Big East Championships: Day Two

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, February 18. RECORDS continued to fall on the second day of swimming at the BIG EAST Championships at Trees Pool. The Notre Dame men hold a 30-point team lead over second place Louisville while the women’s side is reversed with Louisville holing a five-point advantage over Notre Dame.

West Virginia claimed the first win of the day when freshman Rachel Burnett set a BIG EAST record in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. Her mark of 4:41.65 broke a seven-year old record set by Villanova’s Becky Koch. The Mountaineer also took second in the event as senior Morgan Callaway finished in 4:44.89. Villanova freshman Hayley Edwards came in third with a time of 4:46.47

WVU continued its hot streak in the men’s 500 free as freshman Jared Christie-Goldthorpe posted the top time with a mark of 4:24.25. Louisville took second and third place. Sophomore Riley Martin finished in 4:26.13 and freshman Michael Pryor completed the race in 4:27.06.

Louisville halted the Mountaineers win streak at two, as senior Leslie Vanwinkle won the 200-yard individual medley with a time 1:58.13. Notre Dame senior Ashlee Edgell (2:00.70) came in second while Pittsburgh freshman Joanna Budzis (2:01.12) finished in third.

The Cardinals showed their dominance in the 200 IM as sophomore Carolos Almeida followed Vanwinkle’s lead to win the heat while setting a BIG EAST record with a time of 1:45.71. The previous record was set at last year’s meet by West Virginia’s Michael Walker. Notre Dame sophomore William Bass (1:46.44) finished in second and Seton Hall junior Kevin Webster (1:47.16) came in third.

In the women’s 50-yard freestyle it was Notre Dame junior Amywren Miller (22.47) that touched the wall first. Mountaineer senior Kayla Andrews was close behind Miller, finishing just .03 seconds behind the Irish swimmer. Louisville senior Whitney Campbell came in third with a time of 22.68.

Cincinnati senior Josh Schneider was responsible for the biggest fireworks of the day. Schneider tied a 2009-10 NCAA high-mark with a 19.08 in the preliminaries of the men’s 50 free and followed it up with a 19.10 in the finals to win the title. His time bested his own BIG EAST Championship record by almost a full second. Louisville finished one-two for the second race as senior Kristopher Findorff came in second with a time of 20.02 and sophomore Brendon Andrews finished third at 20.13.

Another BIG EAST record fell in the women’s 200 free relay. The Louisville team of Campbell, Nicole Lanisch, Lacey Bobo and Elizabeth Halet finished in 1:30.08, breaking a 2008 Notre Dame record of 1:31.07. Notre Dame’s team of Amy Prestinario, Lauren Scott, Delia Cronin and Miller came in second at 1:31.62. West Virginia’s Shaunna Purtell, Sarah Kosmak, Stephanie Shurpe and Andrews finished third with a time of 1:31.69.

Louisville made it two-for-two in the 200 relays as the men also came in first. The foursome of Andrews, Findorff, Christopher Grimes and Carlos Van Isschot finished with a time of 1:20.12. The Pittsburgh team of James Lucas, Otto Pagel, Justin Corvin and Andrzej Dubiel came in second at 1:20.66. Third place went to the Notre Dame team of John Lytle, Kevin Overholt, Joshua Nosal and Andrew Hoffman (1:20.93).

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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