams in the nation compete with the 14th-ranked Irish to earn an invitation to the NCAA Championships, held from May 31 to June 2 in Indianapolis.
The spring season began with a bang for the Irish in Knoxville, Tenn., where Notre Dame took four of five races from the Volunteers.
Later in the season, the Irish first varsity eight competed in the San Diego Crew Classic and held their own against some of the best squads in the nation.
Notre Dame ended the two-day meet in fifth place behind top-ranked Washington, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 11 California and No. 13 Stanford. The weekend included race victories over No. 6 Virginia, No. 9 USC, No. 14 Texas and No. 19 Oregon State.
In the Big East Rowing Challenge over the last weekend of April, the Irish fell just short of then 13th-ranked Syracuse to take second place in the meet. Notre Dame won one event as the varsity four crew of coxswain Kathryn Long, Sarah Keefer, Kati Sedun, Elizabeth Specht and Maureen Carr finished five and a half seconds ahead of Syracuse's first boat.
The field at the Central Region Championships this weekend will be another tough competition for the Irish as it includes five teams in the national top 20 — No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Michigan, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 20 Duke and No. 14 Notre Dame. In total, 19 teams are competing this weekend including, Texas, Wisconsin, Clemson, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami, Minnesota, Murray State, North Carolina, SMU, Tennessee and Tulsa.
Racing begins Saturday at 9:15 a.m.
- Chris Federico
Men's Lacrosse
The 2002 season for the men's lacrosse team was a rebuilding campaign as the squad struggled to replace the departure of eight starters from a team that reached the NCAA Final Four only a year ago.
This year's team, comprised predominantly of freshmen and sophomores, finished with a modest 6-8 record. Four of Notre Dame's losses were heartbreaking one-goal setbacks.
Sophomore Dan Berger led the team in scoring with 20 goals while senior captain John Flandina paced the Irish with a team-high 14 assists. Both players tied for the team lead in points with 24.
Although the Irish failed to recapture the Great Western Lacrosse League title and return to the NCAA Tournament, the future looks bright with the Irish losing only four starters from this year's team. Next season will mark the first year that Notre Dame will offer scholarships in men's lacrosse.
- Joe Licandro
SMC Softball
The Belles softball season may have looked like it was canceled. In a one-week period during which the Belles were supposed to play six games, all six were either canceled or rescheduled.
Despite the cancellations, the Belles managed an 8-15 overall record, although their 3-11 MIAA record left them in seventh place in the league.
The Belles won their final game of the season, defeating Ancilla 6-2.
"The season ended really well," senior Kristin Martin said. "In the last game, we all played really well. I am happy with the way it all ended."
The game was the last one that head coach John Ganeff coached. With two weeks in the season left, Ganeff resigned, effective the end of the season, citing a mix of financial reasons and a need for time to further personal goals.
"Part of it is financial," said Saint Mary's athletic director Lynn Kachmarik. "But he's going back to college and that's a big part of his goal and he'll lose his flexibility when it comes to class time."
Ganeff's resignation prompted three softball players to request releases in order to transfer.
- Katie McVoy
All Sports Stories for Friday, May 17, 2002
