Swimming: West Virginia Splits With Villanova
November 14, 2009 12:49 PM | General
By Grant Dovey for MSNsportsNET.com
November 14, 2009
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| Brad Eichenseer |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University’s swimming and diving teams split its dual meets with Villanova on Friday, Nov. 13, at The Villanova Swim Complex.
The men ran their record to 2-2 overall and 2-1 in the BIG EAST with an unofficial 206-35 victory over the Wildcats. In the women’s meet, the Mountaineers (3-3, 1-2 BIG EAST) dropped an unofficial 135-106 decision.
“It was a good meet to restart what will hopefully be a BIG EAST tradition between Villanova and West Virginia,” coach Vic Riggs said. “We had some very good swims on both sides. Missing a few of our key women certainly didn’t help, but we had opportunities to win the meet and we just didn’t seize the moment as a team.”
Eight different men scored first-place finishes for the Mountaineers, as well as, freshman Hugh Simmonds and sophomores Taylor Camp and Brad Eichenseer each turning in two wins apiece.
The men started the meet off with a win in the 400 medley relay, where a team of freshman Jared Goldthorpe, junior George Farquhar, sophomore Joe Bailey and Simmonds touched the line in 3:28.40 for first place. The “B” and “C” relay team also finished in second and third, respectively, to sweep the relay points.
Simmonds continued his early success with a win in the 1000 free in 9:48.87. Fellow freshman Tim O’Malley touched the wall right behind Simmonds for second place and sophomore Ian Stavros placed in third.
In the 500 free, Simmonds continued his distance success placing first in 4:36.84, more than 11 seconds in front of second place. O’Malley placed second, followed by freshman Jake Querciagrossa in third and senior Justin Galbreath in fourth.
Camp finished the 200 free in 1:43.78 for first place, with Farquhar placing second and senior Tim Field placing fourth, and Goldthorpe finishing fifth to round out the point getters. Camp placed first for the second time in the 200 fly with a time of 1:53.86. Stavros also finished second in that event behind Camp.
In the 50 free, Eichenseer swept the competition with a time of 21.58 and was followed by Bailey for second and freshman Kyle Bandy placing third. Eichenseer picked up his second win in the 100 free where he finished in 46.89. Bailey once again placed second with sophomore Kevin Anderson scoring fourth.
Galbreath had a solid swim in the 400 IM, finishing in 4:12.29 for first place. Junior Jeff Byrd finished right behind Galbreath in second and Querciagrossa placed third in the event.
Goldthorpe then continued his dominance in the 200 back placing in first with a time of 1:54.57, while Field placed second and sophomore Eric Johnson finished in third.
Farquhar ended the day of individual swims with his first-place finish in the 200 breast with a time of 2:05.24. Sophomore Jack Greenhalgh placed second in the event.
Eichenseer, freshman Graham Kauffman, Bandy and Camp then finished the day with a time of 1:26.90 to win the 200 free relay.
The men once again swept the diving events going 1-2-3 on the 1-meter board. Senior Brandon Robinson place first with a score of 254.78, while sophomore Matt O’Neill and freshman Ethan Robinson placed second and third, respectively.
O’Neill then took the 3-meter board with his score of 284.55. O’Neill was followed by Brandon Robinson who placed second and freshman Brian Drake who came in fourth.
For the women, seniors Morgan Callaway and Shaunna Purtell and freshman Rachael Burnett and Austen Carrington each scored first-place finishes in the effort.
The women’s meet started with a first-place finish time of 3:55.55 in the 400 medley relay, a team made up of Callaway, freshman Robyn Matthews, senior Stephanie Shupe and Purtell.
Callaway then scored her first-place finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:52.19. Burnett placed in a close second, before scoring her win in the 500 free in 4:56.10. Burnett also placed a close second in the 200 fly, while Carrington placed fourth.
Carrington then followed up her performance with a time of 2:06.40 to win the 200 back. Callaway placed second and redshirt freshman Sara Conner finished in third place.
Purtell won the 100 free in 52.41, while sophomore Sarah Kosmak and Shupe finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 50 free.
On the diving boards, senior Ashley Malik continued her success finished second on each the 1-meter and 3-meter.
The women will be back in action, today, Sat., Nov. 14, when they face Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., at 1 p.m.
