Fighting Irish Showcase Depth in Sweep of Boilermakers

Purdue vs. Notre Dame

• Results
• Hosted by Purdue
• Friday, October 27th
• 25 Yards
• Dual Meet Format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

Men: Notre Dame 169, Purdue 131
Women: Notre Dame 163, Purdue 137

Notre Dame journeyed to West Lafayette on Friday afternoon to take on in-state rival Purdue, and leveraged their superior depth to pull away from the Boilermakers.  The Fighting Irish men’s and women’s squads both improved to 4-1 with their respective victories

The Notre Dame men won 11 of 16 events, with three wins a piece from both Robby Whitacre and Aaron Schultz, as well as a pair of individual wins from Zach Yeadon.  Whitacre touched first in all three backstroke events he participated in, clocking the fastest leadoff split (22.92) on the winning 200 medley relay (1:29.71) and later taking both the 100 (48.77) and 200 backstroke (1:46.92).  Schultz showed off his versatility with wins in the 200 free (1:38.61) and 100 fly (48.51).  Yeadon, though, had the swim of the meet, putting together a winning effort of 15:20.20 in the 1650, good for the #2 time in the country.

Notably, Purdue senior Marat Amaltdinov, who is a returning NCAA All-American, led 1-2 finishes for the Boilermakers in both breaststroke events (54.73 and 1:59.38).  Amaltdinov currently is the nation’s top-ranked 200 breaststroker at 1:57.01.

The women’s meet proved to be a closer affair, with Taite Kitchel and Kaersten Meitz each claiming three events for the Boilermakers.  Kitchel touched first in the 200 fly (1:59.10) and 200 IM (2:03.86), while Meitz swept the distance freestyles (9:42.34 in the 1000, 4:45.98 in the 500).  However, Abbie Dolan (three wins) and Alice Treuth (two wins) provided enough firepower for Notre Dame to hold off their in-state rival.  Dolan, coming off ACC Swimmer of the Week honors, completed a 50-100-200 sweep, which included a pair of NCAA ‘B’ times in the 200 (1:46.52) and 100 (49.38).  Treuth posted the nation’s 10th fastest time in the 200 backstroke (1:55.76), finishing a full five seconds in front of the field.

PRESS RELEASE – Notre Dame:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 14/10 Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed a historic month of October by claiming their second top-25 wins of the month on Friday afternoon as the men’s team beat No. 23 Purdue, 169-131, and the Irish women beat No. 16 Purdue, 163-137, in West Lafayette.

Abbie Dolan led the charge for Notre Dame’s women’s team, winning three individual events as she touched the wall first in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle competitions. Alice Treuth also claimed two wins for the Notre Dame women, topping the field in the 100 and 200 backstroke. Notre Dame added some hard-earned points in women’s 1-meter diving behind Claire Andrews and Erin Isola’s one-two punch.

On the men’s side, the Irish had a trio of double individual winners in Aaron Schultz, Rob Whitacre and Zach Yeadon. Whitacre also swam the opening leg of the winning 200 medley relay team for Notre Dame while Schultz contributed to the 400 freestyle relay which took first place.

Both Notre Dame squads wrapped up their impressive Octobers at 4-1 overall, 2-0 in ACC competition, and laying claim to the highest team rankings in school history. The dual victories over the Boilermakers mark the second ranked wins of the year for each team, the others coming on Oct. 7 when Notre Dame claimed what is believed to be both teams’ first ever top-10 wins, beating No. 7/9 Louisville at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.

Coach Litzinger Said

“It was great to get a win on the road. It was a scrappy meet against Purdue. Both teams worked very hard to gain an advantage but, as the meet went on, our depth took over. Our group is very tired. This was our fourth consecutive weekend of racing, and it showed a little. Now we can get back to a good routine of training with next weekend off, and focus in on finishing the fall off strong.”

