SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Wisconsin swimming and diving team closed out its time at the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational with quadruple-win performances Saturday by Beata Nelson and Cannon Clifton.
 
"Beata and Cannon have been very consistent all year and we're getting down to the time where everything is really important," said head coach Whitney Hite. "The more consistent you are day in and day out, you see the results and both have done a really good job in training."
 
The UW women went on to win the invitational with 1,194.5 points, followed by Notre Dame (1,053), Grand Canyon (596), Nebraska (510.5) and Clemson (107).
 
The men came in second place with 1,007 points behind host Notre Dame, which earned 1,192.5. Grand Canyon (721) and Missouri State (514.5) placed third and fourth, respectively.
 
"I thought it was a very good meet for us and I thought we competed well," said Hite. "The great thing about it is that it tested us both physically and mentally with the tight turnaround. I thought it was a really good test for us and I'm very pleased with everyone's efforts."
 
Nelson kicked off her day as the butterfly leg of the winning the women's 200-yard medley relay in 1 minute, 39.85 seconds, a Rolfs Aquatic Center record, along with Jess Unicomb, Marissa Berg and Chase Kinney.
 
Nelson then went on to win three individual races; the 100 fly (54.24), 100 backstroke (54.08) and the 200 backstroke in a pool-record time of 1:55.59.
 
Clifton earned his first win of the day in the men's 100 fly, touching the wall in 47.51 before going on to dominate the 100 free to grab the win in a pool-record time of 43.05.
 
The senior was then an integral part of two winning relays, leading off the 800 free relay and the 400 free relay.
 
Clifton and his relay mates, Matt Hutchins, Ryan Stack and Brett Pinfold, won the 800 free relay by nearly four seconds, recording a pool-record time of 6:30.25.
 
The 400 free relay proved to be a much closer race as Wisconsin managed to fend off Notre Dame by 15 hundredths of a second, but the result was just as exciting as UW's pool-record time of 2:54.72 ranks as the eighth-fastest time in school history. 
 
Before swimming the anchor leg on the historic men's 400 free relay, Pinfold earned an individual win in the 200 free in 1:36.51.
 
After swimming the freestyle leg on the winning women's 200 medley relay, Kinney also picked up an individual win in the 100 free, touching the wall in 49.10.
 
The senior also helped the Wisconsin women to victory in the 400 free relay in a pool-record time of 3:17.78, along with Emmy Sehmann, Marissa Berg and Cierra Runge.
 
The Badgers earned three other wins on the day courtesy of Grace Tierney in the 1,650 free (16:48.23), Dana Grindall in the 200 fly (1:59.54) and Maria Carlson in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.52).
 
Carlson also led the team in the 100 breaststroke, finishing runner-up in 1:02.50.
 
Underclassmen, Sehmann and Michael Milinovich also had standout performances in their respective events, with Sehmann earning runner-up honors in the women's 100 (49.77) and 200 (1:48.64) freestyle races while Milinovich secured a second-place finish in the men's 400 IM (3:55.49).
 
On the diving boards, Ashley Peterson led the Wisconsin women, placing second in the 1-meter board with 292.90 points.
 
Hazel Hertting (262.15), Gabriella Comunale (258.80) and Alex Hafey (255.25) went 6-7-8 to close out their time in South Bend.
 
On the 3-meter, Andrew Pearce led the men with a sixth-place showing, posting 293.85 points.
 
Kevin Pomeroy (291.90) and Ethan O'Neill (264.10) went 7-8 while Matt Aronson (261.20) and Max Reynolds (253.50) were 10th and 11th, respectively.
 
"The divers did really well this weekend and Ashley was outstanding," said Hite. It's certainly exciting going into Big Tens with the diving piece coming to the forefront."
 
The team returns home to take on in-state rival, Green Bay, this Friday, Feb. 3. Swimming competition is slated to begin at 5 p.m. (CT) at the UW Natatorium.
 
"It's our last live action before Big Tens and we want to focus in on the details, " said Hite. "It's a fun meet for us, it's senior night and we're looking to break more pool records and finish the dual meet season on the right foot and use the momentum to crush it at conference and NCAAs."