Swimcloud

Big East - Day 2

Records continued to fall on the second day of swimming at the BIG EAST Championships at Trees Pool. The Notre Dame men hold a 30-point team lead over second place Louisville while the women’s side is reversed with Louisville holing a five-point advantage over Notre Dame.
 
West Virginia claimed the first win of the day when freshman Rachel Burnett set a BIG EAST record in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. Her mark of 4:41.65 broke a seven-year old record set by Villanova’s Becky Koch. The Mountaineer also took second in the event as senior Morgan Callaway finished in 4:44.89. Villanova freshman Hayley Edwards came in third with a time of 4:46.47
 
WVU continued its hot streak in the men’s 500 free as freshman Jared Christie-Goldthorpe posted the top time with a mark of 4:24.25. Louisville took second and third place. Sophomore Riley Martin finished in 4:26.13 and freshman Michael Pryor completed the race in 4:27.06.
 
Louisville halted the Mountaineers win streak at two, as senior Leslie Vanwinkle won the 200-yard individual medley with a time 1:58.13. Notre Dame senior Ashlee Edgell (2:00.70) came in second while Pittsburgh freshman Joanna Budzis (2:01.12) finished in third.
 
The Cardinals showed their dominance in the 200 IM as sophomore Carolos Almeida followed Vanwinkle’s lead to win the heat while setting a BIG EAST record with a time of 1:45.71. The previous record was set at last year’s meet by West Virginia’s Michael Walker. Notre Dame sophomore William Bass (1:46.44) finished in second and Seton Hall junior Kevin Webster (1:47.16) came in third.
 
In the women’s 50-yard freestyle it was Notre Dame junior Amywren Miller (22.47) that touched the wall first. Mountaineer senior Kayla Andrews was close behind Miller, finishing just .03 seconds behind the Irish swimmer. Louisville senior Whitney Campbell came in third with a time of 22.68.
 
Cincinnati senior Josh Schneider was responsible for the biggest fireworks of the day. Schneider tied a 2009-10 NCAA high-mark with a 19.08 in the preliminaries of the men’s 50 free and followed it up with a 19.10 in the finals to win the title. His time bested his own BIG EAST Championship record by almost a full second. Louisville finished one-two for the second race as senior Kristopher Findorff came in second with a time of 20.02 and sophomore Brendon Andrews finished third at 20.13.
 
Another BIG EAST record fell in the women’s 200 free relay. The Louisville team of Campbell, Nicole Lanisch, Lacey Bobo and Elizabeth Halet finished in 1:30.08, breaking a 2008 Notre Dame record of 1:31.07. Notre Dame’s team of Amy Prestinario, Lauren Scott, Delia Cronin and Miller came in second at 1:31.62. West Virginia’s Shaunna Purtell, Sarah Kosmak, Stephanie Shurpe and Andrews finished third with a time of 1:31.69.
 
Louisville made it two-for-two in the 200 relays as the men also came in first. The foursome of Andrews, Findorff, Christopher Grimes and Carlos Van Isschot finished with a time of 1:20.12. The Pittsburgh team of James Lucas, Otto Pagel, Justin Corvin and Andrzej Dubiel came in second at 1:20.66. Third place went to the Notre Dame team of John Lytle, Kevin Overholt, Joshua Nosal and Andrew Hoffman (1:20.93). 
 
Men’s Standings – Day V
1. Notre Dame, 311
2. Louisville, 281
3. Pittsburgh, 251
4. West Virginia, 182
5. Connecticut, 166
6. Cincinnati, 134
7. Seton Hall, 86
8. Georgetown, 64
9. Villanova, 62
10. Providence, 42
11. Syracuse, 0
 
Women’s Standings – Day V
1. Louisville, 301
2. Notre Dame, 296
3. Pittsburgh, 207
4. West Virginia, 205
5. Villanova, 121
t6. Cincinnati, 120
t6. Rutgers, 120
8. Connecticut 111
9. Georgetown, 56
10. Seton Hall, 42
11. Providence, 36
12. Syracuse, 0

Notre Dame Men

Freshman Bill Bass broke the Notre Dame record in the 200 individual medley during Thursday’s preliminary heats at the 2010 BIG EAST Championships, and then reset his own record in the finals to claim second-place honors for Notre Dame in 1:46.44. Bass posted one of several key swims for the defending champion Irish squad, putting them on top of the pack with 311 points. Louisville (281) is second and Pittsburgh (251) is third among the eight-team field.

