VILLANOVA, Pa. – Saturday brought a powerful showing for Villanova Swimming and Diving as the men and women cruised to 169-108 and 190-102 victories, respectively, over La Salle at the Villanova Swim Complex.
The victory marks the first of the season for the men (1-3) who snap a three-meet losing skid while the women (3-0) continue their winning ways to remain undefeated. All-told, the Wildcats racked up 22 event wins on the day, 10 for the men and 12 for the women.
On the individual side,
Charlie Hinckley once again posted a winning day in the 200 Free (1:40.71) and the 500 Free (4:39.42). He has won both events each time he has competed in them this season, winning the 500 four times on the year and the 200 three times.
Marlene Blanke also had a multi-win day, touching first in the 1000 Free (10:25.85) and 500 Free (5:07.35). On the platform,
Chris Jones also saw a pair of wins with yet another 1-meter (252.60) and 3-meter (324.08) sweep.
The day got off to a hot start with Villanova winning all of the diving events. Along with Jones' performance,
Katie Vaughan won the 1-meter (230.61) while
Mimi Danzis took the 3-meter with a new personal best score (242.92).
Villanova picked up a pair of wins in the 200 Medley relay with the A team of
Audrey Pastorek,
Winnie Jalet,
Alyssa McHale and
Lainey Quinones winning in 1:45.01. On the men's side, Hinckley,
Henry Halloran,
Henry Gingrich and
Patrick Hemingway logged a victorious time of 1:33.01.
A pair of 1-2-3 finishes started the day for the women's swimming team in individual showings. Blanke led the charge for the 'Cats in the women's 1000 Free with
Peri Gaguzis and
Mary Kate Farrell following her in second (10:28.23) and third (10:42.66), respectively. In the 200 Free,
Molly Benson posted a winning time of 1:54.21. She was followed closely by Quinones and
Lexi Elkovitch, each posting 1:55.42 and 1:56.86 times.
Villanova held down the 100 Back with wins from Pastorek (57.56) and
Gavin Jones (52.18). That race brought the first 1-2-3 sweep of the day for the men with
Josh Seidman and
Max Christensen finishing just behind Jones in second (52.35) and third (53.50), respectively.
The women's 100 Breast brought a strong battle between Jalet and Maggie Kleinsmith who finished first (1:05.45) and second (1:05.88). The 'Cats also swept the three fastest spots in the 200 Fly, led by a 2:03.91 showing from White.
Anna Farley and
Meghan Tiernan finished behind her in second (2:06.78) and third (2:07.17), respectively.
The 200 Breast brought a nailbiter on the women's side as
Kathryn Montefusco clipped La Salle's Carlota Ungo Quero by just one-hundredth of a second to take the win.
Nolan Danus and Hemingway picked up wins for the men in the 200 Fly (1:52.27) and the 50 Free (21.68). The 'Cats added wins in the 200 Back from Wasmuth (2:07.08) and
Aubrey Bowles (1:52.15). Seidman and Brockette trailed Bowles in that one, posting second and third times of 1:54.98 and 1:58.12.
The 100 Fly brought close 1-2 finishes for both the men and the women.
Martina Lonati (56.44) edged McHale (56.98) by a slim five-tenths of a second while
Sam Randall (51.44) bested Danus (51.65) by two-tenths of a second.
Villanova is back at home on Nov. 8 as the women host Penn at 3:30 p.m. The men will have a two-week layoff before they get back to competition at the WVU Invitational from Nov. 16-18.
