NEW YORK – Seton Hall’s Joe Gibson and Villanova’s Kelly Montesi have earned this week’s BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week honors. This is the second award of the season for Gibson and the first for Montesi. The Pirate men took down visiting Towson by a 162.5-134.5 margin, while the women fell to the Tigers. The Wildcat women defeated BIG EAST foe Georgetown 196-103 on the road, but the Hoya men topped Villanova 178-120.
Around the rest of the league, Providence men prevailed over Fairfield 197-62, while the women fell to the host Stags 103-197. Both teams dropped decisions at Iona. Xavier women lost a close meet to visiting Bowling Green by just four points, but were victorious at Denison 140-122 the following day. On the men’s side, the Musketeers were bested by the Big Red on the road 86-176.
BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week
Joe Gibson, Seton Hall, Jr., Fly/IM (Chicago, Ill.)
Gibson helped the Pirates knock off Towson at home by securing three victories. With a time of 1:42.29, he touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle. That time is the second fastest time in the BIG EAST this season. Gibson then took top honors in the 500-yard freestyle, coming in at 4:40.19. He also won the 400-yard individual medley with a league second-best time of 4:08.14.
BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week
Kelly Montesi, Villanova, Fr., Fly/Back/IM (Greenwich, Conn.)
Montesi guided the Wildcats to a road win over conference rival Georgetown with three first-place finishes. She set a pool record at the Hoyas’ Albert G. McCarthy, Jr. Pool in the 400-yard IM, clocking in at 4:27.70, which is the top time in the league this season. Montesi won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.66. That time is second-fastest in the BIG EAST. She also led off with the backstroke leg on the Wildcats’ winning 200-yard medley relay, which was timed at 1:46.08. That relay time is the fastest in the conference.
Notable Performances
Michael Wheeler, Georgetown, Fr., Free (Lafayette, Calif.)
Wheeler was victorious in the two distance races in the Hoyas’ win against Villanova. He was first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:42.43. He followed that with another win in the 1000-yard freestyle at 9:34.28, which is the fastest in the BIG EAST. He was also part of the top 400-yard freestyle relay team that went 3:07.83.
Justin Viotto, Providence, Fr., Free/IM (Morristown, N.J.)
Viotto won five events between a loss to Iona and a win over Fairfield on the road. He captured wins in the 500-yard freestyle, clocking in at 4:46.82 and 1000-yard freestyle in 9:51.81. Viotto also won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:54.86. Against Fairfield, he was victorious in the 200-meter freestyle (2:08.78) and the 400-meter freestyle (4:14.26).
Emily Conners, Xavier, Jr., Free (Sunfish Lake, Minn.)
Conners led the way for the Musketeers with seven victories over the course of a two-meet weekend. She collected individual wins against BGSU in the 50-yard freestyle (23.69) and 100-yard freestyle (51.45), with the latter being the top time in the league. She was also on the first-place 400-yard medley relay squad that posted a time of 3:50.95, which is the best in the conference. Against Denison, Conners captured top finishes in the 50-yard freestyle (23.82), 100-yard freestyle (52.29) and 200-yard freestyle (1:53.40), individually. She also helped the 200-yard medley relay win in a time of 1:46.51 and collected a runner-up finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:31.86.