Villanova Women, Xavier Men Sweep Day 2’s Swimming Events at 2015 Big East Championships

2015 Big East Swimming & Diving Championships

Women’s Recap

Scores After Day 2

1. Villanova – 329
2. Georgetown – 270
3. Xavier – 180
4. Seton Hall – 147
5. Butler – 94
6. Providence College – 83

The Villanova women extended their lead early in day 2, using their impressive middle-distance and distance groups to dominate just as they did on Wednesday in the 800 free relay.

The Wildcats took four out of the top five spots, led by a runaway victory from Emily Mayo in 4:45.85 – improving her lifetime best by almost two seconds.

She would be followed by teammates Caitlin Daday (4:52.08) in 2nd, Erin Merkle (4:55.98) in 4th, and Mary Snyder (4:56.37) in 5th.

In and among that group was Georgetown freshman Christine Ryan, who placed 3rd in 4:54.30.

In the 200 IM, Villanova went big again, including five swimmers in the A-Final, led by a 1-2-3 from Fiona Hardie (2:02.70), Gabrielle Daigneault (2:03.00), and Sara Jurek (2:03.22). Xavier’s Carolyn Stewart broke the run with a 4th-place 2:05.74.

By that point, Villanova had opened up a 96-point lead over Georgetown. The 50 free saw another Villanova win from Kaisla Kollanus in 22.97, but Georgetown was able to hold serve thanks to a 2-3 finish from Erica Fabbri (23.17) and Bailey Page (23.63).

Georgetown was able to make up big points on the 3-meter springboard, as they fielded three of the four entered divers, and took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places.

But the day’s swimming was all Wildcats, as they finished the session out with a 1:32.61 in the 200 free relay, including a 22.60 from the individual champion Kollanus. Xavier was 2nd in 1:34.31, and Georgetown took 3rd in 1:34.93.

Expect more of the same scoring-wise on Friday, starting with the 400 IM where Villanova holds the top 6 seeds.

Men’s Recap

Scores After Day 3

1. Xavier 327
2. Georgetown 257
3. Seton Hall 203
4. Villanova 154
5. Providence 98

Like the Villanova women, the Xavier men swept the day’s events, beginning with a 1-2 from James Foster (4:30.15) and Alex Wolfred (4:31.03) in the men’s 500 free.

Next up came a 1:50.06 200 IM from Erik Biernat to take the win ahead of Georgetown’s Daniel Ross (1:51.18). Biernat was able to gain separation with a 31.46 breaststroke split: the fastest in the A-final.

The Musketeers showed off their range by placing 5 sprinters into the A-Final of the men’s 50 free. Luke Johanns wound up on top of the podium in 20.36, just .05 slower than his top-qualifying prelims swim, and he was followed by teammates Armando Moss (20.53) and Michael Gordon (20.89) in 2nd and 3rd.

Those three combined with Rordigo Suriano coming out of the diving break to dominate the 200 free relay in 1:21.44. Georgetown was 2nd in 1:23.36, and Villanova was 3rd in 1:23.42.

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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