Rutgers Opens 2023 With 181-110 Win Over Villanova

Rutgers vs Villanova (Women)

• Saturday, January 21, 2023
• Piscataway, N.J.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results
• Team Score: Rutgers 181, Villanova 110

Courtesy: Rutgers Athletics

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women’s swimming & diving returned to the pool starting off the second half of the season with a 181-110 victory over Villanova at the Rutgers Aquatics Center on Saturday afternoon.

FROM THE POOL DECK

• The Scarlet Knights got a trio of event wins from sophomore Sofia (Lobova) Maksimova, senior Sofia Chichaikina and graduate student Rachel Kimmel. All three along with newcomer Valeria Egorova won the 200 medley relay to open up the afternoon with Maksimova victories in the 50 free and 100 fly, Chichaikina taking first in the 100 free and 200 fly and Kimmel winning the 100 and 200 breast.
• Other multiple victories included graduate student Alice Scarabelli in the 200 free and 200 back and Madison Murtagh in the 500 and 1000 free.
• In addition to kicking off her Rutgers career swimming the opening leg of the winning 200 medley relay squad, Egorova also picked up a win in the 100 back with the ninth fastest time in the RU record book in her debut.
• Rutgers exhibitioned the 200 IM and 400 free relay. Kimmel posted the top time in the 200 IM while Egorova, Maksimova, Scarabelli and Chichaikina were the fastest group of the 400 free relay.
• On the boards, senior Savana Trueb won 1-meter while sophomore Giulia Vittorioso was victorious on 3-meter as the Scarlet Knights went 1-2-3.

RELAYS

• The meet kicked off with the quartet of Valeria Egorova, Rachel Kimmel, Sofia (Lobova) Maksimova and Sofia Chichaikina racing to a top time of 1:43.42 in the 200 medley relay.
• The 400 free relay group of Egorova, Maksimova, Scarabelli and Chichaikina collected the top time of 3:29.38.

SPRINTS

• Rutgers went 1-2 in the 50 free as Sofia (Lobova) Maksimova was in front in 23.09 followed by Alice Scarabelli in second in 24.19.
• Maksimova also helped Rutgers go 1-2-3 in the 100 fly. Maksimova led the Scarlet Knights with a time of 55.82 with Ellie Schinsky in second in 57.32 and Viktoriia Kostromina coming in third in 57.72.
• Scarabelli did bring home wins in the 200 free clocking in at 1:49.28 and in 200 back touching in 2:00.19.
• Valeria Egorova posted a time of 54.67 to win the 100 back and come in with the ninth fastest time “On The Banks” in her first Rutgers meet. She was the runner-up behind Scarabelli in the 200 back in 2:00.97 just missing the Rutgers top 10 by .80 seconds.
• The breaststroke events once again belonged to Rachel Kimmel. Kimmel was the first to touch the wall in the 100 breast in 1:03.61 with junior Tina Celik the runner-up in 1:04.05. Kimmel clocked in 2:17.87 in the 200 breast as Celik placed third in 2:20.70.
• Kimmel also out-touched the pack in the 200 IM registering 2:06.70.
• Sofia Chichaikina picked up a victory in the 100 free swimming to a time of 52.03. She also claimed the 200 fly in 2:01.95 with Kostromina taking third with a time of 2:04.22.

DISTANCE

• Madison Murtagh continued to lead the distance corps taking first in the 500 free in 5:00.58 and the 1000 free in 10:19.87.

DIVING

• Savana Trueb won 1-meter with a score of 279.98 with Giulia Vittorioso the runner-up collecting 252.45.
• Rutgers went 1-2-3-4 on 3-meter led by Vittorioso scoring 285.08. Trueb made her first appearance in the event logging 276.98 for second with Jenna Douglass in third posting 259.35.

