Irish Olympians Mona McSharry and Ellen Walshe of the University of Tennessee women’s swimming team earned All-America honors at the NCAA Division 1 championship meet in Atlanta. McSharry, a sophomore from Grange, Co. Sligo, finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke. Her time of 57.18 (against a winning 56.93 from Southern Cal’s Kaitlyn Dobler) set a Southeastern Conference record in the event. She also finished fourth in this event last year with a 57.80 clocking.
“Mona has been a student of the sport since arriving at Tennessee, and she has just methodically looked for ways to be better,” said Ashley Jahn, Tennessee’s Associate Head Coach. “She executed a great race this morning to put herself in a position to score really high tonight. I am proud of her for breaking her own school [and SEC] record again.”
Walshe was tasked with a tough double, swimming in back-to-back events, the 400-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly. The 400 IM came first, and she got eighth place, finishing in 4:09.84 (against a winning 3:57.25 by Virginia’s Alex Walsh). The 100 butterfly was up next and the Dublin freshman was along in 51.42, again good for eighth place in a race won by Virginia’s Kate Douglass.
Walshe, battling an undisclosed ailment, actually swam much faster in morning preliminary rounds in both events. Her time of 4:03.60 in the 400 IM was third best as was her 50.65 clocking in the 100 butterfly.
“She’s been incredibly tough and taken one thing at a time,” Jahn said of Walshe. “She had two brilliant performances this morning in the 400 IM and 100 fly. [The 400 IM] has a really impressive field with some great athletes. For Ellen to feel the way she was feeling and compete the way she did, it was a really incredible performance to get into the ‘A’ final.
“Then, she turned around with a little bit of time and qualified for the ‘A’ final in the 100 fly as well. That was a really impressive double. I’m proud of her effort tonight. She felt worse tonight but still battled. Who knows what the result would have been with a healthy Ellen, but not many people are doubling the 400 IM and 100 fly and finishing eighth at NCAAs in both events.”
Tennessee, which won the SEC title last month, settled for 10th place in Atlanta. Individually, Walshe and McSharry accounted for 37 of the Lady Vols’ 107 points, with 22 and 15, respectively. Virginia, which racked up 386.5 points, won the championship handily over Stanford, with 276. SEC rival Alabama got fifth place, with 177 points.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The season ended for Holy Cross with an 80-69 loss to Columbia in first round action of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament in New York. The Crusaders’ Bronagh Power-Cassidy, a 5-10 sophomore from Dublin, scored nine points, hitting four of nine field goal attempts, including one of four from Morningside Avenue. She also took down four rebounds as the Cross bowed out after a 20-11 campaign. She finished the season second on the squad in both scoring, averaging 8.9 points per game, and in blocked shots with 21.
In other first-round NIT action, Houston Baptist traveled to Toledo, where they lost, 61-51. Sophomore guard Enya Maguire, from Belfast, clicked on three of five attempts from long range for nine points. She was good for 5.7 points per game in a 16-11 season for the Huskies.
Alex Maguire of Florida Atlantic.
MEN’S GOLF
Alex Maguire of Florida Atlantic pulled down fourth place in the Southern Invitational at The Falls Club in Lake Worth, Fla. The junior from Mornington, Co. Meath struck rounds of 68, 72 and 69 to finish seven strokes under par and eight behind Ohio State’s Maxwell Moldovan.
Sean McAufield and Jordan Hyland of Davis & Elkins worked out top-20 finishes in the Hargett Memorial Invitational at Rolling Hills in Monroe, N.C. McAufield, a freshman from Ardee, Co. Louth, shot rounds of 72, 72 and 75 to finish the event tied for 12th place, three strokes over par and eight behind medalist Ollie Smith of Queens (N.C.). Hyland, a junior from Belfast, finished joint-14th, a stroke behind his teammate, after shooting 72, 72 and 76. Niall Griffin, a St. Thomas Aquinas freshman from County Wexford, tied for 65th place, having shot 88, 82 and 78.
Marquette’s Josh Robinson, a sophomore from Lisburn, Co. Antrim, earned a share of 27th place in the Bash at the Beach at the Surf Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Rounds of 69, 70 and 72 left him two strokes under par for the event and 10 behind UConn’s Tommy Dallahan, the medalist.
Sam Murphy of Grand Canyon finished joint-40th among 120 golfers in the GCU Invitational in Phoenix. The Galway freshman combined rounds of 71, 71 and 73 to stand two strokes over par and 13 behind champion Kyle Cox of Texas-Arlington.
WOMEN’S GOLF
Indiana’s Aine Donegan tied for 18th place in the Briar’s Creek Invitational at The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek in Johns Island, S.C. A freshman from Ennis, Co. Clare, Donegan shot 72, 77 and 71 to finish the event four strokes over par and nine behind victorious Nathalie Irlbacher of Boston College. The Hoosiers’ Valerie Clancy, a junior from Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, finished 76th in the 96-woman field at 17-over 233 (80-76-77).
Flagler’s Jan Browne got a share of 17th place in the Jerry Surratt Memorial Invitational at Stonebridge in Monroe, N.C. The freshman from Kilkenny finished the event 19 strokes over par after rounds of 78, 79 and 78. That left her 17 strokes shy of the medalist, teammate Sophie Wheeler.
T-17 seems to have been a popular landing spot last week as that’s where Maeve Cummins of Carson Newman finished in the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate in Sevierville, Tenn. The senior from Waringstown, Co. Down signed to rounds of 78 and 75, which left her 11 strokes over par and seven off the winning number.
Joint-18th position is where Wake Forest’s Lauren Walsh finished, highest of the three Irish women in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. The junior out of County Kildare shot 74, 72 and 72 to finish the event five strokes over par and 15 behind teammate Rachel Kuehn, who was low individual. The Auburn duo of Julie McCarthy and Anna Foster secured portions of 23rd and 38th places, respectively. McCarthy, a senior from Swords, Co. Dublin, accounted for rounds of 68, 72 and 79, while Foster, a Dublin sophomore, shot 73, 75 and 74.
Little Rock’s Anna Dawson pulled down a share of 24th place in the Jackrabbit Invitational at Boulder Creek in Boulder City, Nev. The Waterford freshman combined opening 74s with a closing 76 to finish eight strokes over par and 15 behind Rutgers’ Anna-Mari Diederichs, the medalist.
