EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – The Villanova women never looked back on Saturday – winning their sixth consecutive BIG EAST title. The Wildcats were dominant all week winning every gold medal but one. The Xavier men took the lead on Saturday trading wins with the Georgetown Hoyas. Xavier’s depth was too much for the Hoyas– and Xavier took the final lead halfway through the last day of competition.
Villanova earned 1,007.5 points for the win. It was their goal to break the 1000 point mark – but it is rare to see in a Championship meet. Xavier swam well in the championship with 662 points – but they were still 345.5 points behind the Wildcats. On the men’s side the meet was much closer. Xavier snuck by Georgetown by just 35.5 points on the last day of competition. The Musketeers ended the Championships with 779.5 points edging out the Hoyas with 744.
Special awards for Most Outstanding Swimmers and Divers were awarded before the Team trophies at nights end. Villanova swept the diving golds on both the Men’s and Women’s side. Wildcat Michael Perra repeated as Big East Champion on both boards and was awarded Most Outstanding Men’s Diver for the second year. Villanova’s Bridie Dunn also took gold on both boards to win Most Outstanding Women Diver for the Wildcats. Georgetown’s Drew Carbone repeated as the Most Outstanding Swimmer of the meet on the men’s side, while Villanova’s Kelly Montesi won the Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer award.
The Women’s Coach of the Year award went to Rick Simpson of Villanova for the second consecutive year. The Coach of the Year for the men was won by Georgetown’s Jack Leavitt. Marc Van Dyken of Georgetown was named the Women’s Diving Coach of the Year and Villanova’s Todd Michael earned his second straight Men’s Diving Coach of the Year honor.
1,650 Yard Freestyle
Villanova’s Nicole Welch won the mile swim after winning the 500 freestyle on Thursday. She touched at 16:35.21 for the gold. Hoya Cristina Barrett was the silver medalist in 16:42.33, while Wildcat Emily Provenzo grabbed the bronze with a time of 16:57.43.
For the men – Michael Wheeler had a dominant win by touching the wall at 15:19.18 for the Hoyas. Villanova’s John Davidson and Noah Chernik followed for silver and bronze at 15:43.21 and 15:47.44.
200 Backstroke
Villanova senior Darby Goodwin was perfect – defending her 200 Backstroke Title for the fourth straight year. She broke two minutes by touching at 1:59.09. Xavier’s Caroline Gaertner (2:00.15) took silver by out-touching Eve Mauze (2:00.18) of Georgetown by just three one hundredths of a second.
Georgetown’s Drew Carbone defended his 200 backstroke title with a time of 1:43.77. Villanova’s Justin Cucchi was second in 1:44.91, and in third was Nathan Runyon of Xavier in 1:45.93.
100 Yard Freestyle
Wildcat Alexandra Fabbri secured her third consecutive title in this event with a time of 49.86. Villanova’s Taylor Wilson (50.00) took the silver by out-touching Xavier’s Emily Conners (50.01) by just one hundredth of a second.
Dakota Williams of Seton Hall won the 100 freestyle for the third consecutive year. His time of 44.21 bested two Xavier sprinters who followed. Musketeer Samuel Johanns took the silver in 44.81 and David Bunnell captured third in 45.26.
200 Yard Breaststroke
Villanova’s Rayann Jaryszak completed her sweep of breaststroke events taking the gold in 2:18.41. Hoya Alexandra Rieker followed for silver in 2:19.57 and Alexa Kolodgie of Seton Hall for bronze in 2:19.66.
Seton Hall’s Josh Tosoni repeated as 200 breaststroke champion handily breaking the two minute mark with a time of 1:58.72. Xavier’s Matthew Dyer came in second at 2:00.11, with teammate Cameron Weese taking third place in 2:00.84.
200 Butterfly
Kelly Montesi of Villanova won her second individual Big East Title by taking the top spot in the 200 butterfly. She broke the two minute mark with a time of 1:58.60. Fellow Wildcat Elise Pidutti followed with 2:00.38 and Xavier’s Taylor Hogan was third in 2:01.79.
For the men – Xavier’s Landon Clark won the gold in the men’s 200 butterfly with a time of 1:49.20. He out-touched Liam Cosgrove of Seton Hall who clocked 1:49.34. Seton Hall’s Ben Puglessi rounded out the top three for the bronze in 1:50.26.
One Meter Springboard
Bridie Dunn of Villanova swept the women’s diving events with a victory on the 1 meter springboard. Dunn scored 532.00 points to secure the win and her second Big East title on 1 meter. Georgetown followed with Silver and Bronze with Elizabeth Miller scoring 522.45 points and teammate Margaret Barnhorst 513.55 points .
400 Freestyle Relay
In the final race of the Championship – Villanova had a convincing win in the women’s 400 freestyle relay. The team of Fabbri, Goodwin, Routledge and Wilson together went 3:20.05 for the win. Xavier earned the silver medal in 3:23.49 and the bronze went to the Hoya’s in 3:27.18.
On the men’s side it was an exciting finish as Xavier out-touched Georgetown for the win. Xavier’s relay of Johanns, Thomas, Abboud and Bunnell combined to go 3:00.24 just ahead of the Hoyas at 3:00.97. Seton Hall earned the bronze with 3:03.06.
Major Awards
Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer – Kelly Montesi, Villanova
Men’s Most Outstanding Swimmer – Drew Carbone, Georgetown
Women’s Most Outstanding Diver – Bridie Dunn, Villanova
Men’s Most Outstanding Diver – Michael Perra, Villanova
Women’s Coach of the Year – Rick Simpson, Villanova
Men’s Coach of the Year – Jack Leavitt, Georgetown
Women’s Diving Coach of the Year – Marc Van Dyken, Georgetown
Men’s Diving Coach of the Year – Todd Michael, Villanova
Michael Perra and Bridie Dunn of Villanova with Outstanding Diver of the Meet Awards – photo by Gerry Dunn
Final Team Standings
WOMEN
1. Villanova 1,007.5 pts.
2. Xavier 662
3. Georgetown 643.5
4. Seton Hall 427
5. Butler 232
6. Providence 220
MEN
1. Xavier 779.5 pts.
2. Georgetown 744
3. Seton Hall 660
4. Villanova 585.5
5. Providence 227
So the Men’s coach of the year goes to the guy with a 70-0 advantage in diving points who finishes 2nd over the team who won? Ridiculous.
Good point. It looks like the Muskies Coach from Xavier may have been a more deserving coach. Unless Katie Meli’s coaching efforts helped the Georgetown Coaching staff receive the honors.
How come coach Sapp didn’t get the award?