The Irish men were able to capture their second straight dual meet victory Friday, defeating Cleveland State 171-124 at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
The win came in convincing fashion, as the Irish took first in the opening four events en route to winning 10 of the 16 events.
Junior Jeff Wood, sophomore Ross Moore, junior Sam Pendergast and sophomore John Lytle got things started for Notre Dame, taking first in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:32.75. Lytle was instrumental in the victory, erasing the lead held by Cleveland State coming out of the final turn. Lytle added another first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle, beating out Cleveland State's Steven Grove by nearly a half-second at 21.04.
Moore also took first in the 200-yard fly, while Pendergast finished second in the 100-yard backstroke. Wood scored points by finishing third in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events.
The Irish dominated the 1,000-yard freestyle, taking four of the top five spots, with freshman Michael Sullivan finishing first. A similar performance came in the 200-yard freestyle, when sophomore MacKenzie LeBlanc won and freshman Steven Brus finished in fourth to join Wood in scoring points for the Irish.
Notre Dame also swept the top-three positions in the 100-yard backstroke and 500-yard freestyle. Freshman Christopher Wills finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.26, while freshman Joshua Nosal and junior Bill Bauman tied for second in 53.53. Sullivan won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:40.97, Nosal took second in 4:42.76 and Wood finished third in 4:46.69.
Irish divers turned in dominant performances, sweeping the top-three positions in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. Senior Sam Stoner won the 1-meter event with a score of 312.30, while freshman Eric Lex and junior Michael Bulfin finished second and third, respectively. Bulfin took the 3-meter event, scoring 347.30, Stoner finished second and Lex finished third.
The win moved the Irish record against the Vikings to 24-10 all time, and 21-2 under current head coach Tim Welsh.
The Irish hope to ride the momentum from two straight wins into the Ohio State Invitational, which will run from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.
