One For the Books!

Wednesday, February 22

East Meadow, N.Y.

All Day

Seton Hall University

BIG EAST Championships (Feb. 22-25)

Photo by: Kostas Lymperopoulos

2/26/2017 2:08:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving

East Meadow, N.Y. – The Seton Hall men's swimming & diving team bookended its four days on Long Island with record-setting relay victories that ultimately put a stamp on its first-ever BIG EAST Championship in program history. The relay wins encapsulated the historical team effort it took to break seven school records and bring a title to South Orange.

The Pirates entered Saturday with a sizeable lead, and kept their foot on the gas right out of the gates. In the first race of the finals session, The Hall took four out of the top six places in the 1650-yard freestyle. Vadim Jacobson (Arnold, Md.) picked up his second BIG EAST individual crown of the year with a first-place time of 15:36.71. Lior Grubert (Yehud-Monosson, Israel), junior Cody Wimmer (Macungie, Pa.) and sophomore Ivan Michalovic (Glen Mills, Pa.) finished 4-5-6.

SHU proved its versatility when it transitioned from the longest race of the week to the second shortest, the 100 free, where sophomore Dakota Williams (Noank, Conn.) broke his own school record after touching the wall in 44.86 to pick up his second individual title in two days. On Thursday night he won the 50 free in 20.40, just 0.1 off the school record.

Next, freshman Joshua Tosoni (Arnold, Md.) finished second in the 200 breaststroke with a school-record mark of 2:00.45. Freshman Tre Fissella (Lancaster, Pa.) and junior Sean Sali (Bridgewater, N.J.) also picked up points in the event, finishing seventh and eighth.

Sophomore Kyle Nash (Katy, Texas) then earned his first career BIG EAST title with a 1:48.70 in the 200 butterfly.

In the final race of the 2017 BIG EAST Championships at Nassau County Aquatics Center, the Pirates put an exclamation point on the 2016-17 campaign. Junior Noah Yanchulis (Arnold, Md.), freshman Connor Phillips (Cape Town, South Africa), freshman John Redoutey (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Williams won the 400 free relay in a school record 2:58.14 behind the roaring support of Pirate fans and teammates for a perfect sendoff to championship ceremonies.

To put the proverbial cherry on top of the best season in program history, head coach Ron Farina was named BIG EAST Men's Coach of the Year and Yanchulis was named BIG EAST Male Swimmer of the Year. It was the second consecutive season each earned the respective honors.

To recap the historic championship run for the Pirates over the last four days, below is a list of some of the most notable performances.

Day 1
800 Free Relay – Lior Grubert, Vadim Jacobson, Tyler Kauth, Noah Yanchulis – 6:33.11 *&

Day 2
500 Free – Noah Yanchulis – 4:23.94 ^&
500 Free – Vadim Jacobson – 4:24.33 ^$
200 IM – Lior Grubert – 1:49.36 &$
50 Free – Dakota Williams – 20.40 &
200 Free Relay – Connor Phillips, Noah Yanchulis, Tyler Kauth, Dakota Williams – 1:21.30 *$

Day 3
200 Free – Noah Yanchulis – 1:36.77 *&
200 Free – Vadim Jacobson – 1:37.57 ^$
100 Fly – Connor Phillips – 48.50 *$
400 IM – Lior Grubert – 3:54.58 &^
400 IM – Ivan Michalovic – 3:56.28
400 IM – Jonathan Bar-Eli – 3:57.09
400 Medley Relay – Tyler Kauth, Joshua Tosoni, Connor Phillips, Dakota Williams – 3:17.85 *$

Day 4
100 Free – Dakota Williams – 44.86 *&
100 Free – Noah Yanchulis – 45.34 $
200 Breast – Joshua Tosoni – 2:00.45 *$
200 Fly – Kyle Nash – 1:48.70 &
1650 Free – Vadim Jacobson – 15:36.71 &
400 Free Relay – Noah Yanchulis, Connor Phillips, John Redoutey, Dakota Williams – 2:58.14 *&

* School Record
^ NCAA "B" Cut
& BIG EAST Champion
$ Top-3 Finish

FINAL SCORES:
1. Seton Hall - 872.50
2. Georgetown - 677.50
3. Xavier - 658.50
4. Villanova - 614.50
5. Providence - 196