VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova Women's Swimming and Diving tied Richmond, 150-150, in first competition of the new year Friday from the Villanova Swim Complex.
 
Led by seven event wins, the Wildcats equaled the Spiders on the scoreboard at 150 through 16 events. Upperclassman in graduate students Maggie Kleinsmith and Lauryn Johnson along with sophomore Katie White led way for the 'Cats.
 
Kleinsmith recorded two event wins and one runner-up performance. The Mount Kisco, N.Y. native won the 100 backstroke tapping the wall at 1:06.92 and joined forces with senior Audrey Pastorek, junior Lainey Quinones and freshman Martina Lonati in the 400 medley relay that clocked 3:53.58 to best the field. Kleinsmith also finished second in the 200 breaststroke in 2:24.65. Johnson went on to win the 200 freestyle clocking in at 1:53.80, followed by Lonati in 1:54.52. White led the 1-2-3 finish in the 200 butterfly finishing in 2:03.49, followed by freshman Anna Farley and sophomore Arabella Lee in 2:06.87 and 2:09.17 respectfully. The Lakeville, Ma. native also finished second in the 500 freestyle clocking in at 5:07.82.
 
In the 100 butterfly, Lee led another event sweep clocking in at 56.33, just ahead of Lonati (57.65) and Farley (58.33) in second and third. Lontati continued her dominance finishing second in the 100 freestyle (53.58) just behind fellow freshman Alyssa McHale in first with a time of 52.37.
 
From the platform, freshman Michelle Kasulka had a strong outing finishing first in 3-meter and second in 1-meter diving events. The Chappaque, N.Y. native scored 237.07 in 3-meter just ahead of sophomore Miriam Danzis (235.81) and freshman Katie Vaughan (230.70) in second and third. The Wildcats secured a 2-3-4 finish in 1-meter courtesy of Kasulka (234.67), Vaughn (231.00), and freshmen Meghan Scott (224.48). Vaughn recorded a new personal best mark in both 1-meter and 3-meter while Scott bettered her personal best in 1-meter by over six points.  
 
Other notable performances came by way of junior Francesca Raimondi, freshman Peri Gaguzis and Farley. Raimondi was the top Wildcat finishing third in the 200 backstroke tapping the wall at 2:10.04. A pair of runner-up performances were secured by Gaguzis in the 1000 freestyle (10:35.09) and Farley in the 400 IM (4:31.25).
 
The Villanova men compete Saturday at Providence with action from the Taylor Natatorium beginning at 12 p.m. while the Women will take on Rutgers Saturday January 20^th.

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