Swimming & Diving: Men and women split with ‘Cuse

Jamie Augustinsky

The swimming and diving teams wrapped up their regular seasons on Saturday with a dual meet against Syracuse. The women’s team won by a score of 154.5-139.5 despite nine first-place finishes by Syracuse, while the men’s team was defeated in a 199-87 loss.

The women were led by juniors Kerri McIlvain and Lindsay Davis, who each picked up two individual wins to help secure the Wildcats’ victory. =

McIlvain took first place in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes and was also a member of the 200-yard medley relay quartet that finished second.

Davis won both diving events of the day, accumulating 18 points for Villanova with her victories in the one-meter and three-meter dives, while junior Danielle Trinkner finished second in both of these events.

Sophomore Sarah Czar and freshman Astrid Armgarth also picked up individual wins for the ‘Cats, as Czar swam to a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle, and Armgarth was victorious in the 200-yard individual medley.

The men’s team continued to improve as it earned two second-place finishes in the meet. Sophomore Brett Karbach and freshman Justin Stevens each finished second in their events, the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley, respectively.

Both the men’s and women’s teams completed dual competition with this meet and now look forward to competing in the Big East Championships. The women, who have won their last two meets, will try to keep that winning momentum, while the men will look to continue the improvement they have seen over their last few meets as they compete against their fellow conference members.

The Big East Championships will be held at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y., from Feb. 20-23.