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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Ivy League Championships
Players Mentioned
Women's Swimming & Diving Stands One Session Away From Upset, Ivy Championship
February 24, 2006 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 24, 2006
Complete Results
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Princeton women's swimming and diving coach Susan Teeter knew that her team would need something close to a perfect meet to upset host and defending champion Harvard at the 2006 Ivy League Championships. Through two days, Princeton has put on a performance that's been close enough to perfect to have the team on the verge of its 16th Ivy title. The Tigers will take a 100-point lead into Saturday's final session, and they need one more spectacular day to pull off one of the great surprises in recent Princeton athletic history.
The Tigers, who were routed by Harvard in the regular season, currently have 1047 team points, while Harvard has 947. It's a two-team race, as third-place Penn has 650.5 points.
Princeton didn't waste any time building on Thursday's momentum, as the team of Kelly Hannigan, Sarah Schaffer, Justina DiFazio and Chrissy Macaulay claimed a thrilling win in the 200 medley relay. Their winning time of 1:44.56 was .17 seconds faster than Harvard's second-place time. It was Princeton's third relay win in as many attempts, one of the key reasons the Tigers are in the position they are in.
Of course, individual success is another key reason, and sophomore Ellen Gray continued that run with a win in the 1000 free, Friday's first individual event. Gray finished in 9:57.06, more than five seconds faster than Harvard junior Stacy Blondin's time of 10:02.77. Princeton's second finisher, Eileen Altenburger, also finished ahead of Harvard's second finisher, Kelly Blondin. Altenburger took fourth in 10:11.28, while Blondin finished seventh, just ahead of Princeton's eighth-place finisher, Libby Engelmeier. Harvard struck back in the 400 IM, as Nicole Bassi avenged a Thursday upset by Brett Shiflett with a win in a time of 4:19.25. While Princeton might not have won the event, it did earn key points with second- and third-place finishes. Junior Kelly Hannigan placed second in 4:20.28, while sophomore Lisa Hamming took third in 4:21.07. A seventh-place finish by senior co-captain Whitney Ryan added to the effort; her time of 4:28.62 gave Princeton a solid performance in the race.
Cornell's Jessica Brookman won the 100 fly in 55.44, and Princeton's only representative in the final, senior Kitsie Kerner, placed sixth in 56.79. Harvard had two finalists, with the highest finishing fourth. Princeton got right back to its winning ways one event later, as freshman Justina DiFazio won a tight showdown with teammate Shiflett. DiFazio's winning time was 1:50.03, just slightly faster than Shiflett's time of 1:50.19. Both topped Harvard's Emily Wilson, the lone Crimson swimmer in the final, who took third.
Harvard won the next showdown, taking the 100 breast in a terrific performance by Jaclyn Pangilinan, who won in 1:03.31. That time topped Schaffer's second-place time of 1:03.97, and the Crimson added sixth- and eighth-place finishes for their best event of the day.
Princeton gained some of those lost points back in the 100 back final, earning a second-place finish by Hannigan (56.91) and a fourth-place finish by Kerner (57.98). Yale's Moira McCloskey barely kept Hannigan from the top of the medal stand, winning the race by .04 of a second.
To end another brilliant day by the Tigers, Princeton showed its relay dominance by claiming a better-than 3-second win in the 800 free relay. DiFazio, Hannigan, Shiflett and Hamming finished in a time of 7:25.32, well ahead of Harvard's second-place time of 7:28.92. That win built the lead back to 100 points and gave Princeton some additional breathing room in what will undoubtedly be an exciting final Saturday of Ivy League swimming and diving.
Saturday's prelims will begin at 11 a.m., while finals will begin at 6 p.m. There will be seven finals on Saturday, including five individual swimming events (1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly). There will also be the 3-meter diving competition, where Princeton hopes to match a brilliant effort Thursday in the 1-meter event. The competition will end with the 400 free relay.