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Princeton University
Oakland
Players Mentioned
Brilliant Opening Weekend By Aemisegger Sends Women's Swimming To 2-1 Start
November 13, 2006 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Highly touted freshman Alicia Aemisegger did not disappoint in her first weekend with the Princeton women's swimming and diving team. She won six individual events over a two-day span, set three Princeton records and nearly added two others, and led the Tigers to two wins and a competitive loss to a powerful Michigan squad. Princeton ended its first weekend 2-1, topping Oakland 145-92 and Eastern Michigan 130.5-110.5 before falling to Michigan 134-101.
The Tigers earned their two wins in Friday's opener, held at Oakland University in Michigan. The Tigers won six events, including each of Aemisegger's three individual wins. She started by claiming the 200 free in 1:47.83, more than five seconds faster than any opponent and less than .2 of a second off Elizabeth Lind's 1982 school record. She became the first Princeton women's swimmer to ever go under two minutes in the 200 butterfly, winning that event in a record time of 1:59.57. She completed the day with a win in the 200 breaststroke; her time of 2:15.53 was more than eight seconds faster than anybody's in the field and was also less than .2 of a second off a school record.
Princeton opened the meet with a win in the 400 medley relay, as Lisa Hamming, Courtney Kilkuts, Justina DiFazio and Nikki Laffel won in 3:55.30, nearly two full seconds ahead of anybody else. Ellen Gray, the hero of last year's Ivy League championship victory at Harvard, won the 1000 free in 10:06.20, nearly 15 full seconds ahead of anybody else, and Justina DiFazio won the 100 free in 52.15 seconds.
Despite falling Saturday at Michigan, there were several more impressive performances for Princeton to feel good about. Aemisegger started another record-setting day by winning the 1000 free in 9:53.06, which topped Sarah Fraumann's 2003 school record by more than .4 of a second. She followed that by breaking her own school record in the 400 IM, winning that event in 4:14.77. She concluded the weekend by winning the 500 free in 4:51.80, topping teammates Brett Shiflett (second place, 5:01.59) and Gray (third, 5:06.43).
Princeton also got wins from Hamming, who claimed the 200 breast in 2:25.58, and the 200 free relay (Suzanne Rossi, Sobenna George, Kristen Arey and Nikki Laffel), which won on 1:40.17.
Princeton will travel to Ithaca, N.Y. next weekend to open its Ivy League season against Penn and Cornell. The event will take place over two days, concluding on Saturday.