Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Swimming Opens EISL Season With Split In Ithaca
November 18, 2006 | Men's Swimming and Diving
The Princeton men's swimming and diving team split a pair of meets Saturday, topping Penn 243-57 but losing 160-140 to host Cornell. While there were several strong performances in both the pool and off the diving board, the memorable showdown of the meet came in the 200 fly, where two of the league's premier performers battled in a tight race. The next time they meet will likely be for an EISL championship.
The showdown took place between two seniors who have made their presence felt in each of the last three EISL championships. Cornell senior Mike Smit took the 200 fly in 1:47.75, barely edging Princeton senior and 2006 All-America Meir Hasbani's time of 1:47.94. That would be a microcosm of the meet for Princeton, which hung close to an up-and-coming Cornell program but just didn't get enough points to grab the win. The Tigers can take solace in the events from last season; after falling in a regular-season meet on the road (Harvard), they came back for a winning performance in the championship meet.
After Cornell drew first blood in the 200 medley relay, Robert Griest claimed a win in the 500 free with a time of 9:34.02, while Taylor Gutsche took second in 9:39.80 and Stan Buncher took third in 9:40.92. Freshman Jon Hartmann claimed second in the 200 free in 1:41.08, and senior Mike Zee took second in the 100 back (51.40).
Seok Jun Lee (58.64) and Easton Chen (58.89) took second and third in the 100 breast, which preceded the 200 fly showdown between Smit and Hasbani. Princeton finally got back in the win column when freshman Michael Papageorge won the 1-meter diving competition with 301.05, topping classmate Daniel Dickerson's second-place score of 290.90. It would be a diving sweep for the Princeton men, as Stuart Malcolm took the 3-meter competition with 334.45 points.
Will Schaffer picked up Princeton's last win by claiming the 200 IM in 1:53.32, topping Hasbani's second-place time of 1:53.55.
Princeton will make its home debut in two weeks at the Big Al Invitational.