It was all Xavier and Villanova for the men and women, respectively, on day two of the Big East Conference Championships Thursday in Sewell, New Jersey.
The Villanova women kicked things off in the 500 free by taking the top four spots. Erin Merkle would touch first in 4:51.45, followed by teammates Emily Mayo, Mary Snyder and Colleen Lord.
In the 200 IM, Nova’s Sara Jurek took home top honors at 2:02.65. Seton Hall’s Kerri Kolackovsky would take second in 2:04.19, followed by Jessica Randolph in 2:04.78.
Building on Villanova’s success, Kaisla Kollanus took home the Big East crown in the 50 free with a 23.45. Teammate Fiona Hardie snagged a second place finish followed by Erica Fabbri of Georgetown who rounded out third in 23.65.
Villanova would finish off the night with a victory in the 200 free relay at 1:33.09, handily defeating second place Georgetown and third place Xavier.
For the men, Xavier’s 500 freestyler’s opened up Thursdays session by taking the top three spots. James Foster took the top spot at 4:30.63 followed by Arthur Smith at 4:33.62 and Nicholas Strader with a 4:34.27.
In the 200 IM, Xavier’s Chad Thompson and Erik Biernat would go 1-2. Thompson just out touched teammate Biernat at 1:50.22, Bienat would come in at 1:50.60. Providence’s John Fatigati took third in 1:51.33.
The men’s 50 free would see Xavier take the top four spots. Luke Johanns took home the Big East crown in 20.34, followed by Rodrigo Suriano in 20.79, Armando Moss in 20.89 and Michael Gordon in 20.92.
To finish off day two finals, Xavier dominated the men’s 200 free relay with a 1:21.23. Seton Hall would take second in 1:23.52 followed by Georgetown in 1:23.53
Day 2 Scores: Women
Villanova: 334
Georgetown: 302
Seton Hall: 202
Xavier: 191
Providence: 124
Butler: 94
Day 2 Scores: Men
Xavier: 321
Georgetown: 257
Seton Hall: 186
Villanova: 164
Providence: 92