2020 SHAMROCK INVITATIONAL
- January 24-25th, 2020
- Rolfs Aquatic Center, South Bend, IN
- Short Course Yards
- Live Results
- Results on MeetMobile (“Shamrock Invitational”)
Session 2 Recap:
The second session of the 2020 Shamrock Invitational began with the dedication of the Coach Tim Welsh Team Room at Rolfs Aquatic Center. Tim Welsh was the head coach if the Fighting Irish for 30 years, leading the team to 6 Big East titles (prior to ND aligning with the ACC). Welsh also received many awards for his coaching, the most recent of which was the 2019 Notre Dame Monogram Club’s Jesse Harper Award, which recognizes a member for his commitment and involvement with the athletic department and the university as a whole.
After the dedication, the racing began with the 200 medley relay. Notre Dame swept the medley relays, like they did with the 400 medley relays in the first session. This time around Carly Quast led the squad off in 24.80, then Coleen Gillilan dove in for a 27.54 breast split, Cailey Grunhard provided a 23.47 fly split, and Rachel Wittmer anchored in 22.92. The Fighting Irish finished in a final time of 1:38.73. In the men’s relay, Jack Montesi led off in 22.18, followed by Matthew Limbacher (24.22), Zachary Smith (21.26), and Aaron Schultz (20.02), for a 1:27.68.
Pool records fell in the next 3 events, with Notre Dame taking down all 3 records. The streak started when Luciana Thomas (Notre Dame) won a tight race over Ohio State’s Kathrin Demler in the women’s 400 IM. Thomas led through the 200 mark, splitting 56.21 and 1:04.19 for a 2:00.40 on the first 200, compared to 57.68 and 1:03.99 for a 2:01.67 for Demler. Breaststroke was where Demler made her move, splitting 1:13.06 to Thomas’ 1:14.45, giving Demler a 3:14.73 to 3:14.85 at the 300 mark. Thomas managed to slightly edge Demler on freestyle, 57.04 to 57.21, finishing in 4:11.89 to Demler’s 4:11.94. Both swimmers were under the pool record.
Jack Hoagland continued to have an impressive meet, clocking another victory in the men’s 400 IM with a 3:46.38 for his second pool record of the day. That time also marked Hoagland’s 2nd lifetime best of the day, following his 500 free from the first session. Coleen Gillilan made it 3-for-3 for Notre Dame, winning the women’s 100 fly with a 52.13 for not only a pool record, but a ND school record as well. Despite being a season best, pool record, and school record, that was not Gillilan’s personal best in the 100 fly. Her best time sits at 52.00 from 2018.
Iowa then snapped the Notre Dame win streak, taking the next 2 events. Sergey Kuznetsov won the men’ 100 fly with a 48.06, narrowly missing his season best of 47.96. Teammate Hannah Burvill then won the women’s 200 free with a 1:45.99, beating out Notre Dame’s Abbie Dolan (1:46.15). Dolan took the race out aggressively, flipping at 50.73 at the 100 mark, compared to 51.67 for Burvill. Burvill then posted a 54.32 coming home, compared to 55.42 for Dolan.
Notre Dame won out the individual swimming events from that point, with Sadler McKeen taking the men’s 200 free with a quick 1:34.86. That time was not only a season best for McKeen, it was also a lifetime best, and another Notre Dame pool record broken by a Notre Dame swimmer. After that, Coleen Gillilan was back in action, posting a 1:00.02 to win the women’s 100 breast with another season best. Gillilan’s personal best sits at 59.59 fro 2018. Josh Bottelberghe made it a ND breaststroke sweep, clocking a season best 54.14 to win the men’s 100 breast.
Carly Quast (Notre Dame) won the women’s 100 back with a 52.92, touching first by a whopping 1.71 seconds. Notably. Iowa freshman Julia Koluch swam a lifetime best 54.63 (previous best 56.39) to take 2nd in the event. Koluch is from Poland, and is competing in her first yards season this year. Another Iowa freshman, Kennedy Gilbertson, also swam a lifetime best, finishing 3rd with a 54.88. That race marked Gilbertson’s first time under 55 seconds, as her previous best time stood at 55.49.
Jack Montesi squeaked out a win in the men’s 100 back, finishing in 47.91 to beat out Ohio State’s Colin McDermott (48.02). McDermott took the race out pretty fast, splitting 22.74 on the first 50, compared to 23.15 from Montesi. Montesi then came home excellently, spliting 24.76 on the 2nd 50, with McDermott coming home in 25.28.
Iowa then came out on top again, winning the women’s 800 free relay by 3 seconds. Hannah Burvill led that relay off in a field-leading 1:46.15, with freshman Macy Rink following with a 1:49.64. Up to that point, Notre Dame was right there with the Hawkeyes, thanks to Abbie Dolan leading off in 1:47.03 and Coleen Gillilan splitting 1:48.58 on the second leg, marking a 3:35.61 to 3:35.79 Notre Dame lead at the 400 mark. It was all Hawkeyes from that point, with freshman Emilia Sansome diving in next for a 1:48.60, and Alyssa Fluit anchoring in 1:48.40. Iowa clocked a final time of 7:12.49, with Notre Dame coming in 2nd with a 7:15.47.
Notre Dame won the men’s 800 free relay, with Zach Yeadon (1:35.11), Sadler McKeen (1:35.74), Aaron Schultz (1:38.14), and Cason Wilburn (1:37.23) combined for a 6:26.22. Iowa came in 2nd with a 6:28.51, with 4 very consistent legs. Mateusz Arndt led off in 1:37.01, followed by Aleksey Tarasenko (1:36.90), Michael Tenney (1:37.05), and Andrew Fierke (1:37.55).
Notre Dame and Ohio State split diving in the 2nd session. Erin Isola led the way in women’s 3 meter, representing Notre Dame with a final score of 301.95, besting the field by 15 points. Joseph Canova led a 1-2-3 charge for Ohio State in the men’s 1 meter, finishing with a total score of 354.00. Teammates Jacob Fielding (349.70), and Lyle Yost (338.65) came in 2nd and 3rd respectively.