Big East Championships (Men’s and Women’s)
- Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
- Nassau Aquatic Center, East Meadow, NY
- Defending Champions:
- Women: Villanova (9x)
- Men: Georgetown (1x)
- Live Results
- Live Video
- Championship Central
- Fan Guide
- Day 3 Recap
The 2023 Big East Championships wrapped up yesterday evening in East Meadow, New York. The final day of racing included the 1650, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, women’s 3-meter, and the 400 freestyle relay.
The Villanova women collected their tenth consecutive Big East title with 1534 points total. They dominated the team standings from start to finish, and took the top spot by a 217.5-point margin over runner-up UConn.
The men’s meet, which had been close all weekend, came down the final event. Heading into the 400 freestyle relay, Xavier trailed Georgetown by just 9 points. Xavier needed a win, while Georgetown could finish no lower than 3rd. Georgetown ended up finishing 2nd, ultimately securing the Big East title.
Women’s Final Team Scores:
- Villanova – 1534
- UConn – 1316.5
- Georgetown – 1265.5
- Xavier – 1012
- Seton Hall – 1002
- Butler – 590
- Providence – 403
Men’s Final Team Scores:
- Georgetown – 792
- Xavier – 781
- Seton Hall – 721.5
- Villanova – 464
- Providence – 351.5
Awards:
- Men’s Most Outstanding Swimmer – Andrew Martin, Xavier
- Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer – Audrey Pastorek, Villanova
- Men’s Most Outstanding Diver – Quinn Murtha, Seton Hall
- Women’s Most Outstanding Diver – Julia Pioso, UConn
- Men’s Diving Coach of the Year – Ben Mitchell, Seton Hall
- Women’s Diving Coach of the Year – David McKown, UConn
- Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year – Xavier
- Women’s Co-Coaching Staffs of the Year – Villanova and Butler
Recap
The final session opened with the fastest seeded heats of the 1650. Seton Hall sophomore Allie Waggoner dropped over 30 seconds from her entry to record a personal best time of 16:31.50. Five seconds behind her was a tight race for 2nd between Niamh Hofland and Kaitlin Gravell. Gravell made a push in the final 100, but came up just a hundredth shy of catching Hofland.
Xavier senior Andrew Martin ended his meet with a new Big East record in the 1650. He threw down a 15:04.12 to take over a second off the previous record from 2013 and win the event by 10 seconds. This victory makes for his 3rd individual Big East title of the weekend, after already winning the 500 free and 200 free earlier in the meet. His swimming career is not quite over, as he’s set to take his 5th year at Northwestern this fall.
Villanova’s Audrey Pastorek also ended her weekend as a 3-time individual winner. She had previously won the 200 IM and 100 back earlier in the meet, and ended with one final victory in the 200 back. She clocked a 1:56.30 in finals to win the event by over a second. Connecticut rounded out the top three with Robyn Edwards in 2nd (1:57.59) and Kayla Mendonca in 3rd (1:58.80).
Seton Hall’s Ross Pantano completed his backstroke sweep with a win in the men’s 200 back. He set a season best time of 1:46.00, winning by over a second.
Seton Hall kept it rolling with Natalie Heim picking up her 2nd win of the weekend in the 100 freestyle. Heim flipped in 2nd at the 50, but came back strong to stop the clock 1st with a personal best time of 50.15. Bella Wylie grabbed 2nd for Georgetown, just two tenths back at 50.36.
The men’s 100 free came down to the touch, with Will Layden finishing just 0.05 ahead of Michael Baldini. Layden got out to an early lead as the only athlete in the field to flip under 21 seconds. He held on in the back half and got his hand on the wall 1st to post a personal best time of 44.32.
Villanova freshman Winnie Jalet won her 2nd Big East title in the 200 breast. She set a personal best time of 2:13.41 to win by over a second. In the men’s race, Georgetown sophomore Stephen Kim took 1st with a 1:58.23, making it his first time under the two-minute barrier.
Katie White, another Villanova freshman, won the 200 fly. She recorded a 1:59.19 in finals, and was the only athlete in the field to break two-minutes. Seton Hall freshman Michael Klimaszewski took 1st in the men’s race with a best time of 1:45.23, ending his meet with two Big East titles.
The Villanova women ended their meet with one last victory in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Cara Stapleton, Molly Benson, Perri Stahl, and Lexi Elkovitch combined for a 3:23.77, topping the field by half a second.
The final relay for the men belonged to Seton Hall, who’s team of Tommy Minar, Kevin Cary, Klimaszewski, and Ben LaClair touched 1st at 2:58.35. Georgetown locked in their team victory with a 2nd place finish, while Xavier ended up 3rd.