BALTIMORE, MD – College of Notre Dame swimming (3-4 overall) earned a 67-55 senior night victory over Gallaudet Wednesday evening. Bri Long, one of two seniors on the Notre Dame roster, helped catapult the Gators to victory, earning inspiring second-place points in the 200-yard butterfly and the 100-yard freestyle. Long also paced Notre Dame in the opening leg of the 160-yard freestyle relay, which was the final race of the evening that clinched the win for the Gators.

Gallaudet (5-7) opened the evening winning the 160-yard medley relay to take an early 7-0 advantage. However, the Notre Dame junior tandem of Sarah McCloud and Ashley Fleming were able to knot the score at eight a piece after finishing first and second, respectively in the 1000-yard freestyle. McCloud finished in a time of 12:16.09 while Fleming completed the race in 12:47.09.

Gallaudet briefly took the lead again at 14-11 by claiming first and third in the 200-yard freestyle, while Notre Dame sophomore Melanie Moscoso-Meiller earned second in 2:14.35.

Freshman Shannon Berry earned the top-time in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:10 while Moscoso-Meiller followed in a time of 1:11.78. Maureen Puppa earned a third-place point in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:42.94 before Long earned her second place finish in the 200-yard butterfly in 3:12.22.

Trailing 29-23, Notre Dame went on to earn four consecutive first place finishes to re-claim the lead for good. Freshman Faith Jones topped all competitors in the 40-yard freestyle in 20.35 seconds while Moscoso-Meiller and Long place first and second in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:02.53 and 1:04.69, respectively. Long edged out third-place finisher Katie Day by just 1.28 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle.

Berry then earned a top finish in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:33.38 to make the score 41-38 in the Gators favor. It was a lead Notre Dame wouldn’t relinquish, but one that would not be large enough to clinch the meet until the final race of the evening.

McCloud and Fleming placed second and third in the 500-yard freestyle prior to Berry earning her second win of the night in the 100-yard butterfly (1:16.78) to make the score 56-50. Gallaudet’s Tong Song beat out Jones in the 400-yard Individual Medley by just .29 seconds to close Notre Dame’s lead to 60-55 with one race to go.

The Gator foursome of Long, Berry, Jones and Moscoso-Meiller overcame the Bison opposition team of Day, Johnson, Steingieser and Robinson in the 160-yard freestyle by just 1.10 seconds to clinch the dual meet win, finishing in 1:27.40.

Long, as well as senior Jean Taylor, were honored for their contributions to the Notre Dame swim program during the first ten minute break of the evening. Taylor swam in the 200-yard butterfly (3:47.53) and in the 200-yard breaststroke (3:48.90) Wednesday evening, placing fourth in both events.

Notre Dame has won back-to-back dual meets for the first time since the Gators defeated Randolph-Macon Women’s College and Gallaudet back on January 13 and 14, 2007. Notre Dame has beaten Gallaudet four out of the past five seasons and had won three straight before falling to the Bison last season on the road by a 106-93 score.

The Gators will seek a third consecutive dual meet victory on Saturday when they travel to Hollins for a 4 p.m. meet. Notre Dame will then travel to Bridgewater on Sunday for a 2 p.m. dual meet to close the weekend.