VILLANOVA, Pa.—The men's and women's swimming & diving teams celebrated the 2019-20 squad with a virtual highlight and awards show on Friday evening. The event premiered for the first time on Facebook at 6:30 p.m. and can be viewed via the link at the top of this release. Head coach
Rick Simpson recognized the members of the 2019-20 men's and women's teams while awarding their varsity letters. He also presented the team's annual special awards, while each of the team's graduating seniors had a chance to make remarks in videos that were sent in to be a part of the awards show video. The virtual highlight and awards show took the place of the program's annual banquet which is held every spring.
"As we know this spring was far different," Simpson said during his closing remarks. "We didn't get the opportunity to really pay our due tribute in person. We missed graduation. We missed senior events, but we certainly look forward to having our seniors come back and to celebrate them at the right time. Not only was the Class of 2020 a big class, it was a fantastic class that made an amazing impact on our program both in the record books and on the culture of our program."
The team's annual special awards include the Wildcat Award, the Academic Excellence Award and the team's Most Valuable Performer awards. Each is presented to one men's and one women's student-athlete on the team. Below are each of the special award winners for the 2019-20 season.
WILDCAT AWARD
This award is presented annually to one men's and one women's athlete who most unselfishly dedicates themselves to the betterment and development of the program through leadership, competitive spirit and dedication. This honor is a peer award which is voted on by the student-athletes on the team who recognize one of their teammates.
Women's Winner
Andrea Fong, Freestyle (Moorestown, N.J.)
Fong is a nine-time individual BIG EAST scorer who earned All-BIG EAST honors in 2019 with a third place finish in the 500 yard freestyle at the conference championships. She has tallied seven career top-eight finishes at the BIG EAST meet, including three each in the 500 free and the 1650 free. Fong has placed sixth in the 1650 free at the BIG EAST Championships each of the last three seasons and has recorded personal best times during her collegiate career in the 200, 500 and 1650 free events, as well as in the 100 yard backstroke and the 100 yard breaststroke. She is a two-time member of the BIG EAST All-Academic Team and has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll three times.
Men's Winner
Michael Perra, Diving (Hastings, Minn.)
Perra is the three-time BIG EAST Championships Most Outstanding Men's Diver after sweeping the conference titles on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards in each of the last three seasons. He put a cap on his career at the conference championships in 2020, where he tallied winning totals of 579.00 points in the 1-meter competition and 568.10 points in the 3-meter competition. Perra swept those two events in dual meets against Georgetown, Providence and Connecticut during the 2019-20 season. He graduated cum laude as a Biology major with a double minor in Spanish Language and Literature & Global Health. Perra was an honorable mention selection to the CSCAA Scholar All-America Team in each of the past two years and was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester of his career. He is a four-time member of the BIG EAST All-Academic Team and a six-time Dean's List honoree.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD
This award is presented annually to one men's and one women's student-athlete who have the highest cumulative GPA. Simpson noted during his awards show remarks that the team is particularly proud of its high level of academic achievement and that the accomplishments of the Wildcats student-athletes in the classroom are equally important to their accolades in the pool.
Women's Winner
Rayann Jaryszak, Breaststroke/IM (Arlington, Texas)
Jaryszak is a Psychology major and Sociology minor who has tallied multiple semesters with a 4.0 GPA during her time at Villanova. She is a three-time member of the BIG EAST All-Academic Team and has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll in all six semesters of her academic career. Jaryszak was also named to the
Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Women's Swimming & Diving Team for both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, and she earned honorable mention CSCAA Scholar All-America honors for the 2017-18 campaign. She is a five-time BIG EAST champion and 10-time All-BIG EAST performer in the pool who won individual conference titles in the 100 yad breaststroke and the 200 yard individual medley at the 2019 BIG EAST meet.
Men's Winner
Jordan Fetterman, Butterfly/IM (Berkeley, Calif.)
Fetterman is a Chemical Engineering major with a minor in Engineering Entrepreneurship who has been named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team in each of the last three years. He is also a six-time member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll which recognizes student-athletes with a semester GPA of 3.2 or higher. Fetterman is a seven-time individual BIG EAST scorer and qualified for the 'B' final of the 100 yard butterfly at the conference championships in each of the last three seasons. He has also appeared in the 'B' final of the 200 yard butterfly and the 200 yard individual medley twice each. Fetterman posted personal best times in the 100 fly and the 200 IM at the 2020 BIG EAST Championships in addition to recording top times in the 50 free and the 100 breast earlier in the year.
MOST VALUABLE PERFORMER
The annual MVP awards are presented to one men's and one women's athlete who made the highest level of contribution to the program by way of points scored during the season and other noteworthy accomplishments.
Women's Winner
Kelly Montesi, Butterfly/Backstroke/IM (Greenwich, Conn.)
Montesi led the women's team in all scoring categories for the 2019-20 season, including individual points earned during the regular season with 182 overall points. With relay contributions added, Montesi scored a total of 199.75 points during the regular season. She added 99.25 points during the BIG EAST Championships and led the team with an overall season point total of 462.25 points. Montesi won conference titles in the 200 IM, the 400 IM and the 200 backstroke in addition to contributing to relay titles in the 200 and 400 yard medley relays as well as the 400 and 800 yard freestyle relays.
Men's Winner
Justin Cucchi, Backstroke/IM (Atlanta, Ga.)
Cucchi led the men's team in all scoring categories for the 2019-20 season and scored a total of 144 points in individual events during the regular season. His contributions in the relays brought his regular season point total to 148.5 points. Cucchi also led the team at the BIG EAST Championships with 54 individual points and an overall point total of 86.5 points. He set school records in the 200 IM and the 400 IM during the conference meet, and on the last day of the meet broke one of the Wildcats most prominent records on the books when he registered a new record in the 200 yard backstroke. Cucchi captured the BIG EAST title in the 400 IM and anchored Villanova's come-from-behind victory in the men's 800 yard freestyle relay on the first day of the meet. His overall season point total was a team-best 338 points.
