Villanova Defeats NJIT in Highlanders’ Home Opener

NJIT vs. Villanova

• Friday, November 5, 2021
• Newark, New Jersey
• Results (PDF)

Courtesy: Villanova Athletics

NEWARK, N.J.—Junior freestyle Jake McIntyre (Essex, Vt.) was double winner in the 500 free and the 1000 free to lead Villanova (1-1) to a 153-147 victory over NJIT (0-2) at the NJIT Wellness and Events Center on Friday evening. McIntyre and senior diver Michael Ackert (Rye, N.Y.) each won two events and the Wildcats tallied six first-place finishes in all to notch their first team win of the season.

Villanova started the night off on a strong note in the first individual event of the meet as McIntyre, freshman Aubrey Bowles (Richmond, Va.) and sophomore Richard Nolan (Wilton, Conn.) combined for a 1-2-3 sweep in the 1000 free. McIntyre touched the wall first in 9:48.91 to narrowly finish in front of Bowles (9:49.37) in a close finish, while Nolan was third with a time of 10:00.92. Later in the meet, McIntyre and sophomore Charlie Hinckley (New York, N.Y.) went 1-2 in the 500 free with McIntyre posting a time of 4:40.83 and Hinckley finishing second in 4:48.20. Bowles was fourth in that race in 4:50.08.

Nolan finished first in the 200 breast and freshman Patrick Hemingway (Harrisburg, Pa.) won the 50 free during the meet. In the 200 breast, Nolan held off the runner-up from the Highlanders by just under three-quarters of a second at the finish and won the race in 2:08.63. Freshman Henry Halloran (Brookhaven, Ga.) also scored in the race with a fourth place finish and a time of 2:12.70. Hemingway won the 50 free in 21.51, while junior Ryan Maher (Phoenixville, Pa.) and senior Jesse Marsh (Kingston, Jamaica) were fourth (22.07) and fifth (22.46), respectively.

The diving trio of Ackert, sophomore Noah Clipman (Mohnton, Pa.) and freshman Nicholas Jubilee (Painted Post, N.Y.) combined to sweep the top three spots on both the one-meter and three-meter boards. Ackert won the three-meter competition with 273.60 points with Jubilee (268.57) and Clipman (250.87) coming in second and third. The winning score for Ackert on the one-meter board was 284.50, with Clipman taking second (258.00) and Jubilee (237.00) third.

The meet began with the 200 medley relay in which the Wildcats came in second and fourth with two relay teams. Sophomore Ethan Brown (West Hartford, Conn.) led off the Villanova “A” lineup and was followed by Nolan, Marsh and Hemingway as that squad came in second with a time of 1:35.56 in the race. The second Wildcats entry was led off by freshman Carson Brockette (Dallas, Texas) and also featured Halloran, junior Kevin Geist (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) and freshman Andrew Mitchill (Killingworth, Conn.) with the squad posting a time of 1:37.89.

Villanova’s top two relay teams in the 200 free relay closed the evening by finishing second and third. Maher, Marsh, Mitchill and Hemingway swam to a runner-up showing with a time of 1:26.88, while Hinckley, Brown, Geist and junior Reid Hutcherson (Richmond, Va.) came in third in 1:28.25. A third Wildcats entry in the 200 free relay came in sixth (1:32.01) and consisted of Brockette, Bowles, junior Stephen Griner (Greenville, S.C.) and sophomore Nolan Danus (Morris Plains, N.J.).

The home opener for the Wildcats is on tap for this coming week as the men’s and women’s teams host Penn on Wednesday (November 10) beginning at 5 p.m.

Courtesy: NJIT Athletics