Oct. 23, 2013
Complete Results
PHILADELPHIA - The Villanova women's swimming & diving team tallied nine first-place finishes as the Wildcats earned a season-opening win over La Salle, 180.5-115.5, Wednesday evening.
Junior Katrin Heider finished the meet with three first-place finishes. Heider earned top place in the 200 freestyle with a 1:52.81 and placed first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.40. Along with sophomore Kaisla Kollanus, junior Sara Jurek and freshman Jessica Randolph, Heider earned first in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:36.82.
Wildcat women swept the top three times in five events. In the 50 freestyle, Kollanus took first with a 24.42, while sophomore Fiona Hardie earned second with a 24.62 and Heider placed third just .01 seconds later.
Three freshmen placed in the top three spots in the 500 freestyle for Villanova. Emily Mayo came in first with a 5:04.35, Erin Merkle placed second with a 5:09.76 and Mary Snyder earned third with a 5:11.18.
"We have a large number of newcomers this year and I think they did a great job of adjusting to collegiate level swimming," said head coach Rick Simpson. "We look forward to the continued development of this group. They are very eager to learn and very coachable which is so important."
After Heider's first place in the 200 freestyle, Jurek placed second in the event with a 1:54.35 while freshman Jessica Randolph earned third (1:54.83).
In the 200 individual medley, Jurek took first well ahead of the rest of competition with a time of 2:09.66, while Snyder placed second (2:15.65) and sophomore Hayden Bumgarnder earned third (2:17.82).
Hardie placed first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.17, while freshman Kristin Haufler earned second (1:00.00) and junior Kate Koch placed third (1:00.45).
Mayo earned her second first-place finish in the 1000 freestyle with a final time of 10:18.87, almost 15 seconds ahead of the next swimmer. Merkle's second top finish came in the 200 butterfly (2:10.78). Koch placed second in the event with a 2:14.22.
Bumgardner took second in the 100 backstroke and had the team-best time of 1:01.28. Kollanus took second in the 100 breaststroke behind La Salle's Kelsey Jenkinson with a 1:07.38. Hardie placed third in the event (1:09.62).
Jurek placed second in the 100 freestyle behind Heider with a time of 53.18. Randolph took second in the 200 breaststroke (2:30.03) while Haufler placed third in the event (2:36.32).
The team of junior Claire Aksamit, Koch, freshman Megan Conrad and Snyder placed second in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:43.88.
Senior Michelle Hall had the team's best score on the 1-meter board with a final of 179.55. Hall placed second on the 3-meter board with a 215.85.
The team competes this weekend in Morgantown, W. Va., against the Mountaineers, Cincinnati and James Madison.
