2019 Big East Swimming and Diving Championships Night 1 Recap: Villanova Tops Both Men’s and Women’s

2016 Big East Swimming and Diving Championship on Feb. 26, 2016 at Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, New York.

Photo Courtesy: Villanova Athletics Media Relations

The 2019 Big East Championships took off today in East Meadow, N.Y., with an evening schedule of the 800 Free and 200 Medley Relays opening the men’s and women’s four-day competitions. Day 1 also featured prelims and finals of the Men’s 1 meter diving.

Villanova’s men, led by strong performances from a 1-2-3 finish by their divers, took a narrow four point lead over Georgetown, 116 to 112. The Villanova women sit tied in the lead with Xavier at 74 points each, each with one first-place and one second-place relay finish. While neither competition has a strong leader by any means, the Women’s meet will likely come down to either Xavier or Villanova, while the Men’s will likely feature Georgetown, Seton Hall, and Villanova as its top contenders.

Women’s 800 Free Relay

Villanova opened the meet with a commanding 7:10:63 finish, far under their 7:20.11 seeded time. The team of Alexandra Fabbri (1:47.84), Taylor Wilson (1:47.91), Millicent Routledge (1:47.91), and Kelly Montesi (1:47.26) sealed a commanding victory over Xavier (7:23.25) and Seton Hall (7:24.34).

Villanova’s four splits were the fastest of the event by over two seconds, with the fifth fastest split being Xavier’s Caroline Gaertner anchoring a 1:50.07. Georgetown (7:27.20), Providence (7:41.17), and Butler (7:42.60) rounded out the remainder of the event.

Event 1  Women 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
====================================================================
    School                                 Seed     Finals        
====================================================================
  1 Villanova  'A'                      7:20.11    7:10.63  
     1) Fabbri, Alexandra M 22        2) Wilson, Taylor N 22          
     3) Routledge, Millicent 19       4) Montesi, Kelly M 18          
  2 Xavier  'A'                         7:28.30    7:23.25  
     1) Kerr, Kathleen R 21           2) Garner, Abigail C 20         
     3) Saugstad, Emily M 21          4) Gaertner, Caroline F 22      
  3 Seton Hall  'A'                     7:36.11    7:24.34  
     1) McCardle, Courtney N 21       2) Stankiewicz, Julie A 19      
     3) Wootton, Amelia E 19          4) Ouellette, Sara M 20         
  4 Georgetown  'A'                     7:34.85    7:27.20  
     1) Barrett, Cristina R 20        2) Clisham, Lillian G 18        
     3) Slaughter, Phoebe B 20        4) Rutledge, Lauren H 20        
  5 Providence  'A'                     7:47.93    7:41.17  
     1) Bankes, Jennifer P 18         2) Zawacki, Lauren E 19         
     3) Keenan, Margery K 19          4) Snow, Madeline E 22          
  6 Butler  'A'                         7:48.40    7:42.60  
     1) Davies, Harriet E 20          2) Heitmeyer, Isabel S 19       
     3) Harris, Emma H 20             4) Hanson, Megan M 19

Men’s 800 Free Relay

The Georgetown men began the men’s competition with a 6:32.86 finish. Swum by Andrew Carbone (1:37.79), Michael Wheeler (1:38.05), Jacob Kohlhoff (1:37.97), and Brett Sherman (1:39.05), the relay fended off Xavier (6:35.34) and Villanova (6:37.08).

Georgetown’s Carbone lead-off was the fastest split of the evening, yet Villanova’s Justin Cucchi followed closely with a 1:37.96 anchor. Georgetown’s Kohlhoff joined them as the only three splits under 1:38.

Event 2  Men 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
====================================================================
    School                                 Seed     Finals        
====================================================================
  1 Georgetown  'A'                     6:45.54    6:32.86  
     1) Carbone, Andrew M 19          2) Wheeler, Michael A 19        
     3) Kohlhoff, Jacob D 22          4) Sherman, Brett M 19          
  2 Xavier  'A'                         6:50.62    6:35.34  
     1) Ritz, Jared P 19              2) Abboud, Brandon A 21         
     3) Quon, Benjamin B 18           4) Johanns, Samuel R 22         
  3 Villanova  'A'                      6:50.43    6:37.08  
     1) Krecsmar, Stephen A 21        2) Chernik, Noah 20             
     3) Davidson, John K 20           4) Cucchi, Justin M 20          
  4 Seton Hall  'A'                     6:47.88    6:37.25  
     1) Laclair, Benjamin P 18        2) Grubert, Lior 25             
     3) Gibson, Joseph R 21           4) Williams, Dakota F 21        
  5 Providence  'A'                     6:54.19    6:46.69  
     1) Viotto, Justin A 19           2) Freeman, John T 19           
     3) Ferrell, Andrew B 19          4) Straker, Liam D 22

