Wildcats Open BIG EAST Championships with Pair of Relays

Villanova swam the 800 freestyle and 200 medley relays on Wednesday evening

Sophomore Ben Smith anchored the 800 freestyle relay at the BIG EAST Championships on Wednesday evening.

Feb. 16, 2012

PITTSBURGH, Pa.--On the first evening of competition at the BIG EAST Championships the men's swimming team opened the conference meet by competing in the 800 yard freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay at Trees Pool on Wednesday evening. Villanova stands in ninth place in the men's team rankings with 40 points heading into the first full day of individual and relay competition on Thursday morning.

In the 800 free relay Villanova placed eighth with a time of 6:45.07 and in the 200 medley relay the Wildcats finished ninth with a season-best time of 1:36.40.

Freshman Jason Moyer (Center Valley, Pa.) led off both relays for the team and registered a split of 1:41.80 to begin the 800 free relay. Junior Scott Thiede (Bethesda, Md.) followed with the fastest leg of the race for Villanova and produced a time of 1:40.56. Junior Russell Paulson (West Chester, Pa.) and sophomore Ben Smith (Sudbury, Mass.) followed with splits of 1:41.60 and 1:41.11, respectively.

Moyer led off the 200 medley relay with a time of 24.12 in the opening 50 yards and was followed by freshman Roy Sung (Wayland, R.I.), sophomore Kyle Grant (Winnetka, Ill.) and junior Braden Clarke (Chappaqua, N.Y.) to round out the Wildcats lineup. Sung swam a split of 26.81 in the second leg of the relay and Grant helped Villanova pull away from Providence with a 22.71 time in the third leg. Clarke anchored the relay with a split of 20.96 on the final leg.

On tap for Thursday at the BIG EAST Championships are the 500 yard freestyle, 200 individual medley and 50 free. Those events will all have preliminary races beginning at 10 a.m. followed by the finals during the evening session at 6 p.m. The 200 yard freestyle relay will also take place on Thursday.

COMPLETE VILLANOVA RESULTS

Wednesday Evening Session at BIG EAST Championships
Trees Pool (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Men's 800 Yard Freestyle Relay

Villanova                     8th of 10                  6:45.07
Jason Moyer                   1st Leg (Leadoff)          1:41.80
Scott Thiede                  2nd Leg                    1:40.56
Russell Paulson               3rd Leg                    1:41.60
Ben Smith                     4th Leg (Anchor)           1:41.11

Men's 200 Yard Medley Relay

Villanova                     9th of 10                  1:34.60
Jason Moyer                   1st Leg (Leadoff)          24.12
Roy Sung                      2nd Leg                    26.81
Kyle Grant                    3rd Leg                    22.71
Braden Clarke                 4th Leg (Anchor)           20.96

Villanova University