West Virginia Conquers Big 12 vs. Big East Weekend

West Virginia was victorious over the weekend at their Big 12 vs Big East meet, posting wins over Seton Hall, Butler, and Xavier. WVU Senior Jaimee Gillmore won the sprint events to help her team to the wins, posting a 24.26 in the 50 and 53.39 in the 100.

The Mountaineer men were 251-108 over Xavier and 266-93 over Seton Hall. Xavier’s men also won 177-154 over Seton Hall. The Mountaineer women were 266-93 to top Xavier, 275-88 to top Seton Hall, and 284-75 to top Butler. The Xavier women beat out Seton Hall 191-158 and Butler 260-71. Seton Hall’s women were 262-87 to claim victory over Butler.

West Virginia:

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams concluded the Big 12 vs. Big East Weekend with wins over Xavier, Seton Hall and Butler at the WVU Natatorium on Saturday.
West Virginia dominated all teams in both the men’s and women’s squads. The Mountaineers won 25 of the 26 events and totaled 38 victories out of the 40 events this weekend.
“The teams competed well,” said coach Vic Riggs. “We discussed the difference between the two weekends, this weekend and last, and the importance of team support. We weren’t bad this weekend but not where we were last weekend, and I think it showed in a few events.”
Men
West Virginia University 251.00 Xavier University 108.00
Xavier University 177.00 Seton Hall University 154.00
West Virginia University 266.00 Seton Hall University 93.00
Women
West Virginia University 266.00 Xavier University 93.00
Xavier University 191.00 Seton Hall University 158.00
West Virginia University 275.00 Seton Hall University 88.00
Xavier University 260.00 Butler University 71.00
West Virginia University 284.00 Butler University 75.00
Seton Hall University 262.00 Butler University 87.00
“For the women to end the month with three wins today, two meet sweeps of events, one dual meet win and one dual meet loss is fantastic, said Riggs. “We set a goal of not losing an event this weekend and they didn’t.”
This morning’s competition started off with the 200-yard freestyle relay. The WVU women won the race withJaimee Gillmore, Amelie Currat, Rachel Ward and Sam Hall touching in 1:38.82. The WVU men recorded first and third-place finishes. Andrew Marsh, Ross Glegg, Nate Carr and Frank Csonka led the team in first (1:23.73).
The WVU women’s squad finished first and second in the 100-yard butterfly. Natalie Johnsen won in 57.97, whileCelia Martinez finished second with a time of 58.05.
On the men’s side, WVU posted first, second and fourth-place finishes in the 100 butterfly. Marsh won the race, touching the wall in 49.39, followed by Chase Williams in second (51.11) and Austin Green in fourth (51.63).
The WVU women’s squad won the 500-yard freestyle with Emma Mitchell placing first with a time of 5:03.39. In second place was Kelsey Frantz in 5:08.38 and in fourth was Georgia Baldus in 5:13.26.
The WVU men posted three top-five finishes in the 500 free with Lucas Fasulo winning with a time of 4:38.24, and in third was Drew Damich in 4:44.37.
The Mountaineers’ women’s squad posted three of the top five finishes in the 50 free, while the men took second, third and fifth. For the women, Gillmore touched the wall in 24.26, followed by Mia Fiorenzi in fourth (25.45). WVU’s Glegg touched second in 21.09, followed by Csonka in third (21.43).
WVU’s Emma Harris won the women’s 200 breaststroke, finishing with a two-hand touch in 2:24.49. Marah Biegertook second with a time of 2:26.13. For the men, WVU took the top three finishes. Max Spencer won with a 2:03.18, followed by Carr in second (2:07.01) and Aidan Fumagalli in third (2:08.66).
In more relay competition, the WVU women recorded two of the top-three finishes in the 800 freestyle relay.Emma Mitchell, Frantz, Currat and Sydnee Karam won with a time of 7:45.04. For the WVU men, Damich, Nathan Howells, Chris McMahon and Fasulo finished first, touching the wall in 6:57.72.
In the 100-yard backstroke, the Mountaineer women took first and third. Courtney Miller won, finishing with a time of 57.59. Currat touched third in 59.04. WVU’s Andrew Marsh won the men’s event, touching the wall in 48:45.
West Virginia recorded the top three finishes in the women’s 100-yard free. Gillmore won, touching the wall in 53.39, followed by Karam in second place (54.23). On the men’s squad, Marsh raced to a first-place finish, touching the wall in 45.58.
Emma Skelley led the Mountaineers to a first-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 17:02.91. The WUU men’s team saw Fasulo win the race in 16:25.59.
In the men’s 200-yard butterfly, WVU’s Williams took first with a two-hand finish of 1:55.28. On the women’s side, Johnsen won the race for the Mountaineers, touching the wall in 2:07.35.
On the 3-meter springboard, the WVU’s men’s diving squad captured all top five places, with Alex Obendorfwinning event (324.80). In second place was Emmott Blitch with a score of 298.20.
On the 1-meter board, WVU saw top-four finishes from the Mountaineer women. Averly Hobbs secured first place, scoring 283.75. Mary Kevan Smith came in second with a mark of 241.35.
Both WVU’s men and women took first place in the 200-yard individual medley. Bieger won the race for the women’s squad, touching in 2:11.00, while Carr won for the WVU men’s team with a time of 1:52.87.
Today’s meet ended with the 400-yard medley relay with WVU winning the event on both the men’s and women’s teams. Courtney Miller, Morgan Emter, Johnsen and Gillmore touched first for the women with a time of 3:55.14
“These are long weekends, and the teams are tired from a month of racing and training,” said Riggs. “I think we finished the third session extremely well, both with our times and race strategies. If we can finish these types of meets in a day and a half, it should help us finish championship meets even better, when we get the full three days with proper breaks in between events.
“We now have a month to learn from this first month and get ourselves ready for Tennessee.”
The Mountaineers have four weeks off from competition to prepare for the three-day Tennessee Invite, in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Nov. 20-22. The meet will begin at 8 a.m., each day.

