SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Wisconsin swimming and diving team came out firing during the first day of the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational, winning seven of 10 events in the pool and another on the diving boards.
 
"I thought we swam and competed very well," said head coach Whitney Hite. "We're kind of in the start of our taper so we had a lot of unsuited season-best times, so I thought overall it was really good."
 
The women sit atop of the rankings after the first day of action with 369 points, followed by host Notre Dame (335), Grand Canyon (194), Nebraska (134) and Clemson (60).
 
The men are in second place with 338.5 points, trailing Notre Dame (366), but have a sizable lead ahead of Grand Canyon (244) and Missouri State (133.5).
 
The Badgers were dominant in the individual swimming events, with both the men and women sweeping all six races.
 
The UW women were unstoppable in the 500-yard freestyle, with the first four finishes claimed by Badgers.
 
Danielle Valley led the charge, winning the event in 4 minutes, 44.67 seconds for a Rolfs Aquatic Center pool record. Cierra Runge was runner-up, posting a time of 4:48.40.
 
Maddi Tew and Grace Tierney rounded-out the 1-2-3-4 sweep, taking third and fourth, respectively, in 4:51.06 and 4:54.30.
 
"For a long time, Wisconsin was known for freestyle sprinting and we still have very strong sprinting," said Hite. "Now we've kind of added a distance to mid distance freestyle as well, so it's fun to see Danielle, Cierra, Maddi and Grace just come out and compete really well."
 
On the men's side, Matt Hutchins and Victor Goicoechea went 1-2 in the 500 free, with Hutchins taking top honors in 4:24.07 and Goicoechea second in 4:25.06.
 
Cannon Clifton had a standout race in the 50 free, winning the event with a blistering time of 19.97 while Chase Kinney reigned supreme in the women's race, taking the win with a pool-record time of 22.40 that was previously set by Badger Ivy Martin in 2013.
 
Emmy Sehmann also had a solid swim in the 50 free, taking third-place honors in 22.97.
 
Brett Pinfold and Beata Nelson each went on to win their respective 200 individual medley races, with Pinfold winning in 1:46.52 and Nelson recording a time of 1:59.96.
 
The women also picked up a win in the first event of the day, the 200 free relay, with the team of Jess Unicomb, Kinney, Sehmann and Marissa Berg just edging out Notre Dame by two hundredths of a second to take first in a pool-record time of 1:29.91.
 
The men's 200 free relay team of Ryan Barsanti, Clifton, Jon Salomon and Pinfold went on to take third in 1:20.50.
 
Both the men and women closed out the first day of competition with third-place showings in the 400 medley relay.
 
The women's relay team of Unicomb, Maria Carlson, Dana Grindall and Kinney notched a time of 3:41.15 while the men's team of Pinfold, Griffin Back, Harrison Tran and Clifton recorded a time of 3:14.88.
 
On the diving boards, Ashley Peterson was the top finisher on the 3-meter, posting a score of 311.35.
 
Hazel Hertting finished third with a point total of 279.25 while Alex Hafey and Gabriella Comunale placed ninth (251.10) and 12th (239.45), respectively.
 
Kevin Pomeroy led the men on the 1-meter board, taking fourth with 287.85 points.
 
Andrew Pearce, Max Reynolds and Matt Aronson went 7-8-9 on the board with Ethan O'Neill rounding out the Badgers' competitors with an 11th-place finish.
 
"We had Ashley win the 3-meter and Hazel take third while Kevin led the men on the 1-meter, so overall we had a great day all across the board," said Hite. "We have two more sessions tomorrow and we told the team that it's all about the effort, just keep doing what you're doing."
 
Day two of the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational begins at 9 a.m. (CT) Saturday with the 200 medley relay.