Feb. 20, 2011
RESULTS
Saturday Preliminaries: HTML | PDF
Saturday Finals: HTML | PDF
Final Team Scores: HTML | PDF
Complete Men's Results: PDF
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Sophomore swimmers Russell Paulson (West Chester, Pa.) and Jordan Bickhart (Wyomissing, Pa.) each competed in the 1650 yard freestyle and Villanova wrapped up four days of competition at Wright Natatorium in Louisville with a ninth place team finish in the BIG EAST Championships on Saturday night. The two races in the 1650 free and the final team relay - the 400 yard freestyle relay - highlighted competition on Saturday.
In the 1650 free race, Paulson swam to an 11th place finish out of 22 swimmers with a time of 15:57.16. Bickhart came in 18th and registered a time of 16:26.73. Paulson and Bickhart are the only two Wildcats who have competed in the 1650 free during the season.
Paulson later swam the second leg of the 400 free relay, which was the final event of the championships meet. Villanova fielded a lineup of sophomore Scott Thiede (Bethesda, Md.), Paulson, junior Ted Sukramani (Williamsburg, Va.) and freshman Kyle Grant (Winnetka, Ill.) and placed eighth out of 10 teams with a time of 3:06.82. Thiede had the leadoff spot for the Wildcats and had the fastest 100 free split for the team with a time of 46.13.
Earlier in the day Thiede competed in the preliminaries of the individual 100 free competition and tied for 20th place in a field of 55 swimmers. He posted a time of 46.07 in his preliminary race to lead a group of four Villanova athletes. Thiede was followed by senior Tony Colalillo (Logansport, Ind.) in 41st place (48.20), sophomore JV Kracke (Marlboro, N.J.) in 42nd place (48.21) and senior Tom Maughan (Park Ridge, N.J.) in 47th place (49.52).
In the preliminaries of the 200 backstroke, Grant placed 19th out of 37 with a time of 1:52.18, while Bickhart came in 23rd (1:54.49), sophomore Braden Clarke (Chappaqua, N.Y.) was 25th (1:56.18) and senior Christopher Jordan (Holland, Mich.) placed 29th (1:56.99).
Sukramani and senior Justin Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa.) came in 25th and 28th, respectively, in the preliminaries of the 200 breaststroke. Sukramani touched the wall in 2:09.93 and Stephens was close behind with a mark of 2:12.61.
In the preliminary races for the 200 butterfly, freshman Ben Smith (Sudbury, Mass.) came in 23rd out of 36 swimmers with a time of 1:54.34 and junior Marc Maurizi (Lancaster, Pa.) was 29th (1:58.28).
As a team, the Wildcats finished with 113 points and finished ninth out of 11 scoring teams in the meet. Tournament host Louisville won the men's team title with 917 points, while Notre Dame (713.5) and Pittsburgh (503) rounded out the top three. Villanova finished ahead of both Providence (83) and Syracuse (30).
COMPLETE VILLANOVA RESULTS
1650 Yard Freestyle
FINALS
Russell Paulson - 11th of 22 (15:57.16)
Jordan Bickhart - 18th (16:26.73)
200 Yard Backstroke
PRELIMINARIES
Kyle Grant - 19th of 37 (1:52.18)
Jordan Bickhart - 23rd (1:54.49)
Braden Clarke - 25th (1:56.18)
Christopher Jordan - 29th (1:56.99)
100 Yard Freestyle
PRELIMINARIES
Scott Thiede - tie-20th of 55 (46.07)
Tony Colalillo - 41st (48.20)
JV Kracke - 42nd (48.21)
Tom Maughan - 47th (49.52)
200 Yard Breaststroke
PRELIMINARIES
Ted Sukramani - 25th of 39 (2:09.93)
Justin Stephens - 28th (2:12.61)
200 Yard Butterfly
PRELIMINARIES
Ben Smith - 23rd of 36 (1:54.34)
Marc Maurizi - 29th (1:58.28)
400 Yard Freestyle Relay
Villanova - 8th of 10 (3:06.82) - Thiede, Paulson, Sukramani, Grant
Team Rankings
Villanova - 9th of 11 (113 Points)
