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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Ivy League Championships
Players Mentioned
Women's Swimming & Diving Completes Dream Weekend With 16th Ivy League Title
February 25, 2006 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 25, 2006
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - At some point on Thursday, Princeton head coach Susan Teeter started to see the best of all possibilities begin to unfold. Her swimmers and divers were putting together career performance after career performance, and the momentum steamrolled through three days and ended with Princeton claiming it 16th, and possibly sweetest, Ivy League title.
The Tigers, who had been soundly defeated by Harvard in the regular season, exacted the greatest type of revenge by claiming a sizable win over the host and defending champion Crimson. Leading by 100 points entering the final session, Teeter knew after the preliminaries that her team was in pretty good shape. After all, it was the fifth straight session that Princeton swam a top-notch performance, so even if the Tigers faltered a bit at the end, they might still have enough breathing room.
Instead, Princeton just kept on outswimming the field, and the Orange and Black put on a show for its final session.
The night began with sophomore Ellen Gray leaving the field in the 1650, winning in a time of 16:32.67. Harvard claimed second, but with every point crucial, Eileen Altenburger placed third and Libby Engelmeier took ninth, both of which helped Princeton build on its lead and solidify its firm grasp of momentum.
Princeton placed three in the final of the 200 back, with Lisa Hamming placing third overall and first among Princeton swimmers with a time of 2:04.65. Kitsie Kerner took fourth overall (2:04.78) and Meghan Capparell placed sixth (2:05.06). Even when Princeton swimmers weren't winning championship races, other schools were assisting the cause by taking first place. In the case of the 200 back, it was Yale's Moira McCloskey topping Harvard's Lindsay Hart for first. Next up was the 100 free, a final that featured two Princeton swimmers (Justina DiFazio and Brett Shiflett) and two Harvard swimmers (Erin Mulkey and Emily Wilson). The Princeton swimmers finished second and third, respectively, while Harvard took sixth and eighth. It was a microcosm of the weekend, as the Princeton swimmers were just too fast. DiFazio, who apparently missed the memo about freshman nerves in championship meets, finished a terrific weekend with a second-place finish in 50.85, while Shiflett continued to be one of the league's premier performers with a third-place time of 51.34.
Harvard's best performance of the night came in the 200 breast, where it finished first, third, fifth and seventh. Princeton's Sarah Schaffer took second overall with an NCAA B-qualifying time of 2:17.55.
Crimson swimmer Nicole Bassi earned Swimmer of the Meet honors after winning the 200 fly in 1:58.81, a dominant win over the field. Unfortunately for the Crimson, the field included zero of her teammates and three Princeton swimmers: third-place Monika Friedman (2:04.67), fourth-place Eileen Altenburger (2:04.76) and fifth-place Justina DiFazio (2:04.78). Despite Bassi's win, Princeton built on its lead in the race and gained a basically insurmountable lead.
One of the big events for Princeton was the 1-meter diving final on Thursday, where the Tigers' depth built a big advantage over the field. The depth was there again in the 3-meter competition, as Michelle Demond placed third (292.75), Katie Giarra took fifth (287.05), Charlotte Jones took sixth (287.05) and Peggy Kearns claimed ninth (299.30). Four divers in the top 10 continued the show of excellence for Princeton off the boards, and with all four returning next year, indicates a strong run in the future for the Princeton divers.
With the championship in the bag, Princeton took fourth in the 400 free relay in 3:28.87. It was the only relay Princeton didn't win during the weekend, but it didn't keep the Tigers from a massive celebration afterwards.
After all, they were the Ivy League champions.
"It was a total team effort. We're really glad to have that team trophy back home," Teeter said. "We want to dedicate this championship to Alan Ebersole. It was an honor to have his name on our shirts all year long and swim fast again. It was great for our seniors, who were part of two other championship teams. They all did a great job in the meet."