University of Louisville
NOTRE DAME (Senior Night)
Swimming and Diving Fall to Notre Dame
February 03, 2007 | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 3, 2007
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
The University of Louisville men's and women's swimming and diving team fell to nationally ranked Notre Dame Saturday at the Ralph Wright Natatorium. The men fell 147-94 and the women 154-89 to the defending BIG EAST champions in the Cardinals' final dual meet of the season.
"I knew Notre Dame was very deep, but I am very pleased with the way we performed today," said U of L head coach Arthur Albiero. "We took the defending Big East champs down to the wire, and this was a great step for our preparation for the Big East."
Vali Preda led the Cardinal effort for the men, winning the 200-IM and 200-breast. Preda was also a member of the winning 400-Medley Relay. In all, the Cardinals won seven events against the Irish.
To start the meet, the women's 400-medley relay team from Notre Dame touched first in 3:49.54. The Cards' A-relay of Karen Criss, Heather Meng, Jenny Schimenti and Melanie Greyling finished second, and the Cards B-relay of Alana Berrocal, Johanna Nyysti, Abby Miller and and Liz Halet held off Notre Dame's B relay to finish third.
In the men's race, the Cards A-team of Carlos Van Isschot, Vali Preda, Adam Madarassy and Chris Lindauer finished first with a time of 3:20.91, setting a new pool record.
"We had a great performance in the 400 Medley Relay," Albiero said. "This is definitely one of our strengths, and they delivered a season-best performance."
Notre Dame's Claire Hutchinson won the women's 1000-free in 10:07.18. Amanda Henleben led the scoring for the Cards finishing in 10:23.74 for second place. Ashley Jackson touched third in 10:26.00 for additional points. Freshman Laura Clark rounded out the scoring with a fifth place finish.
For the men, Notre Dame swept the first four places with the Card's John Bell finishing fifth.
In the 200-free, Notre Dame's Christa Riggins finished first in 1:50.94, with Melanie Greyling touching second. Leigh Smith and Liz Halet also contributed points finishing fourth and fifth.
In the men's race, Notre Dame swimmers swept the top three, led by Andrew Hoffman. Anthony Mason finished fourth for the Cardinals in 1:45.92.
In the meet's fastest race, Cardinal freshman Anna Dishuck tied Notre Dame's Rebecca Grove both touching in 24.08 for first. Rebecca Clark and Johanna Nyysti finished third and fourth.
"Anna tying for first in the 50 was definitely a highlight for the women," said Albiero.
Chris Lindauer finished first in the men's race with a pool record time of 21.25 holding off Notre Dame's John Lytle.
"Chris Lindauer's win in the 50 free by one one-hundreth of a second was a great moment in the meet," Albiero said.
Defending Big East Champion Leslie Van Winkle won the 200-IM in 2:05.26 holding off Notre Dame's second, third and fourth place finishers. The Cardinal's Jenny Schimenti finished fifth.
"Leslie continued her winning streak with her win in the 200-IM," said Albiero.
On the men's side, the Cardinals achieved a mini-sweep of their own with Vali Preda and Luke Wakefield finishing in 1:54.97 and 1:56.86 respectively. Notre Dame's Justin Barber was third.
"The one-two finish really closed the gap for us and helped keep us in the meet," Albiero said.
Notre Dame's Katie Carroll dominated the 200-fly and set a pool record with a time of 2:00.46 but the Cardinals' Jenny Schimenti finished second.
For the men, Rafal Kuchta, led the Cardinals with a first place finish and pool record time of 1:49.88. Notre Dame's David Cavadini was third in 1:53.11 with Adam Madarassy finishing third for the Cardinals in 1:53.42.
"That was a highlight, was Rafal's record setting swim in the 200-fly," said Albiero.
In the women's 100-free, Notre Dame's Megan Farrell won in 52.30 edging out the Cardinal's Anna Dishuck, who finished in 52.37. Notre Dame's Christa Riggins was third and Leslie Van Winkle and Rebecca Clark rounded out the scoring finishing fourth and fifth.
Carlos Van Isschot won the men's heat in 45.93 giving the Cardinals first place points. Notre Dame finished second, third and fourth with Louisville's Luke Wakefield finishing fifth.
"That was a good, good swim for Carlos to get a win in the 100-free," said Albiero.
Larissa Niehoff led the scoring for the Cardinals in the 200-back, finishing second with a time of 2:07.27. Karen Criss finished close behind at 2:07.80 for third place points. Notre Dame's Jeff Wood won for the men followed by Cardinals Andrei Teudean and Chris Pinkston who finished second and third.
Notre Dame's Katie Carroll claimed another first place touching first in the 500-free in 4:52.35, teammate Casey Wagner finished second in 4:59.54. Amanda Henleben and Ashley Jackson led the Cardinal effort with third and fourth place finishes.
In the men's race, Notre Dame continued their impressive freestyle performances sweeping the first three places. Anthony Mason finished in 4:45.96 to pick up fourth place points.
Notre Dame's Jessica Stephens edged the Cardinal's Heather Meng to win the 200-breast. Katie Hopkins finished third for Notre Dame with Leigh Smith and Johanna Nyysti finishing fourth and fifth. For the men, Vali Preda finished first in 2:02.99.
To close the meet, the Card's 400-free A team of Leslie Van Winkle, Liz Halet, Anna Dishuck and Melanie Greyling finished second and the B-team of Kate Wilson, Alana Berrocal, Rebecca Clark and Larissa Niehoff finished third.
Notre Dame won the men's final race in 3:04.81. The Card's A-team of Chris Lindauer, Carlos Van Isschot, Andrei Teudan and Adam Madarassy finished second.
McKenzie Long and Robbie Lewis lead the Cardinals in diving. Long was fourth on the 3 Meter board and second on 1 Meter. Lewis finished third on 3 Meter and second on 1- meter.
Players Mentioned
