Water wings clipped
Falcons dropped by Mount Union in dual

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio –The Notre Dame College Swimming & Diving team fell to Mount Union on Friday in dual meet competition. The Falcons picked up sixteen medals in the defeat including six top place finishes.

Right off the start, NDC grabbed the top place in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. The team comprised of Emily Perkins (So/Cincinnati, OH), Jackie Walsh (Fr/Findlay, OH), Maria Buenano (So/Guyaquil, Ecuador) and Kelly O’Connor (So/Peoria, AZ) touched in with a time of 2:00.60.

O’Connor and Buenano would go on to pick up two more Gold Medals apiece throughout the night. O’Connor earned top spots in the 50 Yard Freestyle and 100 Yard Breaststroke.  Buenano, who leads all Falcon Swimmers in medal contention, earned her two in the 200 Yard Individual Medley and 100 Yard Butterfly. Perkins rounded out the first-place campaign touching in at 1:06.95 in the 100 Yard Backstroke.

The Falcons return to College Road for the first of their last two dual meets, both of which will be held at home in Mellen Pool. On Saturday,  Jan. 26, the Blue & Gold host Ohio Wesleyan and Pitt-Bradford (PA) for a tri-meet scheduled for 2:00pm.

NOTES FROM THE NEST:

BROKEN RECORD: Sophomore Shannan Fitzgerald (Hewitt, NJ) broke a new program record in the 200 Yard Freestyle with a time of 2:03.99. The previous record holder was teammate Maria Buenano (2:05.97). Fitzgerald's record marks the first for 2008... "For Shannan to break the 200 Free record this time of year is really impressive," said Head Coach Mike Gallagher, "This is one of the hardest parts of the season and for her to accomplish this speaks volumes of how far we've come in one year."

HEAVY MEDAL: Buenano continues to lead the Falcons in the 2007-08 medal race with 19. In her rookie season in Blye & Gold, she has earned 11 Gold, six Silver and two Bronze medals. Fitgerald and Perkins are tied for second with 16 medals apiece.