The UConn women’s swim and dive team showed out for a second-place finish at the Big East Championships this weekend, finishing just behind Villanova. It is the second year in a row the Huskies finished runner-up to the Wildcats, who claimed their 11th consecutive title.
It was clear heading into championship weekend it would come down to these two programs by the finals held on Saturday. Villanova placed third in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, to ultimately edge out UConn for the title.
The first day was held on Wednesday, and it went nearly as well as it could have for the Huskies. After day one, they held a lead of 64 points with the help of incredible diving performances from junior Julia Pioso and sophomore Olvia Denery. Pioso took home gold in the 1-meter dive with a score of 307.75, and Denery followed with bronze.
On Thursday, UConn’s early lead would be overtaken by the eventual champion Wildcats. The day’s highlight came with a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle by junior Maggie Donlevy.
Donlevy’s stellar performance extended into the third day. After setting a new school record in the 100-yard backstroke in the preliminaries, she came back in the final to solidify a new record of 53.21. She earned herself a first-place finish and contributed 32 impactful points to the team score.
Later in the third day, the team of Donlevy, senior Angela Gambardella, sophomore Ella Epes and freshman Claire Lippert came together to set a new school record in the 400-yard medley relay. The new record was also another first-place finish for the Huskies.
Other highlights on the third day included senior Kayla Mendonca, who placed third in the 100-yard backstroke, and Gambardella, who took second in the 100-yard breaststroke. The diving crew consisting of Pioso, freshman Kate Cooper, Denery, senior Ana Laura Faoro and sophomore Darah Ostrom placed two through six to heavily outscore the Wildcats by 82 points in the 3-meter dive.
Saturday’s events saw several Huskies stand on the podium, one of those performances being freshman Bella Hoffman turning in a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. With a time of 1:56.69, Hoffman set yet another school record for UConn.
In the end, these record-setting performances were not quite enough to overtake Villanova for the Big East Championship title. In the end, the score shaped out to be 1482.5 to 1461.5 in the Wildcats’ favor.
The awards weren’t only won in the pool for the Huskies either, as the coaching staff was named the Co-Coaching Staff of the Year. Additionally, head diving coach David Mckown was named Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for his guidance in medal-earning performances.
It was yet another successful Big East showing for the Huskies, especially those seniors who finished their careers over the weekend.
Up next will be the NCAA Zone Diving Championship held at Princeton, NJ, from March 4 to March 6. Information for the meet can be found at uconnhuskies.com