PHILADELPHIA – Five events saw Villanova with the top spot in Wednesday's meet at Penn, but the Wildcats ultimately fell to the Quakers, 186-112 at the Sheerr Pool in Philadelphia.
Villanova (0-3) had four individual wins in the loss to Penn (1-1), two of those coming from freshman
Winnie Jalet. All-told, the Wildcats recorded 16 top-three performances on the evening.
For the second time this season, Jalet swept the breaststroke, picking up her third and fourth winning swims of her debut campaign with the 'Cats. The 100 Breast brought a close race, edging Penn's Isabella Pytel by five-tenths of a second for a 1:05.07 victory. Later in the 200 Breast, she posted a winning time of 2:20.79.
Audrey Pastorek posted a win for a third consecutive meet, earning her fourth victory of the season with a 57.44 in the 100 Back, an event she has now won twice this year.
Kaitlin Gravell added a win for Villanova in the 400 IM, touching in 4:26.89 for the first victory of her senior campaign.
Villanova's A team of
Cara Stapleton,
Lainey Quinones,
Lexi Elkovitch and
Perri Stahl posted the fastest time in the 400 Free Relay at 3:31.01.
On the diving boards to start the day,
Claire Feick and
Caroline Blankenbecler finished third and fifth, respectively in both the 1 meter and 3 meter dives. Feick scored a 241.05 in the 1 meter and a 241.05 in the 3 meter. Blankenbecler went 205.80 in the 1 meter while scoring 205.80 in the 3 meter,
The 200 Medley Relay A team of Pastorek, Jalet,
Lainey Quinones and
Perri Stahl earned points with a second-place finish in 1:46.07, touching the wall just over two-tenths of a second behind first.
Brenna McLaughlin and
Pepper Ritchey posted fourth and fifth place showings in the 1000 Free, finishing in 10:38.52 and 10:59.45, respectively. In the 200 Free,
Mary Kate Farrell grabbed a second-place 1:55.60 with Quinones following behind her in third at 1:56.61.
Katie White was second in the 200 Fly at 2:04.57 while Stahl and Quinones were second and third in the 50 Free with times of 24.44 and 24.61, respectively.
Cara Stapleton led a 3-4-5 showing for Villanova in the 100 Free, touching in 53.07. Farrell followed her in fourth at 53,72 while
Lexi Elkovitch came in just behind her at 53.72.
Pastorek was just under eight-tenths of a second shy of sweeping the backstroke on the day, touching second in the 200 Back with a time of 2:06.86. Stahl touched fourth in the 200 Breast at 2:25.61. McLaughlin was the fastest Wildcat in the 500 Free, posting a 5:16.01 that was good enough for fourth. Jalet and
Pepper Ritchey scored points for Villanova in the 100 Fly, finishing fifth (59.41) and sixth (59.92).
