Notre Dame Leads at Big East Champs

EAST MEADOW, New York, February 16. WEST Virginia broke two BIG EAST records in day three of the BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships, but it was the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame who swam to the top of the rankings as the women top the packed with a combined score of 529. The men pulled ahead of West Virginia with a combined score of 554.

Katie Carroll of Notre Dame earned the first BIG EAST title in the 400 Yard IM to open day three's final events coming in at time of 4:16.25. Louisville's Leslie Vanwinkle placed second at 4:18.43 before Notre Dame's Ashley Edgell. Carroll earned the first seed at this morning's prelim.

West Virginia's Sean Mahoney and Michael Walker placed first and second with times of 3:51.84 and 3:52.63. Cincinnati's Jeremy Peter rounded out the top-3 touching the wall at 3:55.47.

The 100 Yard Butterfly BIG EAST title was the next to be earned. Catherine Whetstone of Rutgers earned the women's crown with a time of 53.79. West Virginia's Andrew Langenfeld set a new BIG EAST record, breaking his own from 2006, at 47.72, to be named the men's BIG EAST Champion.

Following Whetstone was Stephanie Shupe of West Virginia (54.72) and Kristina Lennox of Villanova (54.78).

Placing second behind Langenfeld was Pablo Marmolejo who also broke Langenfeld's record touching the wall just one tenth behind at 47.73. Connecticut's Abed Kaaki placed third at 48.24.

The 200 Yard Freestyle event was next as Kristin Brown of Pittsburgh earned the league's crown at a time of 1:47.55. Christa Riggins of Notre Dame finished just tenths behind Brown at 1:47.82. Louisville's Melanie Greyling, the sixth seed coming into tonight's event placed third, touching the wall at 1:48.58.

West Virginia's Zoltan Povazsai earned the men's crown hitting the wall at 1:36.47 followed by the Notre Dame duo of John Lytle (1:38.06) and Ted Brown (1:38.26), second and third, respectively.

Julia Quinn (1:02.54) of Notre Dame earned the women's 100 Yard Breaststroke crown nine tenths of a second before Louisville's Heather Meng (1:02. 64). Villanova's Brie Von Rosendahl rounded out the top-three finishing at 1:03.07.

Kevin Donohue of West Virginia earned the men's crown hitting the wall at 53.89 followed by Louisville's Vali Preda who came in at 54.12. Donohue's teammate, Nick Delic, finished third at 54.71.

Earning the women's 100 Yard Backstroke title was Andrea Shoust of Pittsburgh who finished at the 55.05 mark. Notre Dame's Caroline Johnson came in second at 55.66 followed by West Virginia's Kayla Andrews who touched the wall at 55.74.

West Virginia's Ivan Tolic earned the men's crown when he touched the wall at the 48.39 mark followed by Carlos Van Isschot of Louisville who placed second at 48.88. Pittsburgh's Jeff Leath finished third at 49.37.

Jeremy Stultz of Pittsburgh earned the 3 Meter Diving crown with a score of 368.45. He was the 2006 men's Most Outstanding Diver. Michael Dulfin of Notre Dame placed second (361.00) followed by Alex Volvoetski of Pittsburgh (331.65).

Closing day three's events was the 400 Medley Relay. The women of West Virginia broke the BIG EAST record of 3:40.60 set by Rutgers last season and replaced it with a time of 3:40.36. The Scarlet Knights finished second (3:41.58) followed by the Irish (3:43.20), who placed third.

The men of West Virginia matched its counterpart as they earned the BIG EAST crown with a time of 3:12.36, while Louisville placed second with a time of 3:15.06. Both times broke the previous BIG EAST record set at 3:15.24 in 2003 by Virginia Tech. The Irish finished in third place as they recorded a time of 3:16.90

The 1,650 Yard Freestyle will begin the final day of competition followed by the 200 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Breaststroke, 200 Yard Butterfly, and the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. The women will compete for the conference crown in the 3 Meter Diving Final.

Women's- Team Rankings – Through Event 27

1. Notre Dame, 529
2. West Virginia University, 358
3. Rutgers Swimming and Diving, 349
4. Pittsburgh, 272.5
5. University of Louisville, 245
6. Villanova University, 205.5
7. University of Connecticut, 154
8. Cincinnati Bearcats, 147
9. Syracuse University, 120
10. Georgetown University, 73
11. Seton Hall University, 36
12. Providence College, 34

Men – Team Rankings – Through Event 27

1. Notre Dame, 554
2. West Virginia University, 508.5
3. University of Louisville, 292.5
4. Pittsburgh, 267
5. University of Connecticut, 216.5
6. Rutgers Swimming and Diving, 215.5
7. Cincinnati Bearcats, 214
8. Syracuse University, 145
9. Seton Hall University, 125
10. Villanova University, 65
11. Georgetown University, 55
12. Providence College, 32

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