The last time the University of Notre Dame met Cleveland State in the pool, the meet was a celebration of the Irish’s outgoing men’s head coach Tim Welsh. In an unexpected turn, Welsh is still on deck, having taken over for the women’s team this season on an interim basis.
In this final home meet hosted by Notre Dame this season, the Irish walked away with a win over Cleveland State after racking up an impressive score. The Notre Dame women won over the women of Cleveland State with a score of 209 to 80 while the Irish men beat Cleveland State’s men 226 to 66.
Notre Dame women Genevieve Bradford, Emma Reaney, Molly Treble, and Courtney Whyte each picked up two event wins for the Irish. Bradford finished first in the 100 freestyle, touching the wall in 54.09 and just ahead of Notre Dame’s Suzanne Bessire (54.13). In the 200 breaststroke, Bradford won by six seconds, finishing first in 2:26.22. Emma Reaney took first in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.30) before claiming her second win in the 200 backstroke (2:04.94) over Cleveland State’s Jodi Turk.
Molly Treble not only won two events, but the events she won were back-to-back: the 1000 freestyle and the 200 freestyle. She took first in the 1000 with a time of 10:27.46, ahead of her teammate Molly Barry, who finished in 10:48.74. Treble was back on the blocks for the 200 freestyle just ten minutes later after the men’s 1000 freestyle ended. She followed up her win in the 1000 with a time of 1:56.71 in the 200 freestyle. Finally, Notre Dame’s Courtney Whyte was the winner of both the 100 backstroke (57.93) and the 100 butterfly (56.86).
On the men’s side, two swimmers were successful in winning two individual events. Philipp Sitkatzki was the only Cleveland State swimmer to do so in the meet. He first won the 50 free in 20.79, and then went on to win the 100 free in 45.49. Notre Dame’s Richard Mannix also won two events: the 1000 freestyle and the 200 backstroke. In the 1000, Mannix touched first in 9:14.69, a time that was significantly faster that the rest of the field. In the 200 backstroke, he finished in 1:50.27, ahead of Notre Dame teammate Richard Mannix.
Women’s Meet Final Score: Notre Dame 209 – Cleveland State 80
Men’s Meet Final Score: Notre Dame 266 – Cleveland State 66
The Notre Dame women’s team will head to the ACC Swimming Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, which will be held February 18-21 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The ND men’s team will compete at their ACC Swimming Championships February 25-28. The Cleveland State women and men next will head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to compete at the Horizon League Championships held February 25-28.