VILLANOVA RESULTS

50 Free
1. Sofia (Lobova) Maksimova – 23.09
2. Alice Scarabelli – 24.19

100 Free
1.  Sofia Chichaikina – 52.03

200 Free
1. Alice Scarabelli – 1:49.28

500 Free
1. Madison Murtagh – 5:00.58

1000 Free
1. Madison Murtagh – 10:19.87

100 Back
1. Valeria Egorova – 54.67 – 9^th fastest

200 Back
1. Alice Scarabelli – 2:00.91
2. Valeria Egorova – 2:00.97

100 Breast
1. Rachel Kimmel – 1:03.61
2. Tina Celik – 1:04.05

200 Breast
1. Rachel Kimmel – 2:17.87
3. Tina Celik – 2:20.70

100 Fly
1. Sofia (Lobova) Maksimova – 55.82
2. Ellie Schinsky – 57.32
3. Viktoriia Kostromina – 57.72

200 Fly
1. Sofia Chichaikina – 2:01.95
3. Viktoriia Kostromina – 2:04.22

200 Medley Relay
1. Rutgers A (Valeria Egorova, Rachel Kimmel, Sofia (Lobova) Maksimova, Sofia Chichaikina) – 1:43.42
3. Rutgers B (Grace Hagemaster, Tina Celik, Ellie Schinsky, Jillian Ruffner) – 1:47.68

1M Dive
1.  Savana Trueb – 279.98
2. Giulia Vittorioso – 252.45

3M Dive
1. Giulia Vittorioso – 285.08
2. Savana Trueb – 276.98
3. Jenna Douglass – 259.35

UP NEXT

The Rutgers women’s swimming & diving team hosts its final dual meet before heading to the Big Ten Championships. The Scarlet Knights welcome Nebraska on Friday, January 27 at 5 p.m. and Saturday, January 28 at 10 a.m. On Saturday, Rutgers celebrates its swimming & diving letterwinners and the 50^th anniversary of Title IX. Additionally, the Scarlet Knights seniors will be honored prior to Saturday’s competition on the pool deck beginning at 9 a.m. Admission is free.

Follow Rutgers women’s swimming & diving on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Courtesy: Villanova Athletics

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Villanova picked up 21 top-three finishes on Saturday but fell to Rutgers 181-110 at the Rutgers Aquatic Center.

Audrey Pastorek led Villanova (2-4) with top-three finishes in all four of her appearances in the pool. She won the 200 IM (2:08.68) for the long first-place individual swim of the day against Rutgers (3-2) while finishing second in the 100 Back (57.22), third in the 200 Back (2:04.33) and helped the 200 Medley A team to a second-place (1:45.74) showing, swimming an opening leg time of 27.12 alongside Winnie Jalet, Lainey Quinones and Perri Stahl.

Reigning BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week Claire Feick tied for second in the 1-meter with a score of 252.45.

The ‘Cats had five 2-3 finishes in the meet, three of those coming in the first three individual events. Kaitlin Gravell and Breana McLaughlin had the first such showing of the day in the 1000 Free, finishing in 10:40.31 and 10:42.68, respectively. Mary Kate Farrell was second in the 200 Free (1:55.64) with Lexi Elkovitch following closely behind in third (1:55.97). Hannah Wasmuth joined Pastorek in the top three of the 100 Back, posting a 1:00.27 that was good enough for third.

Maggie Kleinsmith added a third-place time of 1:05.64 in the 100 Breast. Katie White touched second in the 200 Fly at 2:04.08. Quinones posted a 24.50 in the 50 Free that was good enough for third.

Two-tenths of a second separated second and third for the ‘Cats in the 100 Free with Stahl (53.57) edging out Farrell (53.77). Jalet was two seconds off the lead in the 200 Breast, finishing in second at 2:19.41. The 500 Free saw White and McLaughlin earn second (5:11.35) and third (5:13.84) finishes.

Pastorek’s 200 IM win was a close one, holding a three-tenths of a second lead over Jalet who finished second in 2:08.99. Emily Zimmermann followed the pair in third at 2:12.78.

The B team of Farrell, White, Benson and Zimmermann posted a 400 Free Relay time of 3:40.35.

Villanova is back in action on Jan. 27 as it travels to Penn State for a dual meet with the Nittany Lions. That meet is set to start at 5 p.m. at the McCoy Natatorium in University Park, Pa. For the latest news and updates surrounding the program, follow @novaswimdive on Twitter and Instagram.