BALTIMORE, MD - College of Notre Dame swimming was within just four points of local rival Goucher with four races to go, but the visitors put away any Gator hopes of a comeback by winning the final four events to defeat the hosts 57-37 Wednesday evening. Goucher evened its record to 4-4 overall with the victory while Notre Dame slipped to 1-3 on the year.
The Gators shortened a 13-3 Gopher lead after sophomore Melanie Moscoso-Meiller earned a first place finish in a first-place win in the 200-yard freestyle in a season best time of 2:11.59. Freshman Shannon Berry collected a point with a third place finish in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:18.73, her season best in that event as well.
Freshman Faith Jones was just .39 seconds away from setting a Notre Dame pool record in the 40-yard freestyle with a first place win in 20.43 seconds. Brigitta Long also picked up a point in the 40-yard freestyle with a third place finish in 23.19 seconds.
The Gators closed within two points of the Gophers at 22-20 after Moscoso-Meiller won her second event, the 160-yard individual medley, in 2:03.59. Jones then closed the gap to 26-25 as she took her second victory of the evening in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:08.03.
Berry followed by earning three points for the home team with a second place finish in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:01.97. Junior Sarah McCloud had two-second place finishes on the evening in the 1,000 yard and 500-yard freestyles in 12:42.59 and 6:15.91, respectively. Jones and McCloud earned the Gators last points of the night in the 100-yard breaststroke. Jones finished the race in 1:21.00 while McCloud clocked in at 1:27.27.
Jones and Moscoso-Meiller earned two-first place finishes for the second time this season, also having each accomplished the feat against Hood on November 21.
The 20-point loss to Goucher is the closest Notre Dame has finished to the visitors since they met on November 30, 2005. The Gophers won that meet by an 18-point spread, 70-52.
The Gators will next compete at the Yellow Jacket Invitational this Friday and Saturday, hosted by Randolph-Macon College.
