February 28, 1999
Villanova University freshman swimmer Maddy Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./ Germantown Academy) was named the Big East Championships Most Outstanding Female Swimmer, helping lead the Wildcats to a second place finish in the three-day Conference Championships held at the Goodwill Games Aquatic Center in Uniondale, N.Y. The Villanova women finished with 613.50 points, 177 behind first place Notre Dame (790.50 points). The Wildcat men's swimming and diving team placed ninth at the conference championships with 213 points. With 756 points, Pittsburgh took home the men's Big East Championship.
A two-time high school national champion in the 400 yard individual medley from Germantown Academy, Crippen came into the weekend ranked No. 1 in the nation in that event and near the top in several others events. She would prove to be the top women's swimmer in the conference on this weekend, winning three individual Big East Championships, in addition to helping lead a Wildcat relay team to another. Crippen won the 500 yard freestyle for her first career Big East title, with an NCAA qualifying time of 4:44.64. She would also go on to a win conference title in the 400 yard individual medley, breaking the Big East record and qualifying for NCAA's with a time of 4:11.86. In her final individual event of the weekend, Crippen took the 200 yard butterfly crown with a Big East record and NCAA qualifying time of 1:58.77.
Two other Villanova women also won individual Big East Championships for the Wildcats. Sophomore Kristen Olson (Moon Twp., Pa./ Moon Area High School), won a Big East title in the 200 yard freestyle with a conference record time of 1:48.90. Olson has now won Big East Championships in consecutive seasons. In 1998, she won the conference title in the 50 yard freestyle. Senior Jackie Gruters defended her 1998 title in the 200 yard backstroke, winning the event with a time of 2:01.14.
In relay competition, the Wildcat 800 yard freestyle relay team comprised of senior Elizabeth Lauwaert, junior Tara Brock, Olson and Crippen won a Big East title, just missing a Big East record with a time of 7:22.23. Villanova's second relay championship came in the 400 yard freestyle relay, where freshman Bethany Lavigno, Lauwaert, Brock and Olson won with a time of 3:23.08.
The next destination for NCAA qualifiers is the NCAA Championships, with the women's NCAA's being held on March 18-20 in Athens GA., and the men's being held on March 25-27 in Indianapolis, Ind.
