2022 West Virginia Invite Day 3 Recap: West Virginia Claims Third Straight Title

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY INVITATIONAL

• November 17 – 19, 2022
• Morgantown, WV
• 25 Yards
• Results: “WVU Invite 2022” on MeetMobile

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

Men:

1. West Virginia – 2147
2. Drexel – 1323.5
3. Seton Hall – 1231
4. William & Mary – 1032.5
5. Old Dominion – 964
6. Villanova – 842
7. Colgate – 410
8. Navy (diving only) – 162
9. Army (diving only) – 112
10. St. Bonaventure (diving only) – 106
11. Alabama (diving only) – 85
12. Youngstown State (diving only) – 50

Women:

1. West Virginia – 1805
2. William & Mary – 1411.5
3. East Carolina – 1076
4. Villanova – 1066
5. Drexel – 954.5
6. Seton Hall – 729
7. Old Dominion – 619
8. Colgate – 497
9. Alabama (diving only) – 162
10. Duquesne (diving only) – 118
11. James Madison (diving only) – 108
12. Navy (diving only) – 78
13. Army (diving only) – 56
14. Liberty (diving only) – 55
15. Youngstown State (diving only) – 36
16. Toledo (diving only) – 31

The West Virginia men and women both clinched their third straight WVU Invite title last night. The final session featured the fastest heats of the 1650 and finals of the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 400 freestyle relay.

Men’s Recap:

Villanova’s Jake McIntyre opened the night with a first place finish in the 1650 with a time of 15:20.52, which is the second-fastest time in Villanova program history.

In the 100 free, West Virginia sophomore Conner McBeth grabbed first in 43.06, dropping another half second from his best time prelims swim.

Drexel had two individual event winners last night, with Kacper Karnik taking first in the 200 breast in 1:57.33 and Alessio Gianni winning the 200 back in a new personal best time of 1:45.34.

Seton Hall’s lone event winner was Michael Klimaszewski, who dominated the 200 fly to win in 1:46.27. He was over two seconds faster than second-place Justin Oosterwyk (1:48.80), and the swim was another personal best after already going one in the morning.

In the final event of the meet, West Virginia’s team of Roanoke Shirk (44.41), Braden Osborn (44.20), Max Nielsen (43.94), andMcBeth (42.12) combined to win the 400 freestyle relay in a final time of 2:54.67.

Drexel’s team of Gianni (44.30), Andrea Casini (44.34), Sebastian Smith (43.50), and John Scully (44.37) took second in a new program record of 2:56.51.

West Virginia is notably still without Michigan transfer Danny Berlitz. Berlitz told SwimSwam that, due to him transferring mid-season last winter, he had to take a year of residency in Morgantown and make up credits before competing. His first meet for West Virginia is set for January 14th, when the Mountaineers travel to Pitt.

Women’s Recap:

In a thrilling finished to the 1650, East Carolina’s Polina Rukosuev out-touched West Virginia’s Miranda Kirtley by 0.03 hundredths to win in 16:36.86. Rukosuev’s final 50 made the difference, as she split a 27.96 to Kirtley’s 28.72. Both swims were personal bests by about four seconds.

Villanova’s Audrey Pastorek posted a 1:56.00 to win the 200 back, beating second-place Paige Dressel by over three seconds. Her swim was a best time by over two seconds, and moves her to third on Villanova’s All-Time Top 10 list.

In another close race, William & Mary’s Katie Stevenson beat out West Virginia’s Jacqueline McCutchan to take first in the 100 free by 0.01 to touch the wall at 49.49. McCutchan’s swim was a personal best by about two tenths.

After breaking the program record in the 100 breast earlier in the meet, West Virginia’s Mia Cheatwood took first in the 200 breast with a 2:12.01. The swim was a personal best by almost a second, and marked the second-fastest time in program history.

William & Mary’s Sophia Heilen won the 200 butterfly in a time of 1:57.03. It was Heilen’s first time dipping under the 2:00 barrier, and lowered the William & Mary freshman record even further after beating it by nearly a second in prelims.

West Virginia dominated the final relay of the meet, with the team of McCutchan (49.82), Cheatwood (49.71), Abby Reardon (49.89), and Ada Szwabinska (50.28) combing to win in 3:19.70.