EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Each of the four championship finals saw Villanova take gold as the Wildcats pulled into first place through day two at the Nassau County Aquatic Center on Thursday.
The Wildcats had eight top-three finishes in the A-Finals, adding a silver and three bronzes to their tally for the day. Through 14 events, the Wildcats now have 599 total points, holding a 152-point edge over second-place UConn with 447. Georgetown rounds out the top three with 391 points.
All four Wildcats who swam in the 500 Free prelims made it to the A-Final, led by a 4:55.14 from
Nicole Welch that was good enough for second in the prelims with
Brenna McLaughlin third at 4:55.38. Welch maintained her position in the evening, becoming the fourth three-time champion in the event in program history with a 4:50.83 showing. McLaughlin earned bronze with a new personal best of 4:53.34.
Molly Benson finished sixth with a new personal best (4:56.50) while
Francesca Raimondi took eighth (4:59.34).
Kelly Montesi and
Kaitlin Gravell made moves in the Villanova record book during both the 200 IM prelims and finals with personal bests. Montesi had the top time in the heat at 1:59.94, moving her to third all-time in the event with the fourth-best time in team history. Gravell jumped into seventh on the all-time performance list for the event with a time of 2:02.33. By the end of the evening, Montesi's third 200 IM title time of 1:59.24 earned an NCAA-B standard qualifying time and pushed her second on the program's performance and all-time times lists in the event. Gravell's third-place 2:01.52 moved her to sixth on the team's performance ledger.
Audrey Pastorek touched the wall fifth with a personal best of 2:02.20.
Hannah Wasmuth was close behind in sixth at 2:03.10, also a personal best.
Villanova swept the top three spots in the 50 Free, led by a 22.81 winning time for
Milly Routledge, earning her second title in three years. Her latest time gives her the fifth and sixth fastest 50 Free times in Villanova history.
Abbey Berloco swam a silver time of 23.13 with
Perri Stahl earning bronze in 23.19, both being personal best times.
Lexi Elkovitch was fifth at 23.43.
The final event of the evening for the women brought a third relay win for the Wildcats on the week. Routledge, Elkovitch, Stahl and Berloco teamed up to deliver the fifth-fastest 200 Free Relay time in team history, clocking in at 1:31.66 to give Villanova 64 points.
Friday's third day of competition brings seven events for the women following the same format of swimming prelims at 10 a.m. with diving at noon before closing the day with finals starting at 5:45. Events for the day are 400 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 1 Meter Diving and 400 Medley Relay.