“We swam very well tonight, with the highlight coming in the form of Bill Bass’ swim,” Irish head coach Tim Welsh said. “What a tremendous effort for a first-year swimmer in our program, and we could not be more proud for him. We’ve got our work cut out for us and we’re ready for the challenge these next few days.”

500 Freestyle: Defending champion Steven Brus went 4:26.24 in the prelims, the second-best time of the morning session … MacKenzie LeBlanc (4:29.35), who earned the title in 2008, tied for seventh in the prelims … Brus (4:26.66) was fifth in the finals with another NCAA B-cut … West Virginia freshman Jared Goldthorpe took the title in 4:24.25 … LeBlanc (4:32.15) was eighth in the final round … Michael Sullivan (4:27.91) and Andrew Deters (4:30.10) finished first and second, respectively, in the consolation finals to earn points for the Irish … Sullivan’s time was an NCAA B-cut.

200 Individual Medley: Bass set a pool record in the prelims, placing first in his heat with a 1:48.00 … it was also a school record, breaking Tim Kegelman’s previous best of 1:49.48 set in 2004 … Bass followed that with a 1:46.44 in the finals to place second, as Louisville’s Carlos Almeida (1:45.71) posted the NCAA’s fourth-fastest time of the season in the finals to post the win and snag the pool record from Bass … Joseph Raycroft (1:50.17) was eighth in the finale.

50 Freestyle: Cincinnati’s Josh Schneider set the standard in the morning with a Bearcat, BIG EAST and Trees Pool record by swimming an NCAA A-cut 19.08 … Schneider, the top seed entering the event, tied California’s Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian for the fastest collegiate time in the nation this season … Schneider won the finals in 19.10 as John Lytle was the top Irish finisher in 20.35 for seventh … three Irish swimmers finished among the top spots in the consolation heat: Andrew Hoffman (1st – 20.62), Kevin Overholt (3rd – 20.79) and Christopher Johnson (4th – 20.81).

200 Freestyle Relay: Sixth-seeded Notre Dame went 1:20.93 in the race for third overall with an NCAA B-cut time of 1:20.93 … Lytle, Overholt, Joshua Nosal and Hoffman clinched the bronze for the Irish … Louisville set a pool record in 1:20.12 and won the event.

Notre Dame Women

Junior Amywren Miller won the women’s 50 freestyle Thursday evening at Trees Pool in 22.47, becoming the fastest swimmer ever with the facility’s walls. Miller’s NCAA B-cut performance was the second overall win for Notre Dame at the 2010 BIG EAST Championships as the Irish (296) head into the Friday morning preliminaries in second place Louisville (301).

“I was really pleased with our performances today up and down the board,” Irish head coach Brian Barnes said. “With three swimmers in the finals of the 200 individual medley and Samantha Maxwell winning the consolations to Gracie Fredlake earning points in the 500 free, you can tell that many of our swimmers are improving as the meet goes on. And obviously Amywren’s accomplishment speaks for itself, and we’re proud of what she’s done for this program during the meet. We’re hoping to hit our stride and do even better things tomorrow.”

500 Freestyle: Fredlake was seeded seventh heading into the finals after going 4:51.30 in the prelims, an NCAA B-cut … Fredlake then placed fourth overall with a 4:49.82 as West Virginia’s Rachael Burnett set a meet and pool record in 4:41.65 for first-place honors … Morgan Callaway helped complete the 1-2 finish for the Mountaineers with a 4:44.89.

