Villanova Women, Xavier Men Leading Big East After Day Two Finals

2016 BIG EAST MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 24 – Saturday, February 27
• Nassau Country Aquatic Center, East Meadow, NY (Eastern Time Zone)
• Prelims 10AM / Finals 6 PM
• Defending Champion: Villanova women & Xavier men (results)
• Live results
• Championship Central

The first night of the Big East Championship saw the Georgetown women pull into the lead by 16 points on the strength of 2nd and 3rd place finishes for 800 freestyle and 200 medley relays respectively, along with diving points where several teams are either weak or have no program.  The Xavier men were ahead of Georgetown by only two points after taking a runner-up finish in the 800 free relay and a win for the 200 medley.  After tonight, the Defending Champions for both genders, the Villanova Women and the Xavier Men, let their depth do the talking as they both put some distance between them and the rest of the Big East with strong line-up across the individual swimming events.

WOMEN’S 500 FREESTYLE FINALS

1. Emily Mayo, Villanova 4:46.37
2. Caitlin Daday, Villanova 4:50.58
3. Mary Snyder, Villanova 4:52.74

The Villanova women took control of the team score immediately on the second night of the Big East Championship with a dominating 1-4 sweep of the 500 freestyle.  Emily Mayo repeated as Big East Champion and led the Wildcats with an NCAA B cut 4:46.37.  She was joined in the A-final by 2nd place Caitlin Daday (4:50.58,) 3rd place Mary Snyder (4:52.74,) 4th place Chris Sullivan (4:56.22,) and 7th place Erin Merkle (4:58.70.)  Providence managed to squeeze Katherine Fallon into 5th place with 4:56.56.  Georgetown claimed 6th and 8th with a 4:57.72 from Carol Bonfield and a 4:59.80 from Christine Ryan.

MEN’S 500 FREESTYLE FINALS

1. Noah Yanchulis, Seton Hall 4:26.75
2. Jacob Kohlhoff, Georgetown 4:26.84
3. Alexander Wolfred, Xavier 4:31.46

Seton Hall’s Noah Yanchulis got out ahead but was never quite able to shake off Georgetown’s Jacob Kohlhoff.  Over the last 150 yards, Kohlhoff out-split the leader and gained two seconds back, but finished just .09 short at the touch with 4:26.84 versus Yanchulis’ 4:26.75.  Xavier was 3rd and 4th with a 4:31.46 from Alexander Wolfred and a 4:32.18 from James Foster.  Seton Hall’s Cody Wimmer was 6th with 4:34.85, while Villanova racked up points closing out the A-final with John Naughton (4:35.49,) Greg Cino (4:37.58,) and Harrison Rodts (4:40.82) taking 6th through 8th.

WOMEN’S 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY FINALS

1. Darby Goodwin, Villanova 1:59.99
2. Gabby Daigneault, Villanova 2:02.07
3. Elise Pidutti, Villanova 2:02.08

Villanova again crowded other teams out of scoring by taking five of the top six places in the 200 IM A-final, led by the only sub-2 minute finish from Darby Goodwin at 1:59.99.  Gabby Daigneault barely out-touched teammate Elise Pidutti for second, 2:02.07 to 2:02.08.  The Wildcats’ Mackenzie Niness (2:02.97) and Olivia Cacciatore (2:06.25) were split by Georgetown’s Molly Fitzpatrick (2:03.99) who prevented the 1-5 Villanova sweep.  The Hoya’s also captured 7th and 8th place points with a 2:06.57 from Madeline Loniewski and 2:10.62 form Abigail Lake.

