BIG EAST – MEN AND WOMEN
- Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25
- Nassau Aquatic Center, East Meadow, NY (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Villanova women (3x) & Xavier men (3x) (results)
- Championship Central
It was another exciting day at the Nassau Aquatic Center as the Big East Swimming and Diving Championships went into the second day of competition. After very competitive preliminary races all day – the best of the Big East swimmers and divers went on to the finals.
WOMEN
Birdie Dunn, winner of the women’s 1 meter. Courtesy: Gerry Dunn
The women’s 500 yard Freestyle was dominated by Villanova to open the second day of competition – continuing the program’s great tradition in the event. The Wildcat women swept the top spots with Emily Mayo taking gold with a time of 4:44.91 to defend her title – a second-and-a-half faster than the time with which she won last season. Caitlin Daday (4:51.75) and Mary Snyder (452.27) placed second and third. Mayo’s time was an NCAA Division 1 – “B” qualifying time.
The women’s 200 IM saw Villanova’s Darby Goodwin take the gold with a scorching 1:59.42. Dorothy Morgan of Georgetown followed for the silver touching the wall at 202.78. Third went to Georgetown’s Molly Fitzpatrick with a time of 2:03.15. Darby Goodwin’s time was also a NCAA “B” qualifying time.
The women’s 50 yard freestyle saw a tight finish. Alex Fabbri of Villanova out-touched her team mate Taylor Wilson for the gold with a time of 22.70. Wilson took silver with 23.96 followed by Emily Conners of Xavier with 23.02. Both Fabbri and Wilson’s time qualified for NCAA “B”.
The women’s 1-meter diving was a closely contested contest between Georgetown and Villanova. Meg Barnhorst of Georgetown and Bridie Dunn from Villanova were only separated by 4 points after prelims. Bridie Dunn took the lead after the first dive of finals and never looked back. She finished with a score of 534.4 – with Meg Barnhorst second (513.8) and Elizabeth Miller of Georgetown third (507.10). Both Barnhorst and Dunn achieved NCAA Zone qualifying scores in this event.
In the 200 freestyle relay Villanova took the gold again – matching their distance prowess with sprint success as well. Fabbri, Goodwin, Randolph and Wilson touched the wall with a time of 1:30.53. Xavier followed at 1:31.94 and Georgetown took third at 1:32.76.
MEN
In the men’s 500 yard freestyle Seton Hall bested the field with Noah Yanchulis winning the event with a time of 4:23.94. Vadim Jacobson of Seton Hall was second (4:28.15) and Jacob Kohlhoff from Georgetown third (4:29.10) Both Yanchulis and Jacobson had NCAA “B” qualifying times.
Seton Hall’s Lior Grubert won the men’s 200 IMwith a time of 1:49.36. He was followed to the wall by Dan Ross of Georgetown (1:49.88) and Justin Cucchi of Villanova (1:50.47)
In the men’s 50 Freestyle Dakota Williams raced to gold with a time of 20.40. He was closely followed to the wall by Jake Hoin from Villanova (20.59) and Albert Hitt of Xavier (20.60)
Team Scores at the completion of Day 2 – The Big East Swimming and Diving Championships:
Women: Men:
- Villanova 369 1. Seton Hall 292
- Georgetown 246 2. Georgetown 267
- Xavier 186 3. Villanova 224
- Seton Hall 141 4. Xavier 185
- Providence 123 5. Providence 85
- Butler 62
Editor’s note: Gerry Dunn is the father of Birdie Dunn of Villanova.