EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Thursday brought numerous trips to the medal podium for Villanova Women's Swimming and Diving as the Wildcats had five top-three performances to stay in first place through day two of the BIG EAST Championships at the Nassau County Aquatic Center.
Villanova still holds the top spot on the leaderboard with 587 points. Georgetown trails by 127.5 points, sitting in second at 459.5 while Connecticut is third at 438.5. The group had 10 Championship Final competitors on the day and notched a third relay victory on the week.
Cara Stapleton,
Lainey Quinones,
Lexi Elkovitch and
Perri Stahl delivered a winning time of 1:33.10 in the 200 Free Relay, taking the crown with a five-hundredths of a second edge on Seton Hall. Stahl posted a 22.76 split that was the fastest of anyone in the entire relay field, helping push Villanova to the win.
With this relay win, Villanova has now won nine consecutive BIG EAST relay titles since the 2021 Championships. The Wildcats swept relay action last season.
Audrey Pastorek claimed the lone individual gold of the day for the 'Cats, winning the 200 IM in 2:00.18. The junior threw down the ninth-fast time in program history to move into fifth on the all-time performer's list. She now has three BIG EAST crowns to her name, two of those being as an individual. The other top-three performances were all bronze-medal showings from
Molly Benson in the 500 Free (4:53.81),
Kaitlin Gravell in the 200 IM (2:02.48) and Stahl in the 50 Free (23.26).
Benson led a contingent of four Wildcats in the Championship Final of the 500 Free. She shaved nearly four seconds off of her prelim time, earning bronze with a personal best time of 4:53.81.
Mary Kate Farrell and
Pepper Ritchey also set new personal records with times of 4:54.93 and 4:55.06, respectively, that were good enough for sixth and seventh.
Brenna McLaughlin was close behind in eighth at 4:55.57.
Winnie Jalet was fifth in the 200 IM at 2:03.22. Elkovitch also came up fifth in the 50 Free, touching in 23.47.
On the boards,
Claire Feick was the only Wildcat in the Championship Final of the 3-meter. She was fourth through the prelims with a 249.00 score and stayed in fourth through the finals with a 510.35 total.
Day three of the championships brings the 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back and 400 Medley Relay. The day begins at 10 a.m. with prelims before the finals session at 5:45 p.m.
