November 10, 2007

Times they are a droppin’
Records continue to fall for Falcons

PITTSBURGH – The Notre Dame Swimming and Diving team finished 2-1 in dual meet competition at the Chatham College Invitational on Saturday. NDC defeated Slippery Rock 141-139 and routed Wheeling Jesuit 237-2. The Falcons were defeated by the meet host 156-131.  Notre Dame is now 3-2 overall in dual meets this season.

In the first event of the day, the 400 Yard Medley Relay team of Emily Perkins (So/Cincinnati, OH), Kelly O’Connor (So/Peoria, AZ), Maria Buenano (So/Guyaquil, Ecuador) and Shannan Fitzgerald (So/Hewitt, NJ) took home the Silver medal with a new school record time of 4:21.38.

The Falcons garnered five Gold medal finishes on Saturday beginning with Maggie Simpson (Fr/Hudson, OH) in the 1000 Yard Freestyle. Simpson touched in with a time of 11:38.82, just tenths of a second off the NDC record.

Buenano was responsible for two top Falcon finishes coming in the 200 and 100 Yard Butterfly events. The sophomore standout’s times of 2:17.03 and 1:02.34, respectively, not only tabbed Gold Medals but set two new school records.  Buenano’s times also qualified her for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Championship Meet.

Joining Buenano in the ranks of national cutoff times is Fitzgerald, whose 1:04.90 third place finish qualifies her for the NAIA Championships, as well.

Rounding out the gold medal count for the Blue & Gold was Gina Gestaldo (Fr/Chesterland, OH) who won both the One-meter and Three-meter diving competitions.

The Falcons compete on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at the Cleveland City Meet hosted by Cleveland State at 3:00pm.

Notes from the Nest….

Medaling in success: Of Saturday’s 16 events, the Falcons had swimmers finish in medal contention in all but three races. Maria Buenano and Gina Gestaldo lead the Falcons with two gold medals apiece.

Record setting records: In the 2007-08 season, the Falcons have set nine new records in just the first three weeks of competition. Buenano leads the way in records set in 07-08 as she holds the top program times in the 100 Yard Freestyle and the 100 and 200 Yard Butterfly.