PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Oct. 27, 2016) – Rutgers swimming and diving continues its competitive schedule with a pair of road meets this weekend, as the Scarlet Knights see five programs from the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference in a span of 24 hours.
The Scarlet Knights travel to South Bend, Indiana on Friday, Oct. 28, to compete against Notre Dame, Purdue and Miami (Fla.) at 5 p.m. ET. RU then heads to Evanston, Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 29 to face Big Ten foes Illinois and Northwestern at 2 p.m. ET.
This weekend marks the 2016-17 debut of the RU divers. Rutgers returns two Scarlet Knights in senior Alyssa Black and junior Addison Walkowiak who competed at the 2016 NCAA Championships. There, Black earned Honorable Mention All-America designation in the 3-meter dive.
“The team is excited for this weekend and the competition we will face,” said head coach Petra Martin. “We set this weekend up so we would could see high-quality teams as well as experience a challenging travel component.
“Seeing five different programs from the Big Ten and ACC in under 24 hours at two different locations will build up our toughness and togetherness as a team. This is a great opportunity to figure out who we are right now, what are we doing well as a group and what needs to improve moving into the next few months.”
LAST TIME OUT
RU produced 364 team points at the Florida Gulf Coast University Classic from Oct. 7-8 in Fort Myers, Florida, a meet that also featured LSU, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, FGCU and Utah.
At the FGCU Classic, senior Rachel Stoddard finished second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.96 and also placed first in the “B” final of the 200 breaststroke with a mark of 2:19.01, the fourth-fastest time in the field. In the 100 butterfly, sophomore Francesca Stoppa finished fourth with a time of 55.53.
Five Scarlet Knights made their collegiate debuts at the FGCU Classic, including rookie Alexandra Fabugais-Inaba. Fabugais-Inaba hit the wall third in the “A” final of the of the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.80, the fourth-fastest time overall. The Oakville, Ontario, Canada, native also finished fifth in the “A” final of the 500 freestyle and sixth in the “A” final of the 200 IM during competition. Along with Fabugais-Inaba, Sarah Davis, Clare Lawlor, Meghan Moses and Vanessa Ruiz all made their debut for RU at the event.
Friday, Oct. 28: vs. Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame and Purdue
5 p.m. • Rolfs Aquatic Center • South Bend, Indiana
Scouting Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish enter Friday night’s meet ranked No. 24 in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Top 25 poll and appear at No. 10 in the CollegeSwimming.com national rankings. ND collected a 274-79 dual victory over Georgia Tech on Oct. 22 in Atlanta.
Abbie Dolan finished first in the 200 freestyle during Notre Dame’s meet with the Yellow Jackets, hitting the wall with a time of 1:47.59. Meaghan O’Donnell collected a first-place time in the 200 breaststroke with a mark of 2:15.03 and Catherine Mulquin captured the 100 breaststroke title with a time of 55.10. Claire Andrews secured the 1-meter dive with a score of 276.23.
The Fighting Irish are led by 16th-year head coach Mike Litzinger.
Scouting Purdue
The Boilermakers are currently ranked No. 34 in the latest CollegesSwimming.com rankings after they finished first at the Indiana Intercollegiate on Oct. 22, which featured eight universities from around the state of Indiana. Purdue also collected a 174-124 dual victory against Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 21 in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Against the Red Hawks, Kaersten Meitz collected wins in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle events with times of 4:50.13 and 9:55.67, respectively. Breanna Robinson delivered a win in the 100 butterfly, while Jing En Phee won the 100 breaststroke in her collegiate debut.
The Boilermakers are led by eighth-year head coach John Klinge.
Scouting Miami (Fla.)
The Hurricanes enter the quad meet at No. 42 in the latest CollegeSwimming.com rankings. In its last time out, Miami finished with 184.5 team points at the SMU Classic in Dallas behind Michigan, Louisville, USC, UCLA and Southern Methodist.
Julie Suarez took fifth in the “A” final of the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:53.01, while Julia Schippert placed fifth in the 200 breaststroke. Off the boards, Marcela Maric finished second in the 3-meter dive (290.60) and fourth in the 1-meter dive (258.25).
Miami is led by head coach Randy Ableman.
Saturday, Oct. 29: vs. Illinois and Northwestern
2 p.m. • Norris Aquatic Center • Evanston, Illinois
Scouting Illinois
The Fighting Illini captured four dual victories last weekend at the ARC Pool in Champaign, Illinois, downing Michigan State and Marshall on Oct. 21 and Illinois State and Southern Illinois on Oct. 22.
Against the Spartans and Thundering Herd, Amelia Schilling hit the wall first with a time of 10:20.00 in the 1000 freestyle with Gabbie Stecker capturing first-place honors with a result of 1:52.36 in the 200 freestyle. In total, Illinois had nine individual wins on Friday.
Sue Novitsky enters her 16th season as the head coach of Illinois.
Scouting Northwestern
The Wildcats picked up three wins last weekend to open their season, claiming victories against Chicago, UIC and Olivet Nazarene during a quad meet on Oct. 22.
A 2016 Olympian for Guatemala, Northwestern’s Valerie Gruest Slowing produced wins in the 1,000 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke during her collegiate debut. Off the boards, Olivia Rosendahl won the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events with scores of 314.18 and 308.03, respectively. For her efforts, Rosendahl was named Big Ten Diver of the Week.
The Wildcats are led by Abby Steketee, who enters her second season as head coach.
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Swimming news courtesy of Rutgers Swimming & Diving.