MORGANTOWN, WV –  Villanova swimming and diving completed the third and final day of the WVU Invitational at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va.
 
After two days of strong performances, the Wildcats returned to the pool for the final day of competition to cap off the weekend.  
 
The reigning BIG EAST champion in the 200 butterfly, senior Katie White improved her time between the prelim (2:02.11) and the final (2:01.83) to finish second overall. White finished just behind William and Mary's Sophia Heilen by about one second.
 
Senior Audrey Pastorek was in her element finishing third in the 200 backstroke (2:00.5) to qualify for the evening's final. The Savannah, Ga. native went on to finish eighth in the final clocking in at 2:03.48 followed by fellow senior Hannah Wasmuth in 2:07.44.
 
Another senior who led the way for the Wildcats was Cara Stapleton in the 100 freestyle. The Dublin, Ireland native tapped the wall at 51.07 in the prelim before improving her time to 51.02 in the final. Stapleton was followed by senior Molly Benson (51.05) and freshman Lainey Quinones (51.92) in 11^th and 19^th respectively. She also joined Benson, senior Lexi Elkovitch and freshman Carlota Colomer in the 400 freestyle relay in which the quartet finished 12^th in a time of 3:28.84.
 
Freshman Marlene Blanke had a strong showing in the 1650 touching the wall at 16:57.34, which was good for third place. Not far behind was freshman Peri Gaguzis in fourth at 16:59.06 and junior Pepper Ritchey in 11^th at 17:19.96.
 
On the men's side, senior Charlie Hinckley led the way this time in the 1650 freestyle. The New York, NY native clocked 15:50.68 to finish fourth, less then 30 seconds off the leader. Following suit were freshmen Justin Nowicki and Ben Tunila. Nowicki finished 11^th in the 16:03.82 while Tunila took 20^th in a time of 16:19.49.
 
Hinckley completed the quartet of junior Patrick Hemingway, and sophomores Mikey Thurk and Henry Gingrich (3:04.11) in the 400 freestyle relay that finished 13^th while Tunila joined sophomores Gavin Jones and Sam Randall, and freshman Josh Seidman (3:08.54) to finish 19^th.
 
In the 200 butterfly, Nowicki finished eighth in the championship final touching the wall at 1:54.38. Senior Nolan Danus led the consolation final to finish ninth overall in 1:50.29.
 
Other notable performances came by way of junior Nicholas Jubilee in 3 meter diving (266.50), junior Aubrey Bowles (1:49.83) and freshman Josh Seidman (1:52.00) in the 200 backstroke.  
 
The Villanova Swimming and Diving team will take a break before returning to action on January 12 as the women host Richmond and on January 13 when the men travel to Providence.
 
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