Notre Dame is already in danger of running away with their second-straight Big East title after two days. Though Louisville will get better when the stroke races come around, the Irish have amassed a sizable lead already. Meanwhile, the women’s race stayed very tight.
The big story of the day might have been the continuing success of Pitt, who has already broken 7 school records, shockingly, through only two days of this meet. That’s almost unfathomable success, and a storyline of this meet: coming in, it was all supposed to be about Notre Dame and Louisville, but the other teams in the conference are really putting up surprising performances.
Women’s 500 Yard Free Final
Villanova’s distance program is the best in the country that you’ve never heard of (maybe alongside former conference-mates West Virginia). They demonstrated that by going 1-2 in this women’s 500 free, led by senior Hayley Edwards in a 4:43.41, and Roxanne Tammadge taking 2nd in 4:45.77.
Pitt’s Kelsey Herbst took 3rd in 4:45.82, a new School Record, with Abby Chin touching 4th for Louisville in 4:48.45.
Men’s 500 Yard Free Final
Notre Dame’s Frank Dyer took care of business in the front-half of his unique double on day 2 of the Big East Championships, taking the meet’s first individual title with a 4:20.53 in the 500 free. With a comfortable lead over teammate Kevin Hughes (4:23.67) and Brennan Jacobsen (4:23.71), and even a further gap until anybody not wearing the blue and gold, Dyer seemed to ease off of his last 100 yards to cruise to the finish. He’ll now be counting on his 200 free on Friday to really feel comfortable about getting his NCAA invitation.
In this race, specifically, he was saving energy for the 50 free later in the session. This is not a double we see done a whole lot, because frankly why would most 500 freestylers choose the 50 instead of the 100 or 200 as second and third events? Likely, the answer has to do with team scoring.
Connecticut freshman Michael Lennon took 4th in 4:24.88.
Louisville’s highest finisher was freshman Bryan Draganosky winning the B-Final in 4:24.68, which dropped them all the way to 4th and already put the Irish into the lead by more than 100 points.
Women’s 200 Yard IM Final
Notre Dame’s Emma Reaney broke her own Meet Record from last year in this 200 IM with a 1:56.37 (.05 better than last year). She won this race over Louisville All-American Tanja Kylliainen on the breaststroke leg, where she had more than a full-second advantage on the field. Kylliainen was 2nd in 1:57.53, followed by Louisville sophomore Erica Belcher in 1:59.61.
That’s the first time in Belcher’s career that she’s been under two minutes (she was just a 2:02 all-time coming into this meet). She had a great front-half, turning in a 55.1, but gave it all back on the breaststroke and freestyle legs. Of note, that’s a top three who are all sophomores.
Pitt’s Joanna Budzis was 4th in 2:00.00, which is another new school record for the Panthers.
Villanova’s Sara Jurek continued to perform very well for them, winning the B-Final in 2:02.54.
Men’s 200 Yard IM Final
This race saw another 1-2-3 finish from Notre Dame as they really started to put some muscle into Louisville. Sophomore Zach Stephens took the win in 1:45.41, biding his energy perfectly for the back-half of the race. His teammate William Bass was 2nd in 1:45.78, followed by Colin Babcock in 1:46.40.
In this all Notre Dame and Louisville final, the Cardinals took 4th from Evan Noble, and then 5th from freshman Nolan Tesone, but then lost a big scoring opportunity when Alex Burtch was DQ’ed.
Women’s 50 Yard Free Final
Louisville got their first individual win of the meet in this women’s 50 free from stud freshman freestyler Kelsi Worrell. She took the win in 22.62, and along with UConn’s Chinyere Pigot (22.99) was one of only two swimmers under 23 seconds in this race.
Worrell gets better as the races get longer, so this early time is a great omen for her 100 and 200 later in the meet.
The Cardinals also took 3rd (Kristina Brandenburg, 23.03), 4th (Grite Apanaviciute, 23.14) and 6th in this race. Cincinnati’s Helena Pikhartova was in between in 5th with a 23.27.
Men’s 50 Yard Free Final
Dyer did it. Not only did he pull off the impressive double, but he did so in School Record fashion with a 19.62 – making him the first Notre Dame swimmer to ever win this 50 freestyle Big East title.
Louisville’s Joao de Lucca was 2nd in 19.73, making this a winning strategy for the Irisih. Presumably, the theory is with Dyer having such a fast start, if you have to try and beat de Lucca twice in this meet, make one of those times where speed off the blocks gives you the biggest advantage.
Women’s 1 Meter
The Notre Dame women kept there scoring close by putting four divers in the top 8. That was led by an event victory from Allison Casareto with a score of 311.80. That was just ahead of her teammate Danielle Cecco in 307.25.
Women’s 200 free relay
Led by four sub-23 splits, including a 22.98 from the individual champion Worrell, Louisville took the victory in this women’s 200 free relay with a 1:30.93. Notre Dame was a close 2nd in 1:31.75, with Cincinnati a ways back in 3rd in 1:33.44.
Men’s 200 Free Relay final
With 7 of the 8 swimmers between the two splitting under 20 seconds, Notre Dame came from a narrow early deficit to win the men’s 200 free relay in 1:18.37, giving them a small bit of momentum headed into the meet’s third day. The Irish took 2nd in 1:18.91.
The beat splits were a 19.2 from de Lucca and a 19.3 from Sam Hoekstra for Louisville, and those were the legs that won the race. Dyer just missed his own school record with a 19.74 leadoff for Notre Dame.
Women’s Scores:
Louisville 332
Notre Dame 302
Pittsburgh 188
Villanova 160
Rutgers 153.5
U. Connecticutt 143
U. Cincinnati 117.5
Seton Hall 68
Georgetown 62
Providence 42
Men’s Scores:
Notre Dame 367
Louisville 224
Pittsburgh 191.5
U. Connecticutt 167.5
Georgetown 101
U. Cincinnati 86
Villanova 79
Seton Hall 76
Providence 61