MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The final day of action for the WVU Invitational saw
Kelly Motesi (Greenwich, Conn.) reset the program's best time in the 200 backstroke as Villanova finished in second with 1797.5 points Saturday at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.
In the six events that Villanova competed in on Saturday, it racked up eight top-five showings with two victories. The women's swimming & diving group as a whole finished just 73.5 points behind the hosting Mountaineers on the week, leaving with four gold medal swims, five silver and five bronze.
Montesi was a part of both Wildcat wins on Saturday, leaving the invitational with three individual wins and a relay victory. She took over the top spot in the 200 back that was previously held by Darby Goodwin who swam a 1:55.02 time at the 2017 BIG EAST Championships. Later on, she was the anchor in the 400 free relay with
Milly Routledge (North Ascot, U.K.),
Cara Stapleton (Dublin, Ireland) and
Abbey Berloco (Cranbury, N.J.), finishing with a time of 3:21.79.
Stapleton reset her personal best in the 100 free twice on the final day, swimming a 51.81 in the prelims before knocking her time down to 51.10 in the A-finals, good enough for fifth. Routledge, Berloco and
Lainey Quinones (Clarendon Hills, Ill.) all followed her in rounding out the A-finals in sixth (51.27), seventh (51.40) and eighth (52.05), respectively.
Villanova locked up a pair of top-five showings in the 1650 free with
Nicole Welch (Beverly, Mass.) taking third (16:53.88) and
Brenna McLaughlin (Milford, Conn.) finishing fifth (17:12.20).
Kaitlin Gravell (Ashton, Md.) was the lone Wildcat in the 200 Breaststroke A-Finals. She touched the wall fourth with a time of 2:18.76.
Elizabeth Bailey (Brookhaven, Ga.) won the morning prelims for the 200 Butterfly with a 2:03.66 swim, earning a spot in the A-finals. She finished third in the event with a 2:02.91 time.
Aside from the winning group in the 400 free relay to close the day, Villanova had another top-five unit in the race with
Grace Wielar (Richmond, Va.), Quinones,
Perri Stahl (La Grande, Ill.) and
Molly Benson (Kensington, Md.) finishing fifth (3:28.36).
The Wildcats are back at the Villanova Swim Complex on Tuesday, hosting La Salle at 1 p.m.
