Season preview: Back in the Water

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Women’s Swimming and Diving team is ready to pick up where the inaugural season left off. With five athletes participating in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Championship meet in their first season of competition last year, second year head coach Mike Gallagher has high expectations for round two.

Leading the way in 2007 is national-qualifier Emily Perkins (So/Cincinnati, OH), who holds five school records in backstroke and freestyle events. Kelly O’Connor (So/Peoria, AZ), who placed 15th at NAIA Championships in the 100 Yard Breaststroke last year, returns for her sophomore season in the breaststroke. Shannan Fitzgerald (So/Hewitt, NJ) joins the second-year corps and will be looked to for depth in freestyle and butterfly events. Those three sophomores earned a combined total of 40 medals in the first year of their collegiate careers in 2006-07.

Joining the veteran strokers are a trio of swimmers expected to make an immediate impact in the pool. Transfer Maria Buenano (So/Guayaquil, Ecuador) brings a wealth of international experience to College Road and will excel in middle distance freestyle and butterfly. Caley Miller (Fr/Fremont, OH) was a two-time Ohio High School state qualifier at Ross High School. Miller is expected be an instant contributor in the freestyle events.  In the distance freestyle, Maggie Simpson (Fr/Hudson, OH) should also make a splash for the Blue & Gold.

In the upcoming season, NDC will add diving to its repertoire; Gina Gestaldo (Fr/West Geauga, OH) comes to Notre Dame after diving in her high school career.

The Falcons open the 2007-08 campaign on Saturday, Oct. 27, when they compete at the Pitt-Bradford Relays in Bradford, Penn. Key meets in the Falcons’ second season of competition include the College of Wooster Invitational Nov. 29-Dec. 1, and the Appalachian Conference Championships hosted by King College in Bristol, Tenn., on Feb. 15-16.

“With more depth on the team this year, we added some tougher competition with our meet schedule,” Gallagher said, “The Wooster Meet and the Appalachian Championships will really show how far this program has come in two seasons.”

Notre Dame College is a co-educational liberal arts institution in South Euclid, Ohio. The Notre Dame Athletics Department sponsors the Falcons' participation in 17 men's and women's sports. The College is affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the American Mideast Conference (AMC), which is the largest NAIA conference in the country.

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