Oct. 26, 2013
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - The women's swimming & diving team recorded eight top-three finishes and earned fourth place in the West Virginia Invitational Friday and Saturday.
Through Friday and Saturday's three events, Villanova placed fourth with a combined score of 724.
Junior Katrin Heider, freshman Jessica Randolph, sophomore Kaisla Kollanus and junior Sara Jurek took first in the 800 freestyle relay in the second day of competition, finishing with a final time of 7:35.60.
The Wildcats finished Friday with a big third place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. Kollanus, sophomore Fiona Hardie, Jurek and Heider earned a time of 1:28.10 in the event.
Freshman Emily Mayo took third place in the 1000 freestyle with a final time of 10:18.34.
Freshman Megan Conrad earned the Wildcats' top time and fourth place in the 200 backstroke with a 2:10.39. Kollanus also took fourth place, in the 100 freestyle with a 52.62.
The women finished the first day in third place behind James Madison and Cincinnati with a total score of 202.
Randolph continued a great start to her Wildcat career as she finished second in the 400 individual medley on Saturday morning (4:34.59).
Hardie earned third place in the 100 butterfly with a 58.35. Heider took second in the 200 freestyle with a final time of 1:53.78.
Through the first two sessions, Villanova remained in third place with a total score of 860.
Kollanus, Randolph, Heider and Jurek took second in the 400 freestyle relay (3:29.83) to start the Saturday afternoon session.
Mayo took her second top-three finish of the weekend with second place in the 500 freestyle (5:00.92).
Kollanus took fifth in the 50 freestyle with a 24.66, just .75 seconds behind the first place time.
Senior Michelle Hall earned Villanova's highest score on Friday on the 3 meter board with a 173.25. She also placed highest on the 1 meter board for the Wildcats with a score of 169.30 on Saturday. West Virginia's Haily VandePoel took both events with a 321.30 and 279.00, respectively.
The team travels to Storrs, Conn., to take on UConn on Nov. 2 at noon.
