#BIGEASTswim: Following Thursday’s Finals Villanova Men and Women Sit Atop the Leaderboards
Day 2 Results
GENEVA, Ohio - After the second day of competition at the 2018 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships presented by Jeep, the Villanova women surged to the top of the leaderboards with five gold medals in a quintet of races.
With 374 points, the Wildcats hold a commanding lead over the rest of the pack, as Georgetown sits in second with 207 points, followed by Seton Hall in third with 191 and Xavier in fourth with 172. Providence (97) and Butler (85) sit in fifth and sixth, respectively.
On the men’s side four teams have scored at least 200 points, with the Wildcats holding the advantage with 303. Georgetown sits closely behind in second with 262 points, while Seton Hall (218), Xavier (200) and Providence (92) round out the standings.
In the women’s 500-yard freestyle, Villanova seniors Caitlin Daday (4:47.83) and Christine Sullivan (4:49.75) claimed the top two spots on the podium, followed by Georgetown’s sophomore Cristina Barrett’s (4:52.10) third-place finish.
Similar to the women, upperclassmen stole the show in the men’s 500 free with Seton Hall seniors Noah Yanchulis (4:23.12) and Vadim Jacobson (4:24.59) finishing 1-2, followed closely behind by Villanova sophomore John Davidson, who claimed a bronze medal with a time of 4:27.11. Both Yanchulis and Jacobson set NCAA B-standard qualifying times in the event.
In the 200 IM, Villanova women captured the top five spots, with Darby Goodwin, Elise Pidutti and Rayann Jaryszak claiming gold, silver and bronze, respectively. Wildcat seniors Gabrielle Daigneault (fourth) and Mackenzie Niness (fifth) rounded out the top five. On the men’s side Georgetown’s Andrew Carbone just outstretched Villanova’s Justin Cucchi by .07 seconds in a time of 1:48.40 to secure gold. Overall, five racers set NCAA B-standard qualifying times in the 200 IM, including Carbone, Cucchi (1:48.47), Goodwin (1:59.20), Pidutti (2:00.55) and Jaryszak (2:01.14).
In the fastest event at the BIG EAST Championships, Villanova’s Alexandra Fabbri (22.63) and Xavier’s Emily Conners (22.92) set NCAA B-standard qualifying times in the 50 free, finishing first and second, respectively. For the men, Seton Hall junior Dakota Williams locked down a gold medal and NCAA B-standard qualifying time with a time of 20.11.
In the men’s 1-meter diving, the two-time defending champion in the event, Ryan Blom of Georgetown, nearly overcame a 20-point deficit following the morning preliminaries, finishing 1.9 points behind Villanova sophomore Michael Perra (537.30).
The night’s last event saw Villanova dominate as the Wildcats put up gold-medal finishes in both the men’s and women’s 200 free relay. On the men’s side, John Hoin swam the first leg on the winning relay squad (1:20.78), followed by Nicholas Spina, Christopher Paynter and Stephen Krecsmar. In the women’s event, Villanova picked up another pool record, with a time of 1:30.77. Fabbri swam the lead leg followed by Goodwin, Millicent Routledge and Taylor Wilson in the anchor position.
Day 3 will begin at 10 a.m. ET with the prelims for the 400-IM, 100-fly, 200-free, 100-breast, 100-back and the women’s one-meter diving with the finals being run in the fifth session of the championships at 6 p.m. ET on Friday. The finals of the 400-medley relay will close out the session.
For schedules, updates, live results and live coverage links please visit the
BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championship Central Page on BIGEAST.com
All Championship action will air live on the BIG EAST Digital Network on Fox Sports Go, with wall-to-wall coverage that includes all event preliminaries, finals and awards. Matt Schumacker will be poolside during the finals reporting on the action.
Team Rankings - After Day 2
Women
1. Villanova (374 points)
2. Georgetown (207)
3. Seton Hall (191)
4. Xavier (172)
5. Providence (97)
6. Butler (85)
Men
1. Villanova (303 points)
2. Georgetown (262)
3. Seton Hall (218)
3. Xavier (200)
5. Providence (92)