Falcons fall but finish strong
Swimmers drop two in double dual Saturday

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio –The Notre Dame Women’s Swimming and Diving team lost to Ohio Northern, 122-82 on Saturday morning and then traveled to Oberlin for an afternoon match up. The Blue & Gold fell to the Yeowomen, 176-111. The Falcons are now 3-8 in dual meet action for the 2007-08 season.

Despite the loss against the Polar Bears, NDC picked up five consecutive individual victories in the first meet of the day.

Maria Buenano (So/Guyaquil, Ecuador) tallied two of the five team golds in the morning in the 200 Yard Freestyle with a time of 2:07.81 and the 100 Yard Butterfly touching in at 1:03.56.

After Buenano’s first victory, sophomore Kelly O’Connor (Peoria, AZ) touched in with a  time of 26.61 in the 50 Yard Freestyle just one-tenth of a second ahead of the second place finish by Polar Bear Jillian Huber (So/Glandorf, OH).

To keep in first-place fashion, Shannan Fitzgerald (So/Hewitt, NJ) earned a Gold in the 200 Yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:23.82. Buenano picked up her second win of the day sandwiched between the top finishes of Fitzgerald and Caley Miller (Fr/Fremont, OH) 100 Yard Freestyle (58.95).

In the afternoon, NDC took on Oberlin  and garnered four Gold Medals to close out their winter training slate. The Falcons started out on the right foot with a victory in the 200 Yard Medley Relay comprised of Emily Perkins (So/Cincinnati, OH), O’Connor, Fitzgerald and Miller who touched in with a time of 2:01.16.

In the 200 Yard Freestyle, Fitzgerald added her second individual win of the day with a time of 2:05.13.  Buenano followed suit in the 100 Yard Butterfly for another gold in the event as she touched in at 1:02.36.

O’Connor seized the final gold of the day in the 100 Yard Breastroke where she touched out Bryne Ulmschneider (Jr/Midland, TX) by four-tenths of a second, clocking in at 1:15.09.

"I think we did a good job today," said Head Coach Mike Gallagher, "considering the amount of training we've put in over the last few weeks, I am very pleased with the outcome of the two meets."

The Falcons return to competition on Friday, Jan. 18 when they travel to Mount Union for a dual meet match up. The meet is scheduled for 6:00pm.