Kelly Montesi

Swimming & Diving

Women’s Swimming & Diving Wins 12 Events in 154-137 Victory over Georgetown

Kelly Montesi was a triple individual winner and also swam a leg of winning 200 yard medley relay

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Seven different athletes won at least one individual event and Villanova (2-0) placed first in each of the relays in a 154-137 victory over Georgetown (2-2) at McCarthy Pool on Saturday afternoon. Senior Kelly Montesi (Greenwich, Conn.) won all three of her events and graduate student Milly Routledge (North Ascot, U.K.) was a double winner to help the Wildcats win their second straight dual meet to open the season.
 
The other individual winners in the swimming events included senior Abbey Berloco (Cranbury, N.J.), senior Nicole Welch (Beverly, Mass.), graduate student Elizabeth Bailey (Brookhaven, Ga.) and sophomore Hannah Wasmuth (Peachtree Corners, Ga.). In addition, senior Andrea Holtz (Rosemount, Minn.) finished first in the one-meter diving competition. Villanova won both the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay to notch 12 first place finishes in all during the meet.
 
Montesi began the day by leading off the 200 medley relay and swimming the backstroke leg of the race for a Wildcats team which touched the wall first in 1:45.43. She was followed by junior Perri Stahl (La Grange, Ill.), Bailey and Routledge as Villanova held off the top Hoyas relay entry by just over 1.5 seconds at the finish. Later in the meet Montesi went on to win the 100 back (56.19), the 500 free (5:05.20) and the 200 IM (2:04.32).
 
It was business as usual for the Wildcats in the freestyle events, with Routledge and Berloco combining for 1-2 finishes in the 50 free, the 100 free and the 200 free. For the second straight meet Villanova swept the top three spots in the 200 free with Routledge winning 1:53.23 just ahead of Berloco (1:54.56) and Welch (1:55.62). Routledge added a win in the 50 free in 24.07 and held off Berloco (24.37) in second place by just three-tenths of a second. Freshman Lainey Quinones (Clarendon Hills, Ill.) came in fourth in that race with a time of 24.73.
 
The finish of the 100 free was even closer and Berloco posted a winning time of 52.43 to touch the wall one-tenth of a second ahead of Routldge (52.53) in second place. Sophomore Cara Stapleton (Dublin, Ireland) came in fifth in 53.82 to give the Wildcats three scorers in the race. In the longer distance races, Welch added to her third place finish in the 200 free by winning the 1000 free (10:24.39) and coming in second to Montesi in the 500 free (5:06.84).
 
Junior Brenna McLaughlin (Milford, Conn.) finished third in the 1000 free (10:37.46) and fourth in the 500 free (5:13.27). Sophomore Molly Benson (Kensington, Md.) and freshman Pepper Ritchey (Hellertown, Pa.) were fifth in the 500 free (5:15.56) and the 1000 free (10:44.49), respectively. All of those finishes added up o Villanova scoring 73 points in the five freestyle events.
 
In her second meet for the Wildcats, Bailey won the 200 fly in 2:07.01, came in third in the 100 fly with a time of 58.49 and anchored the 400 free relay squad to a first place finish. The two Villanova teams in the 400 free relay tallied first and second place finishes with times of 3:33.86 and 3:.13, respectively. Berloco led off for the Wildcats "A" lineup and was followed by Welch, Stahl and Bailey. The "B" lineup featured Benson, Quinones, senior Grace Wielar (Richmond, Va.) and Stapleton.
 
Wasmuth won the 200 back in 2:03.44 and Villanova had four of the five fastest times in the race. Sophomore Audrey Pastorek (Savannah, Ga.) came in third (2:07.57) and was followed by Wielar in fourth place (2:07.61) and freshman Francesca Raimondi (Manhasset, N.Y.) in fifth.
 
Other strong results for the Wildcats included junior Kaitlin Gravell (Ashton, Md.) coming in second in the 200 breast (2:24.62) and third in the 100 breast (1:08.18). Stahl was the runner-up in the 100 breast with a time of 1:06.60 while freshman Emily Zimmermann (Brielle, N.J.) fourth in the 200 breast (2:30.08) and fifth in the 100 breast (1:09.74). Ritchey was fourth (59.35) and Quinones fifth (1:00.51) in the 100 fly.
 
Holtz was the lone Villanova diver to compete on Saturday and she finished first on the one-meter board with 227.48 points to go along with a second place finish and a score of 236.25 in the three-meter competition.
 
The next meet for the Wildcats will be the home opener against Penn on November 10 at 5 p.m.

 
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Players Mentioned

Molly  Benson

Molly Benson

Sophomore
Abbey  Berloco

Abbey Berloco

Senior
Kaitlin  Gravell

Kaitlin Gravell

Junior
Andrea Holtz

Andrea Holtz

Senior
Brenna  McLaughlin

Brenna McLaughlin

Junior
Kelly  Montesi

Kelly Montesi

Senior
Audrey Pastorek

Audrey Pastorek

Sophomore
Milly Routledge

Milly Routledge

Graduate Student
Perri Stahl

Perri Stahl

Junior
Cara Stapleton

Cara Stapleton

Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Molly  Benson

Molly Benson

Sophomore
Abbey  Berloco

Abbey Berloco

Senior
Kaitlin  Gravell

Kaitlin Gravell

Junior
Andrea Holtz

Andrea Holtz

Senior
Brenna  McLaughlin

Brenna McLaughlin

Junior
Kelly  Montesi

Kelly Montesi

Senior
Audrey Pastorek

Audrey Pastorek

Sophomore
Milly Routledge

Milly Routledge

Graduate Student
Perri Stahl

Perri Stahl

Junior
Cara Stapleton

Cara Stapleton

Sophomore