Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
EISL Championships
Players Mentioned
Princeton Men End Weekend With Only One Title: EISL Champion
March 04, 2006 | Men's Swimming and Diving
March 4, 2006
Complete Results
NEW YORK, N.Y. - If you're going to end a weekend with one victory, you might as well make it the biggest one of all. The Princeton men's swimming and diving team defined the importance of team by claiming the 2006 EISL championship despite not winning a single event. The Tigers defeated 2005 champion Harvard by 106 points to win their third title in five years.
Princeton entered Saturday's session with a slim 40.5-point lead over the Harvard Crimson, and that lead dropped to 19 points with three events remaining. Then came the 200 butterfly, event No. 19, and the race that clinched the title for Princeton.
The evening started with the 1650 free, which Harvard's Eric Lynch won in 15:18.67. Princeton claimed second and third in the event, with Robert Griest (15:22.48) and Dave Ashley (15:22.80) both putting up NCAA B-qualifying times.
Harvard's David Cromwell completed a strong meet with a win in the 200 back (1:43.17), while Princeton placed both fourth (Mike Zee, 1:48.36) and eighth (Alan Fishman, 1:50.04) in the race. Another fifth-place finish for the Crimson in the race helped Harvard cut into the lead.
Will Reinhardt took second in the 100 free (44.22), falling to Yale's Alex Righi by .78 of a second. Freshman Doug Lennox claimed sixth in the race in a time of 45.21.
Geoff Rathgeber took the 200 breast (1:59.16), while teammate Bill Cocks took fourth in the race. Princeton tri-captain Sami Mardam-Bey took eighth in 2:06.80. That event cut the Princeton lead to 19 points, the slimmest it had been during the weekend. Then came the 200 fly.
Cornell's Michael Smit won a showdown with Princeton junior Meir Hasbani, taking the event in 1:46.11, .04 of a second faster than Hasbani's time. It might have been a disappointing finish for Hasbani, but within seconds, the truth of a 2006 team title was clear for Princeton. Brian Shue placed fourth in 1:49.18, Dan Eckel claimed fifth in 1:49.19 and Doug Lennox took sixth in 1:49.54. After Harvard's Dan Jones placed seventh, Princeton's Tim Ruse took eighth in 1:52.51.
Princeton built its lead to an insurmountable amount with two events remaining, but it didn't stop. In the 3-meter diving competition, Princeton got a second-place finish from Kent DeMond (366.75), a fifth-place showing Charlie Razook (297.10) and a seventh-place performance from Stuart Malcolm (280.50). Harvard's Danil Rybalko won the event with 373.10 points.
Princeton ended the competition with a fourth-place showing in the 400 free relay (3:00.05).
The win completed an incredible nine days for the Princeton swimming and diving program. The women entered the 2006 Ivy championships as an underdog to Harvard, but a quick start and strong finish gave Princeton a stunning win. One week later, the men defined the importance of team with an upset win over another Harvard team.
And for the next 12 months, both league titles will remain in Princeton.