200 Individual Medley: The preliminaries saw Ashlee Edgell finish the course in 2:00.90 for an NCAA B-cut heading into the finals … Edgell (2:00.70) stormed back to take second in the finals, one of three Irish swimmers in the final heat to earn points … Megan Farrell (2:02.79) racked sixth-place points and Emily Barton (2:03.51) was eighth … Louisville’s Leslie Vanwinkle (1:58.13) won the race while breaking the 20-year old pool record set by Texas’ Joan Pennington … Maxwell built her insurmountable lead in the breaststroke portion and won the consolation race in 2:02.05.

50 Freestyle: Miller (22.47) broke the Trees Pool record established in 1990 to win her first BIG EAST individual title … the NCAA B-cut gave Notre Dame its second win of the meet.

200 Freestyle Relay: Notre Dame took second in 1:31.62 and an NCAA B-cut showing … Amy Prestinario, Lauren Scott and Delia Cronin got things started for the Irish … Miller hugged the line in the final 50-yard burst to give the Irish a comeback effort for the silver … Louisville won the race and set a pool record in 1:30.08.

Pittsburgh Men

Another Pitt relay records a NCAA provisional mark, as the University of Pittsburgh men’s swimming and diving team continued competition in the 2010 Big East Championships, this evening, at Trees Pool.
 
The 200 free relay of sophomores Jake Lucas and Otto Pagel, senior Justin Corvin and junior Andrzej Dubiel recorded an NCAA B cut time of 1:20.66, in the final event of the night. That time also earned All-Big East honors as Pitt finished second in the race.
 
Earlier in the 50 free, Dubiel and Lucas turned in NCAA provisional finishes. Dubiel went 20.19 for fifth overall and Lucas was sixth at 20.31. Additionally, Pagel placed eighth in the same event at 20.53.
 
In the B finals of the 50 free, Corvin finished sixth, while freshman Adam Maczewski placed seventh in the same race.
 
Senior Jon Buchanan improved to fifth overall in the finals of the 200 IM, touching the wall with a season-best 1:49.39. Meanwhile, sophomore Rousseau Kluever improved to 12th overall with a fourth-place finish in the consolation heat of the 200 IM (1:50.99).
 
In his first Big East Championships, freshman Hussein Medhat finished seventh in the 500 free (4:32.05).
 
Friday’s events include the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and 400 medley relay. 


Pittsburgh Women

Freshman Joanna Budzis garnered All-Big East honors in the 200 IM, as the women’s swimming and diving team remains third in the 2010 Big East Championships, held on campus at Trees Pool.
 
After setting a school record this morning, Budzis shaved a few hundredths of a second off her time to claim third in the finals of the 200 IM. Her finish of 2:01.12 bested her NCAA provisional mark of 2:01.17 in the prelims.
 
That finish is also a freshman record, shattering Jennifer Koch’s time of 2:03.74 in 2002.
 
Also swimming the 200 IM finals, senior Sophie Cross improved to seventh, recording a personal-best time of 2:02.94. Prior to that race, senior Lisa McDonnell placed 13th overall with her swim in the consolation heat.
 
Swimming in her first-ever Big East Championships, freshman Kelsey Herbst stayed under the NCAA provisional mark, recording a sixth-place finish in the finals of the 500 free (4:51.08). Also making her first appearance, freshman Tori Alland placed 14th overall after going 4:56.98 in the consolation heat.
 
Recording another NCAA B cut time, Pitt’s 200 free relay stopped the clock at 1:32.70, placing fifth in the event. The squad was made up of sophomores Yolandi Van Rooyen and Elena Spak, senior Lisa McDonnell and junior Kristen McMullen.
 
Individually, all three of Pitt’s 50 freestylers who advanced to the consolation finals swam faster in the evening session. Van Rooyen won the consolation race (23.26), while McMullen finished second and 10th overall with a time of 23.30. Then, Spak rounded out the Panthers with a time of 23.42, tying for 12th.
 
Friday’s events include the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and 400 medley relay.

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