Undefeated Irish face tough competition at Invitational
By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Saint Mary's Editor
Shifting gears from dual-meet competition, the Irish women's swimming and diving team heads to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis this weekend for the Minnesota Invitational.
After notching a 6-0 record in the early fall season, the invitational gives the women a chance to evaluate race patterns in a championship environment.
"This really gives us the opportunity to focus on specific events," said Irish head coach Bailey Weathers. "It is a critical meet in terms of how we swim our races. We compete better in a championship environment. This serves as a dry run for championships, to make sure that we have the right athletes in each event."
Coming off wins against Pittsburgh, Miami of Ohio and Kenyon College last weekend, the Irish will battle 14 teams in Minneapolis.
Returning to the meet after a third-place finish behind Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1998, Notre Dame will find its stiffest competition in No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 16 Minnesota, No. 17 Tennessee, No. 24 Illinois and Iowa State.
"Minnesota is clearly favored to win the meet," said Weathers. "We simply won't have the numbers to compete with them. Obviously, they won't want to get beat at home."
The Irish will look to seniors Laura Shepard, Elizabeth Barger, Shannon Suddarth and Allison Lloyd to pull big finishes.
Barger and Suddarth each notched first-place finishes in last weekend's tri-meet, with Barger capturing first in the 400-medley relay and Suddarth winning the 200 breastroke.
"Our older kids have traditionally been our leaders at this meet," Weathers said. "Because we take a smaller travelling squad, that's really important."
Diving will also be a point of strength, following a 1-2-3 finish at the invitational last year.
Senior Gina Ketlehohn and sophomore Heather Mattingly will team up for top Irish diving finishes.
Half of the Irish squad will be rested for the meet, improving chances for a strong finish.
"Usually, we do rest some kids before this meet," Weathers said. "This gives them a chance to race in a championship environment and recover before exams to do well academically."
Trials for the Minnesota Invitational begin this morning.
Meanwhile, the men's swimming and diving team looks to post its first victory at home tonight at Rolfs Aquatic Center.
Dueling Western Ontario, the Irish enter the meet at 0-3 on the season.
The last meeting between the two schools took place on Oct. 27, 1997, with the Irish winning eight of 10 events.
The meet, which is the oldest collegiate dual meet in the United States and Canada, has been won by Notre Dame 33 of 34 times.
All Sports Stories for Friday, November 19, 1999
