Notre Dame concluded its regular season with a win Saturday, placing first in nine of 13 events on its way to a 143-100 victory over Ball State in Muncie, Ind.
Senior Amy Prestinario led the attack for the Irish (6-6), picking up wins in two individual events. Prestinario won the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle events and also swam one leg for the 200-yard freestyle relay team, which concluded the meet with a narrow victory.
Notre Dame's talented group of freshman swimmers made a significant impact in the meet, winning three events for the Irish. Freshman Erin Foley won the first race of her Irish career, breaking away from the field to win the 1,000-yard freestyle event.
Freshman Bridget Casey continued her recent streak of success, claiming first place in the 200-yard freestyle event, and freshman swimmer Emma Reaney added another victory to her list of first-year accomplishments, winning the 200-yard individual medley race for the fifth time this season.
The Irish also received points thanks to strong performances from sophomore Kelly Ryan and junior Jaime Malandra. Ryan took first in the 100-yard backstroke race, withstanding a late charge by Reaney to earn the victory. After placing second in the 1,000-yard freestyle event, Malandra rebounded to win the 500-yard freestyle competition.
"Jaime has been doing a really awesome job, and she showed it yesterday," Foley said. "To swim the 1000-yard and 500-yard [freestyle events] and win them both in the span of about thirty minutes is really impressive."
The Irish diving team also contributed to the team's winning effort, with junior diver Jenny Chiang winning one individual event and finishing second in another. Chiang won the 1-meter diving event by a comfortable margin, finishing 38 points ahead of the second place finisher, Irish freshman diver Jordan Russell, while also finishing second in the 3-meter event, losing by just 1.55 points.
With the regular season finished, the Irish will turn their attention to the Big East championships.
"I think that the team is peaking at the right time and will have a lot of fast swims at the [Big East championships]," Foley said. "We've been training really hard for this meet, so I think that it's going to be a good meet for us."
The Irish diving team will compete at the Big East Diving championships in Pittsburgh, Penn., next weekend, while the swimming team will compete at the Big East Swimming championships in Pittsburgh from Feb. 15- Feb. 18.
Contact Brian Hartnett at bhartnet@nd.edu
