MORGANTOWN, WV –  Villanova swimming and diving had a strong showing on the second day of the WVU Invitational at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va.
 
Senior Molly Benson recorded a new personal best and event win the 200 freestyle. Benson won the prelim in 1:49.68 before improving her time in the final (1:48.33) for a new personal best. The Kensington, Md. native beat the second-place finisher in Navy's Gabi Baldwin (1:49.40) by just over one second.
 
In the 100 backstroke, senior Audrey Pastorek finished third in 54.24. Pastorek also joined forces with graduate students Maggie Kleinsmith and Lauryn Johnson, and freshman Alyssa McHale in the 200 medley relay. The quartet finished ninth in a field of more than 20 squads, clocking in at 1:42.97. Additionally, Kleinsmith had a strong showing in the 100 breaststroke touching the wall at 1:03.01.
 
The 400 IM saw two top-five finishes by freshmen Meghan Tiernan and Peri Gaguzis. Tiernan (4:24.57) outreached teammate Gaguzis (4:24.87) to finish fourth and fifth, respectfully.
 
Sophomore Arabella Lee had a busy day in the pool competing in five events. In the prelims, Lee swam 56.89 in the 100 backstroke and 55.54 in the 100 butterfly to get through to the finals. The Marlboro, N.J. native dropped two seconds in the 100 backstroke final clocking in at 54.89 to finish ninth overall. In the 100 backstroke, Lee swam a strong race to finish 17^th in 55.79 and joined senior Hannah Wasmuth, and juniors Emily Zimmerman and Lainey Quinones (1:45.01) in the 200 medley relay.
 
On the men's side, the trio of senior Nolan Danus and freshmen Justin Nowicki and Ben Tunila finished inside the top ten in the 400 IM. Nowicki finished second tapping the wall at 3:56.49. Not far behind Nowicki, was Tunila in fourth place with a time of 3:57.69. Rounding out the top ten was Danus in ninth at 4:56.81. Nowicki and Tunila also combined with senior Charlie Hinckley and sophomore Sam Randall in the 200 medley relay. The quartet finished eighth in a time of 6:47.38.
 
Hinckley had a solid day in the water swimming 1:40.13 to qualify for the 200 freestyle final where he swam 1:40.71 to finish 14^th. The New York, N.Y. native led off the 200 medley relay consisting of Randall, and juniors Henry Halloran and Patrick Hemingway. The foursome combined for 13^th clocking in at 1:31.82.
 
The third and final day of competition will begin tomorrow with prelims at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
 
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