WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University swimming & diving team broke 17 program records and claimed seven gold medals over an exciting four days at the 2019 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships, presented by Jeep. The Hoya men finished second in the team standings, while the GU women finished third. Racing took place at the Nassau Aquatic Center in East Meadow, New York.
 
Entering the final day with a slim lead, the Georgetown men totaled 744 points, finishing just behind Xavier (779.5). Seton Hall (660), Villanova (585.5) and Providence (227) closed out the men's standings. On the women's side, the Hoyas finished with 643.5 points to place behind both Villanova (1,007.5) and Xavier (662). Seton Hall (427), Butler (232) and Providence (220) rounded out the final three.
 
Michael Wheeler (Lafayette, Calif. / Campolindo) got the evening finals off to a strong start, cruising to a victory in the 1,650-yard freestyle, winning by more than 24 seconds in a time of 15:19.18.
 
Drew Carbone (Chelmsford, Mass. / Central Catholic) continued the momentum in the 200-yard backstroke. After he broke his own record in the morning prelims with a time of 1:44.42, he blew past that in the evening finals to claim his fourth gold of the championships in 1:43.77.
 
Carlson Temple (San Diego, Calif. / Patrick Henry) broke the school record in the morning prelims of the 200-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 2:01.59. He then placed fourth in the evening's A Final in 2:01.92.
 
Jack Calderwood (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit College Prep) and Arthur Wang (Wilmington, Del. / Charter School of Wilmington) touched the wall first in the B Finals of the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard breaststroke, respectively. However, the Hoyas could not earn any more podium finishes as Xavier overcame Georgetown's team lead in the final few individual events.
 
Georgetown's 400-yard freestyle relay team did all it could in the final event of the meet, breaking the school record by more than a full second with a 3:00.97. The quartet of Calderwood, Sean Devlin (Framingham, Mass. / Wayland), Jacob Kohlhoff (Tega Clay, N.C. / Fort Mill) and Carbone finished just .73 seconds out of first.
 
On the women's side, Cristina Barrett (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham) lowered her own record in the 1,650-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 16:42.33 to finish second. 
 
Evie Mauzé (St. Louis, Mo. / MICDS) earned bronze in an exciting 200-yard backstroke final, finishing just .03 seconds out of second with a time of 2:00.18.
 
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Alexandra Rieker (Winston-Salem, N.C. / Ronald Reagan) had a huge second half to storm back and finish in second place with a time of 2:19.57.
 
On the diving board, Elizabeth Miller (Wayland, Mass. / Wayland) and Margaret Barnhorst (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. / Ponte Vedra) finished second and third, respectively, while Riley Fujioka (Los Altos, Calif. / Los Altos) was just off the podium in fourth.
 
The quartet of Laine Morgan (Miami, Fla. / Ransom Everglades School), Grace Sun (Gaithersburg, Md. / Richard Montgomery), Lauren Rutledge (Darien, Conn. / Darien) and Belinda Donohoe (Cambridge, Mass. / Concord Carlisle) won a tight race with Butler for third place in the 400-yard freestyle relay, touching the wall in 3:27.18.
 
The Hoyas came away with some individual hardware. For the second-consecutive year, Carbone earned the BIG EAST Championships' Male Most Outstanding Swimmer with his four gold medals. He won both backstroke events, the 200-yard IM and swam the opening leg in GU's winning 800-yard freestyle relay team. Head Coach Jack Leavitt and the Georgetown coaching staff were named the BIG EAST Men's Coaching Staff of the Year and Head Diving Coach Marc VanDyken earned BIG EAST Women's Diving Coach of the Year honors.
 
BIG EAST Championships - Day Four
Men
1,650-yard freestyle
1. Michael Wheeler – 15:19.18
7. William Powers – 16:10.15
11. Matthew Braviak – 16:19.23
 
200-yard backstroke
1. Drew Carbone – 1:43.77
9. Henry Hollinshead – 1:50.73
10. Matthew Braviak – 1:50.94
 
100-yard freestyle
4. Jacob Kohlhoff – 45.46
7. Sean Devlin – 45.80
9. Jack Calderwood – 45.84
14. Seth Maslowski – 46.76
 
200-yard breaststroke
4. Carson Temple – 2:01.92
5. Nathaniel Goldfarb – 2:02.34
8. Matthew Szilagyi – 2:03.55
9. Arthur Wang – 2:03.33
 
200-yard butterfly
7. Brett Sherman – 1:51.20
8. Terry Johnson – 1:52.52
14. Justin Summers – 1:52.85
 
400-yard freestyle relay
2. Jack Calderwood, Sean Devlin, Jacob Kohlhoff, Drew Carbone – 3:00.97
 
Women
1,650-yard freestyle
2. Cristina Barrett – 16:42.33
5. Noelle Fimbres – 17:03.71
11. Caroline Bonfield – 17:27.59
 
200-yard backstroke
3. Evie Mauzé – 2:00.18
10. Grace Chen – 2:03.52
11. Phoebe Slaughter – 2:03.62
 
100-yard freestyle
7. Belinda Donohoe – 50.91
11. Laine Morgan – 51.78
 
200-yard breaststroke
2. Alexandra Rieker – 2:19.57
5. Megan Smith – 2:21.71
 
200-yard butterfly
5. Cristina Barrett – 2:02.55
6. Lauren Henasey – 2:02.88
10. Gabriella Meringolo – 2:05.61
12. Lauren Cox – 2:06.46
 
1-meter dive
2. Elizabeth Miller – 522.45
3. Margaret Barnhorst – 513.55
4. Riley Fujioka – 508.25
6. Naomi Peng – 481.55
 
400-yard Freestyle Relay
3. Laine Morgan, Grace Sun, Lauren Rutledge, Belinda Donohoe – 3:27.18