Ackert wins gold, program’s 500 Free record reset on day two of BIG EAST – Villanova University – Villanova University Official Athletic Site
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. – Michael Ackert dove his way to a second-straight 1-meter title while the program record was reset twice to highlight Villanova’s second day of BIG EAST competition from the Nassau County Aquatic Center.
With 14 events in the books, the ‘Cats sit in third with 216.5 points, trailing Xavier and Georgetown.
Villanova’s first gold medal of the week came on the diving board in sweeping fashion. Ackert won gold with a 565.40 total score while Nicholas Jubilee logged a 537.90 total to earn silver. The duo was also the leaders through the preliminary round, scoring a 282.90 and 259.25, respectively.
With Ackert’s gold, Villanova has now won the 1-meter for five consecutive years.
On the swimming side, the Wildcats saw the program record for the 500 Free broken not once, but twice in a span of nearly eight hours.
Jake McIntyre and Charlie Hinckley became the fastest Wildcats in the event, going for a 1-2 finish in their prelim heat at 4:25.58 and 4:26.22, respectively. They bypassed John Davidson who set the previous mark of 4:27.11 in the finals of the 2018 BIG EAST Championships.
In the championship final later in the evening, it was Hinckley who broke the record. He swam to a silver medal with a 4:24.80 time. With those two swims, the pair now account for the top four slots on the program’s all-time times list.
The lone Wildcat in the championship final of the 200 IM was Nolan Danus, cutting two seconds off of his morning swim of 1:50.27 to finish with a fifth-place time of 1:48.89. With the personal-best swim, the sophomore is now the second-fastest performer in team history and holds the fifth-fastest 200 IM time.
Ethan Brown and Henry Halloran both notched new personal bests in the 200 IM prelims at 1:50.93 and 1:52.18 respectively. Both made it to the consolation final, along with Richard Nolan. Brown reset his personal best yet again in the evening with a 1:50.28 for 10th overall, second in the final.
Patrick Hemingway represented Villanova in the A-Final of the 50 Free, finishing sixth at 20.69. He is now the fifth-fastest performer in the even in team history with his personal best. Jesse Marsh made the consolation final, tying for third in that one at 21.06, finishing tied for 11th overall.
In the final event of the night, Marsh, Reid Hutcherson, Ryan Maher and Hemingway finished fourth in the 200 Free Relay with a 1:23.00 swim. That finish now sits as the ninth-fastest in team history.
Friday brings six events for the men: 400 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke and 400 Medley Relay. The third day starts with prelims for swimming at 10 a.m. and diving at noon followed by finals at 5:45 p.m.
