Louisville Women, Notre Dame Men Both Repeat at 2013 Big East Championships

Going into the final night of competition at the Big East Championships Louisville has a 54 point lead over Notre Dame on the women’s side while things are reversed on the men’s with Notre Dame having a substantial 181 point lead over Louisville. Both of those leads proved insurmountable, as the Louisville women won their third-straight championship, while the Notre Dame men took two in a row.

Women’s 1650 freestyle

The final night of the Big East Championships started out the same way as the previous evening with an individual meet record. Hayley Edwards of Villanova won the event in a time of 16:14.98 breaking 2000 Olympian Maddy Crippen’s record of 16:15.07 which was set in 2002.

Edwards lead the race from start to finish. Kelsey Herbst of Pitt came second finishing in a time of 16:20.78 followed by Edwards Villanova teammate Roxanne Tammadge who posted a time of 16:29.79. Herbst, though not a league record, did break the Pitt School Record held by another Olympian: Sue Heon, who broke the old mark back in 1985.

The Big East is once again showing its great distance tradition this year.

Men’s 1650 freestyle

Louisville freshman Bryan Draganosky kept the night’s record breaking streak alive winning the 1650 handily in a time of 15:05.45, taking down the mark of 15:09.31 set by Syracuse’s Jay Craft set in 1993.

Paul Quincy of Georgetown finished second with a time of 15:16.90 and John Nappi of Notre Dame finished third in a time of 15:21.63.

Women’s 200 backstroke

Notre Dame teammates Kelly Ryan and Kimberly Holden both swam faster than Kelly Harrigan’s 2006 meet record of 1:54.76 in the women’s 200 backstroke. Ryan won the event in a time of 1:53.86 followed closely by Holden who posted a time of 1:54.33.

Earlier in the meet he two women finished one two in the 100 backstroke, but in that race Holden got the best of Ryan.

Eszter Povazsay of Louisville finished third in a time of 1:56.27.

Men’s 200 backstroke

In the men’s 200 backstroke Louisville’s Evan Noble took the early lead at the 100 turning in a time of 50.62. Noble’s teammate Juan Lopez came off the turn at the 125 yard mark determined to catch Noble and eventually did winning the event in a time of 1:44.64.

Noble finished just seven one hundredths of a second behind posting a time of 1:44.71 followed by Connecticut’s William Franz who finished in a time of 1:45.78.

Women’s 100 freestyle

The Louisville women took the top three positions in the 100 freestyle. Kelsi Worrell, who destroyed the 100 butterfly meet record a night earlier, took control of the event from the start winning the event in a time of 49.02. Breann McDowell finished second in a time of 49.42 followed by Kristina Brandenburg who posted a time of 49.65.

Men’s 100 freestyle

The top three positions in the men’s 100 freestyle went to the same team the women’s did; Louisville. Joao De Lucca who had a great swim in the 200 freestyle on Friday night, breaking his own meet record, did the same in the 100 winning the event in a time of 42.43 breaking his own record of 42.67 set last year.

Caryle Blondell finished second in a time of 43.48 with Samuel Hoekstra coming in third in a time of 43.89.

Women’s 200 breaststroke

Notre Dame’s Emma Reaney set the fifth meet record of the night winning the women’s 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:08.24. Reaney was well ahead of the pack at the 100 turning in a time of 1:01.53 and extended her lead in the final 100 finishing three seconds ahead of the second place finisher Erin Malone of Villanova.

Malone finished in a time of 2:11.25 followed by the events meet record holder Gisselle Kohoyda of Louisville who finished in a time of 2:12.10.

Men’s 200 breaststroke

Notre Dame’s Zachary Stephens lead the field at the 100 turning in a time of 55.24. In the second half of the race Louisville’s Addison Bray started to make up ground on Stephens, who on the strength of his turns, maintained his lead and won the event in a time of 1:55.21.

Bray finished second in a time of 1:55.74 followed by Cameron Miller of Notre Dame who posted a time of 1:56.24.

Women’s 200 butterfly

Louisville’s Tanja Kylliainen lead from the start turning at the 100 in a time of 54.80 almost one and a half seconds ahead of teammate Devon Bibault. Kylliainen extended her lead slightly to win the event in a time of 1:55.75.

Notre Dame’s Bridget Casey took over the second position in the final 100 finishing in a time of 1:57.49 with Bibault finishing in third posting a time of 1:58.00.

Men’s 200 butterfly

At the half way point of the men’s 200 butterfly there was only 14 one hundredths of a second separating Jonathan Lierley of Pitt, Jonathan Williamson of Notre Dame and William Bass of Notre Dame. That all changed in the third 50 when Williamson separated himself eventually winning the event in a time of 1:43.94.

Bass finished second posting a time of 1:45.27 followed by Lierley who touched in a time of 1:47.16.

Women’s 400 free relay

The Louisville women wrapped their third-straight Big East title in fine fashion, crushing their own Big East Championship Record with a 3:16.89 – knocking almost a second off of a 2010 swim by West Virginia. That included a 49.2 leadoff from Kelsi Worrell and a sub-49 (48.93) split from Kristina Brandenburg on the 2nd leg. Every swimmer on the Louisville relay was at-or-near her best, resulting in a great overall time.

Notre Dame was 2nd, led by a 49.45 leadoff from their breaststroker Emma Reaney. Villanova was 3rd, and Pitt 4th.

Men’s 400 free relay

The Notre Dame men may have won the war, but Louisville got at least the final battle. They took the men’s 400 free relay in 2:52.38. Much like their women, they had four solid legs on this relay that included a 43.22 leadoff from Carlyle Blondell. The men’s relay went to another level thanks to a very quick 42.19 second leg from Joao de Lucca.

Notre Dame was a 2:54.43 for 2nd, including a 43.08 leadoff from Frank Dyer. That’s the only flat-start 100 free we got to see from him in this meet, and the result is that he probably wouldnt’ve challenged de Lucca for the individual title. That makes the decision to put him in the 50 instead a smart one by the Notre Dame coaching staff.

Final Team Standings

Women’s Team Standings
1. Louisville, University of 895
2. Notre Dame, University of 772
3. Pittsburgh, University of 443
4. Villanova University 415
5. Rutgers University 410.5
6. Cincinnati, University of 289.5
7. Connecticut, University of 267
8. Seton Hall University 115
9. Georgetown University 114
10. Providence College 74

Men’s Team Standings
1. Notre Dame, University of 991
2. Louisville, University of 851.5
3. Pittsburgh, University of 573.5
4. Connecticut, University of 436
5. Cincinnati, University of 259
6. Georgetown University 203
7. Seton Hall University 151
8. Villanova University 143
9. Providence College 97