Hempstead, N.Y. - The University of Notre Dame leads the women's competition and the University of Pittsburgh leads the men's competition after the first of the three-day 2001 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships, held at the Goodwill Games Swimming Center.

Notre Dame's women's squad (184 points) holds a slim eight-point lead over second-place Miami (176 points), while Virginia Tech is close behind in third (159.50 points). Villanova sits in fourth with 130 points and Rutgers is in fifth with 125 points, rounding out the top five. On the men's side, Pittsburgh leads the field with 247 points, with St. John's University in second with 152 points. Rutgers is third with 134 points, Notre Dame is fourth with 117 points and Virginia Tech and Syracuse are tied for fifth, each with 106 points.

The Panther men started off the meet with a solid swim in the 200 free relay. The squad of Mike Grube, Max Von Bodungen, Adam Webber and Miah Heath won the event in a time of 1:19.62, setting a new BIG EAST meet record. The time was also an NCAA "B" provisional time. Pittsburgh also won the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:17.11, also an NCAA "B" time. The relay was comprised of Steve Siler, Randy Gertenbach, Miah Heath and Max Von Bodungen. Individually, Pittsburgh's Mike Grube successfully defended his title from the 2000 BIG EAST championship in the 50 free in an NCAA "B" time of 20.06, only after breaking the BIG EAST record in the preliminaries with a time of 19.87.

Other winners on the men's side were freshman Michal Szapiel of St. John's in the 500 free, who swam an NCAA "B" time of 4:25.10, and defending conference champion Djordje Filipovic of Syracuse won the 200 IM, and also swam an NCAA "B" time of 1:48.46. Syracuse has won the men's 200 IM 10 of the last 14 years. Miami's Kyle Prandi won the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 340.75. Miami has won every 1-meter diving competition since 1992.

Freshman Marie Labosky of Notre Dame won the 200 IM in an NCAA "B" time of 2:01.87. The 400 medley relay team of Kelly Hecking, Allison Lloyd, Lisa D'Olier and Danielle Hulick set a new BIG EAST record in an NCAA "B" time of 3:41.66, winning the event by almost six seconds over second place finisher Virginia Tech. Other winners on the women's side were Maddy Crippen, a sophomore from Villanova, who represented the United States at the Olympics Games in Sydney, Australia. Crippen won the 500 free in an NCAA "B" time of 4:46.71. Virginia Tech's Lindsey Tew won the 50 free in an NCAA"B" time of 23.16. Miami teammates Jenny Keim and Michelle Davison, who also performed in Sydney, placed first (542.10) and second (528.95) respectively in the 3-meter diving competition. The 200 free relay team from West Virginia, comprised of Krista Arnold, Elizabeth Reisenweber, Devlyn Quinn and Sarah Crouch broke the BIG EAST championship record with an NCAA "B" time of 1:32.40.