Swimming news courtesy of West Virginia Swimming & Diving.

Xavier:

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With sessions two and three in the books at the Big 12 vs. BIG EAST weekend at West Virginia University, the Xavier swimming program picked up a pair of combined wins. The Musketeers topped BIG EAST foes Seton Hall and Butler while falling to the hosts Mountaineers.

On the women’s side, the Musketeers opened the morning session with Molly Ford,Caroline Gaertner, Kristen Liebert and Haley Dresner finishing third in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:41.16.

In the 500 free, Katie Kerr took third with a time of 5:08.40, the 14th fastest time in XU records. Kerr also posted a second place finish in the 1,650 free, with a time of 17:57.86, the 16th fastest time in XU records. Emily Wagner followed her in with a time of 18:17.63 to take third.

Claire Brolsma finished the 50 free in a time of 25.17 to take second.

The Xavier women closed out the morning session by taking second in the 800 free relay, with Katie Kerr, Jenna Wilkes, Taylor Jach and Mackenna Rife posting a time of 7:53.76.

Xavier took three of the top five spots in the 200 fly, with Maggie Kauffeld taking second with a time of 2:11.32, the 14th fastest time in Xavier records. Annie Cummins took third with a time of 2:11.89 and Jenna Wilkes finished fifth with a time of 2:14.26.

The women closed the event by taking third and fourth in the 400 medley relay, with Gaertner, Dresner, Cummins and Paxtyn Drew leading the way with a time of 4:01.93.

On the final scoresheet, the Xavier women defeated Seton Hall, 191-158, and Butler, 260-71, while falling to West Virginia, 266-93.

On the men’s side Xavier’s ‘A’ team of Rodrigo Suriano, Luke Johanns, Enrique Hernandezand Tony Miller opened the morning session by second with a time of 1:24.45 in the 200 free relay.

Luke Johanns took the top spot in the 50 yard free, finishing in a time of 20.79.

In the 100 back, Musketeers finished third, fourth and fifth, with Nathan Runyon leading the Xavier in with a time of 53.51 to enter the Xavier top 20 records at 19th.

Suriano finished fourth with a time of 53.54. Sam Johanns finished fifth with a time of 53.58 to set the 20th fastest time in school history, nudging his brother Luke out of the Xavier top 20 times.

The Xavier men closed out the morning session by taking second in the 800 free relay by posting a time of 7:05.37 in the 800 free relay with the ‘A’ team of Alex Wolfred, Enrique Hernandez, Chase Baldwin and Nick Foster.

In the afternoon session, the men opened the events by taking second and third in the 100 free, with Suriano touching the wall in 46.98 and Luke Johanns following him in with a time of 47.43.

In the 1,650 free, the Musketeers collected a pair of top four finishes, with Nick Straderfinishing in 16:46.44 to take second and Foster taking fourth with a time of 16:59.77.

Erik Biernat collected a third place finish in the 200 IM, finishing in a time of 1:57.92.

The Musketeer men closed the event with Suriano, Michael Pettinichi, Biernat, and Luke Johanns finishing in a time of 3:30.32 in the 400 medley relay.
The men finished the event with a 177-154 win over Seton Hall and a 251-108 loss to West Virginia.

Xavier returns to competition on Nov. 7 when the Musketeers travel to Denison for a dual meet. Events are scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. Stay tuned to GoXavier.com for more information.

