OCALA, Fla. - Villanova Swimming and Diving turned in another strong night of championship racing Friday evening at the 2026 BIG EAST Championships, highlighted by five champion medals and two new program records.
Anna Kilponen led the way with a champion swim in the women's 100 Fly (53.45) to move into second-fastest performer in program history. Anna Farley added a third-place finish in 54.02.
On the men's side, Zach Sutter reset the school record in the 100 Fly with a time of 47.72, finishing fourth overall.
The Wildcats dominated the women's 400 IM, going 1-2. Peri Gaguzis captured the conference title in 4:15.51, ranking third-fastest in school history, while Meghan Tiernan took silver in 4:16.01 to become the fifth-fastest performer all-time at Villanova.
Justin Nowicki earned gold in the men's 400 IM with a time of 3:47.65, the fastest in program history. Max Christensen followed with bronze in 3:51.41, moving into fourth all-time.
Villanova also took the top two podium spots in the women's 200 Free. Carlota Colomer Guasch won the event in 1:48.89, and Kayla Bolster secured silver in 1:49.31.
Winnie Jalet claimed the 100 Breast title in a personal-best 1:01.47 swim. In the women's 100 Back, Alana Leen grabbed bronze with a personal-best swim (55.04). Cole Gorsuch also finished with bronze for the men in the 100 Back (48.96).
In the women's 1-meter diving final, Meghan Scott took the bronze medal with a score of 259.35.
The women's 400 Medley Relay team of Leen, Jalet, Kilponen and Farley secured silver in 3:39.79, the second-fastest time in program history.
Through Friday's events, the Villanova women remain in first place in the team standings with 1,247 points, while the men sit in fourth place with 380 points heading into the final day of competition.
The fourth and final day of competition begins with preliminaries of the 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast and 200 Fly. The men's 3-meter diving preliminaries are set for 1 p.m. Finals will start at 5:45 p.m., with the early heats of the 1,650 Free scheduled to take place at 3:30 p.m. prior to the evening session.
