MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Villanova notched five top-five performances throughout the first day of the WVU Invitational on Thursday at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.
The Wildcats sit at second in the six-team field with 462 points behind the hosting Mountaineers heading into Friday's second day of competition.
Freshman Andrew Mitchill (Killingworth, Conn.) and sophomore Ethan Brown (West Hartford, Conn.) reset their personal best swims twice in the 500 free (4:33.02) and 200 IM (1:51.36), respectively.
In 400 Medley Relay action to start off the finals nightcap, Villanova's unit of Brown, Mitchill, Kevin Geist (Hilton Head, S.C.) and Patrick Hemingway (Harrisburg, Pa.) were just over one second shy of a third-place performance, finishing fourth with a 3:22.38 mark.
The duo of Jake McIntyre (Essex, Vt.) and Mitchill combined for 2-3 finishes in the 500 free with 4:32.77 and 4:33.02 swims. They were joined by fellow Wildcats Charlie Hinckley (New York, N.Y.) and Aubrey Bowles (Richmond, Va.) who landed at seventh (4:37.56) and eighth (4:38.91).
Nolan Danus (Morris Plains, N.J.) clocked a 1:51.11 in the 200 IM that was good enough for fifth-place in the A-finals. He was followed closely by Brown with a 1:51.36 time that was good enough for sixth. Henry Halloran (Brookhaven, Ga.) was eighth in the finals race with a 1:53.99 time after solidifying a spot with a personal-best performance in the prelims (1:52.43).
Hemmingway turned in the best performance for Villanova in the 50 Free with a 21.25 that placed him at fourth in the B-final and 12^th overall in the event.
In the 200 Free Medley, Jesse Marsh (Kingston, Jamaica), Bowles, Ryan Maher (Phoenixville, Pa.) and Hemmingway recorded a 1:24.93 time that was good enough for sixth.
In the 1-meter dives, Michael Ackert (Rye, N.Y.) was the lone Wildcat in the final after a sixth-place score of 253.05 in the morning prelims. He moved up one spot in the final with a 269.20 that landed him at fifth. After falling just short of a spot in the finals in the morning, Nicholas Jubilee (Painted Post, N.Y.) won the 1-meter consolation final with a 256.70, squashing his preview personal best of 244.13 that he set against Georgetown on Oct. 30. Noah Clipman (Mohnton, Pa.) was third with a 240.35.
Friday's events are set to begin at 10 a.m. Live results from Morgantown, W. Va. are available at WVUsports.com/swimresults and Meet Mobile. Diving results can be found throughout the week on DiveMeets.com.