MEN’S 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY FINALS

1. Lior Grubert, Seton Hall 1:50.12
2. John Hoin, Villanova 1:50.39
3. Samuel Delise, Georgetown 1:51.29

Seton Hall’s Lior Gruber was nearly reeled in by a 25.26 freestyle split from Villanova’s John Hoin, who came up barely short.  Gruber won the event in 1:50.12 compared to Hoin’s 1:50.39.  Georgetown’s Samuel Delise and Xavier’s Erik Biernat also had a tight finish with Delise claiming the third spot on the podium with 1:51.29 to Biernat’s 1:51.52.  The Hoyas’ Arthur Wang (1:52.14,) Seton Hall’s Zoha Suslovich (1:52.40,) Xavier’s Matthew Dyer (1:52.52,) and Villanova’s Tyler Nussbaum (1:53.72) completed the top 8 for the event.  Xavier also gained significant points with four swimmers scoring well in the B-final to help them jump from third to first in team score after the event.

WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE FINALS

1. Kaisla Kollanus, Villanova 22.63
2. Taylor Wilson, Vilanova 22.82
3. Erica Fabbri, Georgetown 23.01

The Villanova Wildcats again loaded the A-final with five swimmers, including the top two finishers Kaisla Kollanus and Taylor Wilson who were the only two athletes below 23 seconds with 22.63 and 22.82 respectively.  Kollanus successfully defended her Big East crown in the event, this time swimming .34 faster than her winning 2015 performance.  Erica Fabbri from Georgetown beat out her younger sister Alexa Fabbri from Villanova, 23.01 to 23.12 to take 3rd.  Villanova’s Bailey Page (23.28,) Villanova’s Fiona Hardie (23.44,) Xavier’s Paxtyn Drew (23.56,) and Villanova’s Jessie Randolph (23.66) rounded out the top 8 finishers.

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE FINALS

1. Luke Johanns, Xavier 20.10
2. Rodrigo Suriano, Xavier 20.36
3. Albert Hitt, Xavier 20.44

Defending Champion Luke Johanns led a 1-3 sweep of the 50 freestyle for Xavier, as his 20.10 was followed closely by teammates Rodrigo Suriano and Albert Hitt at 20.36 and 20.44 respectively.  Xavier also loaded up on points and extended their lead with an 8th place finish from Samuel Johanns at 21.08, and four more scorers in the B-final.  Seton Hall got a fourth place finish from Dakota Williams with 20.46.  Georgetown grabbed A-final points from both William Leach at 5th with 20.78 and Henry Rogatz at 7th with 21.05.  Villanova’s Joseph Moleski filled in the 6th place position with 20.99.

MEN’S 3-METER DIVING FINALS

1. Jared Cooper-Vespa, Georgetown 644.25
2. Ryan Blom, Georgetown 550.85
3. Eric Davidson, Seton Hall 533.05

Diving only had four competitors, allowing Georgetown to rack up significant points to move them closer to Xavier.  In addition to the scores listed above, Georgetown also scored a 4th place finish form Ben Goodfriend.

WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE RELAY FINALS

1. Villanova 1:30.69
2. Georgetown 1:32.72
3. Xavier 1:33.74

The Villanova squad of Fabbri (23.03,) Hardie (22.94,) Wilson (22.38,) and Kollanus (22.34) combined to win the 200 free relay by over two seconds at 1:30.69.  Georgetown (1:32.72,) Xavier (1:33.78,) Seton Hall (1:35.30,) Butler (1:35.75) and Providence (1:38.87) completed the scoring relays to 6th place.

MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE RELAY FINALS

1. Xavier 1:21.23
2. Georgetown 1:22.77
3. Seton Hall 1:22.80

Xavier was able to hold back the Hoya’s and extend their lead when the team of Luke Johanns (20.04,) Samuel Johanns (21.44,) Hitt (19.90,) and Suriano (19.85) combined for 1:21.23 against Georgetown’s 1:22.77.  Seton Hall was in second place until the Georgetown anchor closed in to swat them out of the runner-up position.  The Pirates finished at 1:22.80.  Villanova was 4th with 1:24.09, and the team from Providence was disqualified for an early exchange.

Team scores (after day two):

Women:

1. Villanova 366
2. Georgetown 247
3. Xavier 150.5
4. Seton Hall 134.5
5. Providence 122
6. Butler 97

Men:

1. Xavier 287
2. Georgetown 263
3. Seton Hall 210
4. Villanova 174
5. Providence 63