Swimming news courtesy of Xavier Swimming & Diving.

Seton Hall:

Meet Results (PDF) Get Acrobat Reader

MORGANTOWN, W. VA. – Four runner-up performances on Saturday helped the Seton Hall women’s swimming & diving squad close a two-day trip to the BIG EAST vs. Big 12 Weekend on a high note that included a victory over conference foe Butler.

The Pirates finished well clear of the Bulldogs, earning their third win of the young season by a 175-point margin at 262-to-87. The Hall was edged by Xavier and fell to the host Mountaineers to push their record to 3-2 through two competitions.

  • Freshman Aitana Robinson (London, Ontario) nearly recorded an individual victory in the 100-back, ultimately claiming second place after racing to a time of 58.92
  • Classmate Courtney McCardle (Hurley, N.Y.) added a second-place finish of her own in the 200-IM, posting a time of 2:13.55 that was just ahead of teammate Kylene Ronayne (Springfield, Pa.) in third (2:14.29)
  • Robinson and Ronayne combined with Sydney Simpson (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Tessa Lindner (Sun Prairie, Wis.) to earn a second-place finish in the 400-medley relay, topping all other BIG EAST squads with a 3:59.86 mark
  • Ronayne and Lindner were also present on a 200-free relay team that featured McCardle and sophomoreKat Carson (Katy, Texas) which came within two seconds of victory; registering a time of 1:40.34
  • Lindner and Simpson were the top-two BIG EAST finishers in the 100-fly as well; ranking third and fourth overall. Lindner reached the wall in 58.15 while Simpson touched in at 58.92. Only one other BIG EAST swimmer broke the one-minute mark in the event
  •  Simpson led all conference entrants with a 200-breast time of 2:27.88 – taking third-place overall.
  •  Lindner delivered a fourth-place effort in the 200-fly, clocking in at 2:12.24, less than one second off the leading BIG EAST performance of the day (Maggie Kauffeld, Xavier)
  • Erica Naumann (Middletown, Conn.) completed the first one-mile race of the season in 18:19.52 to pace The Hall and earn fourth-place points. Naumann also recorded a team-leading time of 5:19.15 in the 500-free
  • Carson continued to pace the Pirates’ sprint efforts – posting a 50-free mark of 25.50 (sixth)

The Hall returns to action in its final home appearance of the fall on Wednesday, October 28 when Monmouth travels to South Orange for a dual meet. Start-time is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

Swimming news courtesy of Seton Hall Swimming & Diving.

Butler:

Full Results

MORGANTOWN, W.V. — The Butler women’s swim team competed in their second meet of the fall season at West Virginia over the weekend.  The two-day meet featured three sessions, and included Xavier, Seton Hall, Butler, and the host school, West Virginia.

The Bulldogs started off the day with a seventh place finish in the 200 Medley Relay in the first session on Friday. Tori Horton had a strong performance for Butler leading off the relay, as her time of 28.43 was a season-best for the freshman.

Horton continued her success in the 200 Back, as she achieved another season-best with a time of 2:09.27, which would be good enough for a sixth place finish in the event, and the best individual performance of the day for the Bulldogs.

Butler took a sixth place finish in the 400 Relay Race at the end of the day with a time of 3:44.41. Horton led the way with a BIG EAST qualifying time of 54.67, whileRachel Robb finished the race with a solid time of 56.25.

Head Coach Maurice Stewart was excited about the relay performances for the Bulldogs, but knew there was room for improvement going into the second session.

“We had a good start to the session with our relay performances this evening in the 200 Medley and 400 Free Relays, but we needed to do a better job racing in the individual events,” Stewart said. “Racing better will be a focus for us on Saturday.”

The second session saw more success for the freshman duo of Horton and Robb. Robb pulled out her best performance of her short Butler career, as she finished in third place in the 50 free with a time of 25.43.

Horton took home another BIG EAST qualifying time in the 100 back with a time of 59.25, which was good enough for fourth place in the event. Hayley Brown joined Horton with a BIG EAST qualifying time in the same even, as the sophomore finished in 11th place with a career best time of 1:02.29.

Top performers in session three for the Bulldogs included another fourth place finish for Horton in the 100 Free, a fifth place finish for Emma Green in the 200 IM, andSummer Hemesath came away with a sixth place finish in the 1650 Free.

“I really liked the three session, two-day meet which gave us a great deal of meet experience against three solid teams,” Stewart said. “This meet also tested our mental toughness to compete a great deal in a 24 hour time span. Overall, the team performed well in many areas, but we still have a lot to improve on moving forward!”

Swimming news courtesy of Butler Swimming & Diving.

0
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

Read More »