Nov. 10, 2009
Complete Results (PDF)
Villanova 162, George Washington 130
Drexel 150, Villanova 149
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.--In a double dual meet this past weekend, Villanova (1-2) swam to a 162-130 victory over George Washington (1-2), while falling in the narrowest of fashions to Drexel (4-2) by a score of 150-149 on Saturday at Drexel Pool. The Wildcats registered 24 individual season-best times and added four new qualifiers for the BIG EAST Championships during the meet.
Villanova had a strong showing in the 100 yard backstroke, where the trio of freshman Braden Clarke (Chappaqua, N.Y.), junior Chris Jordan (Holland, Mich.) and freshman Jordan Bickhart (Wyomissing, Pa.) finished second through fourth, respectively. Each of the three recorded their top times of the season in the event, with Clarke (54.09) and Jordan (54.89) lowering previous BIG EAST qualifying times. Bickhart finished with a time of 55.79 and qualified for the conference meet.
Sophomore Ted Sukramani (Williamsburg, Va.) touched second in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:00.76 and turned in a BIG EAST qualifying time in the process. He has now qualified for the BIG EAST meet in a team-high three events, having already notched qualifying marks in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Jordan finished fifth in the 200 IM in 2:05.87 and lowered his best time for the season by more than three seconds. Junior Justin Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa.) was sixth in 2:06.94.
In the 50 freestyle, junior Nick Williams (Holmdel, N.J.) was second out of 11 swimmers with a BIG EAST-qualifying time of 22.13. He was followed by freshman John Kracke (Marlboro, N.J.) in seventh with a time of 23.52 (season-best), while junior Tony Colalillo (Logansport, Ind.) was ninth in 23.78.
Freshmen Scott Thiede (Holmdel, N.J.) and Russell Paulson (West Chester, Pa.), along with Colalillo, finished two, three and four in the 200 free. Thiede lowered a BIG EAST qualifying standard to a season-best mark of 1:44.92, while Paulson qualified for the conference meet in the event for the first time with a finish of 1:47.87. Colalillo touched in 1:48.21 and was just 0.28 seconds above the BIG EAST mark.
The Wildcats posted second-place finishes in 11 of 14 individual events in the meet. Thiede and Sukramani accounted for three runner-up spots each. In addition to the 200 free, Thiede was second in the 100 free (48.47) and the 500 free (4:51.43). Meanwhile, Sukramani was the runner-up in the 200 breast (2:16.60) and the 1000 free (10:09.34).
Senior James Styles (Staten Island, N.Y.) was second in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions. His scores in the events were 191.62 and 178.13, respectively.
In the relays, Villanova posted its only win of the day in the 400 freestyle relay, swimming in 3:13.24 to outdistance Drexel by just 0.66 seconds. The winning quartet for the Wildcats included Thiede, Williams, Clarke and Sukramani. A second Villanova entry placed fourth in 3:20.82. The Wildcats also finished third in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:40.19. All three times for the various relay teams were season bests for Villanova.
Next up for the Wildcats is the team's home opener, which is against West Virginia on Friday afternoon.