Irish Event Winners

Men’s 200 medley relay (1:29.71) – Rob Whitacre, Garrett Clarke, Justin Plaschka, Tabahn Afrik
Men’s 1650 freestyle (15:20.20) – Zach Yeadon
Women’s 200 freestyle (1:46.52) – Abbie Dolan
Men’s 200 freestyle (1:38.61) – Aaron Schultz
Women’s 100 backstroke (54.59) – Alice Treuth
Men’s 100 backstroke (48.77) – Rob Whitacre
Men’s 200 butterfly (1:49.53) – Matt Grauslys
Women’s 50 freestyle (23.14) – Abbie Dolan
Men’s 50 freestyle (20.69) – Daniel Speers
Women’s 100 freestyle (49.38) – Abbie Dolan
Men’s 100 freestyle (44.69) – Tabahn Afrik
Women’s 200 backstroke (1:55.76) – Alice Treuth
Men’s 200 backstroke (1:46.92) – Rob Whitacre
Women’s 200 breaststroke (2:16.57) – Sherri McIntee
Men’s 500 freestyle (4:28.74) – Zach Yeadon
Women’s 100 butterfly (54.57) – Erin Sheehan
Men’s 100 butterfly (48.51) – Aaron Schultz
Women’s 1-meter diving (279.00) – Claire Andrews
Men’s 400 freestyle relay (2:59.62) – Tabahn Afrik, Justin Plaschka, Aaron Schultz, Daniel Speers

Up Next

Notre Dame will have next weekend off to enjoy a well-deserved break. The road does not get any easier for the Irish after that, although it remains a bus trip and not a flight, as Notre Dame will head south to Bloomington, Indiana, on at 2 p.m. on Nov. 9 to face No. 1/8 Indiana and Cincinnati.

PRESS RELEASE – Purdue (women):

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Taite Kitchel and Kaersten Meitz both won multiple individual events for the third straight dual meet, but No. 16 Purdue women’s swimming & diving came up short in the team scoring in a top-25 matchup with No. 10 Notre Dame on Friday at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.

The Purdue women swept the relay events, but lost by 26 points in the team scoring after UND had at least the top two finishers in four events — 1-meter diving, the 100 butterfly and both backstroke races. Conversely, the Boilermakers finished 1-2 in only the 200 individual medley. Kitchel was victorious in the event and Emmy Rawson finished second.

Kaersten Meitz swept the distance freestyle events while also finishing second in the 200 free with a team season-best time and B Cut. She and Kitchel, who also won the 200 fly Friday, remain tied for the team lead with seven individual event victories this season. Both 2017 NCAA Championships qualifiers also contributed to a victorious relay.

Jinq En Phee (100 breast) and Samm Reese (3-meter diving) rounded out the Boilermakers’ individual event winners. Danielle Auckley and Jackie Smailis swam on both relay winners for the third consecutive dual meet. Individually, Auckley posted Purdue season-best times while finishing as the runner-up in both the 50 and 100 free.

More team season bests were posted by Kitchel (200 fly) and Meitz (200 and 1,000 free).

The Boilermakers continue their fall semester homestand when they host Iowa on Friday, Nov. 3. The co-ed dual meet is slated to get underway at 5 p.m. ET.

PRESS RELEASE – Purdue (men):

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Marat Amaltdinov, Steele Johnson, Taite Kitchel and Kaersten Meitzall won multiple individual events for the third straight dual meet, but the Purdue swimming & diving teams both came up short in the team scoring in top-25 matchups with Notre Dame on Friday at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.

The Purdue women swept the relay events, but lost by 26 points in the team scoring after UND had at least the top two finishers in four events — 1-meter diving, the 100 butterfly and both backstroke races. Conversely, the Boilermakers finished 1-2 in only the 200 individual medley. Kitchel was victorious in the event and Emmy Rawson finished second.

Led by Amaltdinov, the Purdue men dominated the breaststroke events. Amaltdinov, Trent Pelliniand Chris Bals finished 1-2-3 in the 100; Amaltdinov and Bals were also 1-2 in the 200. The Boilermakers were excellent in the springboard diving events as well. Johnson and Brandon Loschiavo finished 1-2 on 1-meter and Purdue had three of the top four finishers on 3-meter.

Johnson posted his 10th consecutive sweep of the diving events at a collegiate regular-season meet.

Kaersten Meitz swept the distance freestyle events while also finishing second in the 200 free with a team season-best time and B Cut. She and Kitchel, who also won the 200 fly Friday, remain tied for the team lead with seven individual event victories this season. Both 2017 NCAA Championships qualifiers also contributed to a victorious relay.

Adam Noens (200 IM), Jinq En Phee (100 breast) and Samm Reese (3-meter diving) rounded out the Boilermakers’ individual event winners. Danielle Auckley and Jackie Smailis swam on both relay winners for the third consecutive dual meet. Individually, Auckley posted Purdue season-best times while finishing as the runner-up in both the 50 and 100 free.

More team season bests were posted by Batuhan Hakan (500 free), Kitchel (200 fly), Meitz (200 and 1,000 free) and Noens (100 back, 200 IM).

The Boilermakers continue their fall semester homestand when they host Iowa on Friday, Nov. 3. The co-ed dual meet is slated to get underway at 5 p.m. ET.