Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND SPORTS Frank Dyer Leads Promising Young Group In The Pool BY DAN MURPHY T 27 years, said his current group of swimmers has more potential than he has ever seen in South Bend. Welsh signed a mammoth 16-man im Welsh, who has been a head coach at Notre Dame for the past recruiting class last season, the larg- est he can ever remember having. It's also one of the most talented he has ever landed. Fifteen of those fresh- men have earned a spot to compete in the Big East Conference meet that starts Feb. 15, and most are in a posi- tion to finish in the top eight of their events. "We've been recruiting guys at that level for a while, and this was a year that a lot of them just decided this was the right place to be," Welsh said. "Our hopes for the future are as high as they've ever been. It's a very excit- ing time to be a part of this group." Sophomore Frank Dyer has a one-year head start and is showing glimpses of what Welsh hopes the future will hold. Dyer had the best finish at the NCAA Championships (26th) in school history as a freshman. This year, he's in position to defend Roundup Kelly Ryan and freshman Emma Reaney led the Irish into their conference meet with top times in eight of the Big East's 18 events. Ryan holds the year's best marks in the 50 and 100 freestyle as well as the 100 and 200 backstroke. Freshmen Reaney and Suzanne Bessire each started the tournament as favorites in the 200 individual medley and the 200 freestyle, respectively. minutes to start the month of February. Rae won the Meyo Invitational's marquee event with a time of 3:59.31, beating last year's mark by three-tenths of a second. Three other Irish runners won their events at Notre Dame's last home event of the indoor season. TRACK & FIELD For the second time in as many years, Notre Dame junior Jeremy Rae ran a mile in less than four Freshman Kaila Barber won the 60-meter hurdles, while fellow sprinter Alijah Urssery won the 60-me- ter dash. a time of 46.73 seconds. He was just fast enough to hold off freshman Chris Giesting who broke the previous school best, but finished .07 seconds behind Feeney. Sophomore Patrick Feeney ran the fastest 400 meters in Notre Dame history to take first place with country again this year. The No. 4 Irish went 29-6 on the men's side this season, including a perfect 12-0 mark at home. The No. 3-ranked women finished their regular season at the Duke Duals Feb. 11. Several members of the team will compete at the National Junior Olympics before returning for conference and national championship meets that wrap up at the end of March. FENCING The defending national champions finished their regular season among the top five teams in the 76 MARCH 2012 WOMEN'S SWIMMING The youth movement is just as strong for the women's team this year at Notre Dame. Sophomore Dyer, a sophomore, will look to defend his Big East crown in the 500 freestyle race and qualify for the NCAA Championships. his Big East crown in the 500 freestyle and has a good shot at winning the 100 and 200 free as well. Dyer said the talented group of underclassmen is constantly raising the bar for the Irish. year after year," Dyer said. "Once they get acclimated and work with the rest of our team, they push the rest of our team to get better. That's how we're going to improve." Dyer said he hit his stride this year "We're bringing in better classes PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS after a 10-day training trip to Puerto Rico in early January. The Irish swim upwards of 8,000 yards in each of their two two-hour training sessions every day on their annual boot camp to get ready for the second half of their season. Welsh said Dyer played a big role in creating a positive out- look during the trip this year. Since returning, Dyer has won five indi- vidual events and been a part of three winning relay teams in three meets. "I definitely felt as a whole the training trip was much more a success than last year," he said. "Last year, I felt like I was getting really beat down and trying to get into it as a fresh- man. This year, I knew what I was doing." Dyer said he hopes to qualify for the NCAA Championships at the upcoming conference meet, a step that would continue Notre Dame's momentum toward becoming one of the country's elite swimming pro- grams. ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED