PRINCETON, NJ – It has been about a month and a half since the Villanova swimming & diving team has faced competition, but that changed that on Jan. 10. The Wildcats kicked off 2020 by traveling out state to take on Princeton. However, the Tigers came away with the result, downing the Wildcats 232-68 on the men's side and 226-74 on the women's side.
Kelly Montesi netted the lone first-place finish for Villanova, swimming 2:01.52 in the 200 backstroke. She edged out her competition by .34 seconds to claim the victory. Montesi also took third in the 100 backstroke, going 57.67.
Milly Routledge took second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.15. She also took fourth in the 100 freestyle.
Nicole Welch also took second, although in the 500 freestyle. She went 4:54.77 in the event.
Bridie Dunn netted two third-place finishes, scoring 269.48 in the 1m dive and 266.10 in the 3m dive.
Rayann Jaryszak took third in the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.97.
On the men's side,
Justin Cucchi put on a show, taking first in the 100 and 200 backstrokes with times of 51.12 and 1:49.49, respectively. Cucchi also took second in the 200 IM, swimming 1:53.11. However, he was not the only one with multiple wins.
Stephen Krecsmar earned a second-place result in the 100 fly with a time of 51.08. He also took third in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle.
Andrew Kelley swam 51.27 in the 100 backstroke, taking second in the event, while
Michael Perra took second in the 3m dive with 358.88.
Jake McIntyre swam 9:34.52 in the 1000 freestyle, good enough for third place.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Jan. 11 when they host Providence for a men's only meet. That is scheduled to start at 12 P.M.