Men’s 1m Diving

Villanova’s Michael Perra (584.20), Michael Ackert (519.75), and Joe Swindal (454.10) delivered a podium finish for Villanova, providing a strong base for their night-one lead. Georgetown’s Matthew Werner (447.45) and Ryan Blom (441.35), along with their 7th place finisher Griffen Edmonds (435.15), rounded out the event, along with Seton Hall’s 6th place Tim Lynch (435.55) and 8th place Joseph Ianelli (424.15). The prelims of the men’s event occurred earlier in the afternoon, with all eight competitors moving to the finals.fdsa

Event 4  Men 1 mtr Diving
==================================================================
    Name                  Age School            Prelims     Finals        
==================================================================
                          === Finals ===                          
 
  1 Perra, Michael            Villanova          288.90     584.20  
  2 Ackert, Michael           Villanova          256.10     519.75  
  3 Swindal, Joe              Villanova          220.70     454.10  
  4 Werner, Matthew           Georgetown         216.75     447.45  
  5 Blom, Ryan                Georgetown         234.20     441.35  
  6 Lynch, Tim                Seton Hall         208.00     435.55  
  7 Edmonds, Griffen          Georgetown         237.20     435.15  
  8 Ianelli, Joseph           Seton Hall         205.65     424.15

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

The women’s medley was led by Xavier’s 1:40.26 win. The team, consisting of Ali Fort (25.27), Lydia Schaeffer (28.45), Caroline Gaertner (24.30), and Emily Conners (22.24) barely edged out Villanova’s 1:40.32 to secure an evening-end tie for the women’s meet. Rounding out the event was Seton Hall (1:44.38), Butler (1:44.82), and Providence (1:45.63). The Georgetown team DQed on a false start, putting the team in a first-day points deficit.

Event 5  Women 200 Yard Medley Relay
====================================================================
    School                                 Seed     Finals        
====================================================================
  1 Xavier  'A'                         1:42.60    1:40.26  
     1) Fort, Ali M 21                2) Schaeffer, Lydia D 18        
     3) Gaertner, Caroline F 22       4) Conners, Emily A 21          
  2 Villanova  'A'                      1:44.05    1:40.32  
     1) Goodwin, Darby E 22           2) Jaryszak, Rayann M 19        
     3) Montesi, Kelly M 18           4) Fabbri, Alexandra M 22       
  3 Seton Hall  'A'                     1:45.57    1:44.38  
     1) Hutton, Theresa A 20          2) Decker, Jordan E 21          
     3) Sargent, Elizabeth H 20       4) Capone, Clara J 21           
  4 Butler  'A'                         1:45.83    1:44.82  
     1) Horton, Victoria L 21         2) Spotts, Emma L 19            
     3) Klemptner, Emily N 18         4) Davies, Harriet E 20         
  5 Providence  'A'                     1:48.27    1:45.63  
     1) McGlaughlin, Juliet E 21      2) Czerniecki, Abigail E 22     
     3) Thornton, Katherine R 19      4) Zawacki, Lauren E 19         
 -- Georgetown  'A'                     1:44.57         DQ  
     1) Chen, Enlin 18                2) Rieker, Alexandra A 19       
     3) Morgan, Dorothy L 22          4) Donohoe, Belinda J 20

Men’s 200 Medley Relay

Xavier took the men’s medley with a 1:28.88, swum by Samuel Johanns (22.42), Matthew Dyer (24.20), David Bunnell (21.88), and Thomas Christian (20.38). The team edged off Seton Hall’s 1:29.83 and a tie between Villanova and Georgetown at 1:30.62. Providence received a disqualification for a false start, the second combined of the night.

Georgetown’s Seth Maslowski posted a 19.98 free split, the only sub-20 swimmer of the night. Other notable splits include Seton Hall’s Josh Tosoni pulling a 21.75 fly split, and Andrew Kelly of Villanova’s 22.16 back time.

Event 6  Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
====================================================================
    School                                 Seed     Finals        
====================================================================
  1 Xavier  'A'                         1:30.86    1:28.88  
     1) Johanns, Samuel R 22          2) Dyer, Matthew S 22           
     3) Bunnell, David T 22           4) Thomas, Christian A 19       
  2 Seton Hall  'A'                     1:32.57    1:29.83  
     1) Puglessi, Ben P 18            2) Tosoni, Josh R 20            
     3) Cosgrove, Liam R 20           4) Hendrix, Samuel T 21         
  3 Villanova  'A'                      1:32.61    1:30.62  
     1) Kelley, Andrew R 21           2) Prikasky, Francis M 19       
     3) Sabal, Luke T 22              4) Krecsmar, Stephen A 21       
  3 Georgetown  'A'                     1:33.51    1:30.62  
     1) Carbone, Andrew M 19          2) Wang, Arthur Z 22            
     3) Summers, Justin M 21          4) Maslowski, Seth R 21         
 -- Providence  'A'                     1:34.96         DQ  
     1) Batista, Jonathan J 22        2) Trammell, Ryan E 21          
     3) Ferrell, Andrew B 19          4) Brannigan, Patrick K 20

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