SOUTH ORANGE, N.J.—Six different swimmers won at least one individual event and Villanova (3-0) powered past Seton Hall (0-1) for a 151-108 dual meet victory at Arthur E. Imperatore Natatorium on Sunday afternoon. Junior
Kelly Montesi (Greenwich, Conn.) was a triple winner individually and also swam a leg of the first place 200 yard medley relay for the Wildcats, who claimed at least the top two spots in five of the 12 individual races contested during the meet.
Villanova showcased its depth in the freestyle distances with 1-2 sweeps in the 100, 200 and 500 yard races, while the Wildcats also had the top two finishers in both the 100 yard breaststroke and the 200 yard individual medley. The team also won both the 200 yard medley relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay to bookend the successful afternoon of competition.
"I am very impressed with how our program is making improvements each meet after nearly a year of no racing," Villanova head coach
Rick Simpson said. "Our strength today was our closing speed. We did a nice job of focusing on the last 10 yards of our races and getting hands on the wall quickly"
Montesi won the 200 yard butterfly, the 200 yard backstroke and the 200 IM in addition to swimming the butterfly leg of the 200 medley relay. All told, she accounted for 29.75 team points in her four races of the day. She posted winning times of 2:05.36 in the 200 fly, 2:03.99 in the 200 back and 2:08.60 in the 200 IM. Junior
Nicole Welch (Beverly, Mass.) was a double winner on the day with wins in the 500 free (5:08.99) and the 1000 free (10:26.21). She also pulled off the 500/1000 double in a dual against Drexel last week.
If one race could be considered the best of the day for the Wildcats, it was the 200 free race in which Villanova tallied a 1-2-3 sweep. Freshman
Molly Benson (Kensington, Md.) touched the wall first with a winning time of 1:57.95, while senior
Andrea Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) and sophomore
Perri Stahl (La Grange, Ill.) followed her with times of 1:58.47 and 1:59.80, respectively. Stahl later notched a second place finish of her own with a time of 2:28.66 in the 200 yard breaststroke. She began the meet by anchoring the 200 medley relay with a split of 23.96 on the freestyle leg.
The senior duo of
Rayann Jaryszak (Arlington, Texas) and
Milly Routledge (North Ascot, United Kingdom) displayed strong form in each of their respective individual events. Jaryszak won the 100 yard breaststroke in 1:07.87 and came in second to Montesi in the 200 IM with a time of 2:10.22, while Routledge took first place in the 100 free in 52.53 and finished second in the 50 yard freestyle in 24.69. Routledge also anchored the 400 free relay with a split of 52.91 on the final leg of the race. Jaryszak swam the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay with a split of 30.38.
Freshman
Audrey Pastorek (Savannah, Ga.) was also an individual winner on Sunday with a time of 59.16 in the 100 yard backstroke.
"It was a great win for our women today," Simpson said of the team result, "A mid-day Sunday meet on the road is very abnormal for us, but the women did a great job of focusing on the task at hand and getting the job done."
Other highlights of the day for Villanova came from the trio of sophomore
Kaitlin Gravell (Ashton, Md.), senior
Emily Provenzo (Glen Allen, Va.) and junior
Abbey Berloco (Cranbury, N.J.) who each tallied a pair of top-three individual finishes. Gravell was the runner-up in the 100 breast (1:08.12) and came in third in the 200 back (2:08.10), while Provenzo was second in the 500 free (5:10.74) and third in the 1000 free (10:29.44). Berloco touched the wall second in the 100 free (53.49) and third in the 50 free (24.71).
