Irish capture first place at ND Invitational
By ANDREW SOUKUP
Sports Writer
Kelly Hecking had a pair of sensational races, and Heather Mattingly set two school records as Notre Dame's women's swim team captured first place at the Notre Dame Invitational.
The Irish, who trailed Denison University by 16.5 points after Friday, finished with 1,404 points to win their third invitational this season in as many tries. Denison was second with 1,245.5 points, followed by Michigan State with 114.5 points and Harvard with 1088 points.
"Coach Weathers said that if we stayed focused and kept our heads on straight, we shouldn't have any trouble winning," said freshman Marie Labosky.
Hecking wrapped up an outstanding weekend by swimming two of the best races of her collegiate career. Hecking won the 200 backstroke in 2:00.54, a time fast enough to earn NCAA finals consideration status. Hecking also captured first place in the 100 backstroke, winning with a time of 55.7.
"It was phenomenal," said Labosky. "It was great to be on deck and watch a teammate go a time that sheās been trying to go for a while. The look on her face was incredible."
"She was crying she was so happy," said Mattingly.
Mattingly started her record-breaking weekend Friday afternoon. The junior diver finished second in the 1-meter springboard competition with 291.25 points, breaking Gina Ketelhohn's mark set Jan. 29, 2000. On Saturday,
Mattingly scored 550.55 points in the 3-meter springboard, shattering her old mark of 526.75 set two years ago.
"I didn't even know I did it, I had to rush out of there so quickly," Mattingly said. "But that's pretty cool."
Labosky won three individual events for the second invitational in a row.
Labosky, who won the 200 individual medley on Thursday, took first in the 400 individual medley on Friday with a time of 4:24.23. She came back Saturday to win the 1,650 freestyle in 16:51.64. Labosky won the same three events two weeks ago at the Indiana Invitational.
"I'm really excited about how I'm doing at this point in the season," Labosky said. "I didnāt really expect to come in and do what I've been doing. It gets me excited knowing how fast I can go when we taper."
The Irish had their best team performances of the weekend in the 100 backstroke and the 400 individual medley. After Hecking's inspiring race, Danielle Hulick, Jessica Roberts, and Maureen Hillenmeyer captured sixth through eighth places in the 100 backstroke and were separated by only 1.35 seconds. In the 400 individual medley, Amy Deger, who finished ninth in Thursday's 200 individual medley, captured third place, while Tiffany O'Brian took fifth place.
In the 200 medley relay, Hecking, Allison Lloyd, Lisa Garcia, and Hulick, the same foursome who won Thursday's 400 medley relay, took second place with a time of 1:47.68.
Sarah Bowman and Garcia finished two-three in the 100 butterfly. Bowman finished with a time of 57.73 and Garcia was a mere two-tenths of a second behind.
Freshman Laurie Musgrave turned in two solid performances in the breaststroke events. On Friday, Musgrave finished third in the 100 breaststroke, .47 seconds behind Lloyd's second place effort, and on Saturday, she took second in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:21.33.
"Everyone did so well," Mattingly said. "But right now we're dead tired."
Notre Dame's next competition is at the Rainbow Invitational in Hawaii on Jan. 2 and 3, 2001.
All Sports Stories for Monday, December 4, 2000
