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No. 18 Women's Swimming & Diving Seeks Ivy Title No. 18 At DeNunzio Pool This Weekend
February 27, 2008 | Women's Swimming and Diving
The 18th-ranked Princeton women's swimming and diving team has worked all year for this weekend, when it will compete for its third straight and 18th overall Ivy League championship. The three-day league championship meet, which begins Thursday, Feb. 28, will be held in the friendly confines of DeNunzio Pool, where Princeton was crowned Ivy champion one season ago.
Princeton, the only non-scholarship program ranked in the Top 25, went 8-0 on the season and swept all seven Ivy rivals. The Tigers have won seven of the last eight league titles, and Princeton and Harvard have finished in the top two in each of the last five seasons. This season could shape up the same way, as Harvard comes into the Ivy meet with a 6-1 Ivy record. Columbia, Yale and Penn each have winning overall records on the season and will be looking to break into the top ranks of the league.
Each day will have two sessions, an 11 a.m. preliminary one and a 6 p.m. championship one. The events for each day are as follows:
THURSDAY: 200 Free Relay, 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 1-Meter Diving, 400 Medley Relay
FRIDAY: 200 Medley Relay, 1000 Free, 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 3-Meter Diving Consolations, 800 Free Relay
SATURDAY: 1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 3-Meter Diving, 400 Free Relay
While members of all four classes have impacted the Princeton squad this season, the leading figure for the Orange and Black remains sophomore Olympic hopeful Alicia Aemisegger. The owner of six individual Princeton records, Aemisegger was the 2007 Ivy League Championships Swimmer of the Meet after winning three individual events and anchoring the winning 800 free relay team. Aemisegger has already earned A-cut times in several events and will look to top her brilliant freshman performance from last year's championship event.
Classmate Courtney Kilkuts also has a ticket punched for the NCAA tournament. The 2007 Ivy League 200 IM champion set a Princeton record and qualified for nationals by going 1:59.10 at the Big Al Open. Kilkuts had a trio of Top-3 finishes at last year's championship meet, including in the 100 breast; Kilkuts has the top time of an Ivy swimmer in the 100 breast this season, although Columbia's Amy Krakauer and Harvard's Jaclyn Pangilinan both have times within .11 seconds of Kilkuts.
Aemisegger and Kilkuts are far from the only young Tigers looking to impact the championships. Freshman Meredith Monroe, whose recent Q&A with GoPrincetonTigers.com can be seen here, enters the championship weekend with the best Ivy times in both the 100 back (56.03) and the 200 back (1:57.53). Princeton didn't have a Top-7 finisher in either back event at the 2007 league meet, so Monroe will have a major impact on Princeton. Junior Meghan Capparell also has Top-10 times in both events.
The Ivy League will be providing live updates, which will include heat sheets, instant results and updated team point totals, throughout the weekend. A link to the Ivy page can be found at the top of the page. TigerZone will be streaming the championship finals all three days; you can register for TigerZone by clicking here. Tickets for every session can be purchased at the door.
GoPrincetonTigers.com will provide nightly recaps as the 18th-ranked Princeton Tigers go for an 18th championship at DeNunzio Pool.
Junior Justina DiFazio is the two-time defending Ivy League champion in the 200 free, and she is the reigning champion in the 100 free. DiFazio has Top-3 times in both events, although senior classmate Brett Shiflett brings the top 200 free time (1:48.27) into the championship meet. Columbia's Hannah Galey currently has the fastest 100 time, although neither DiFazio nor Shiflett is very far behind. The two of them, along with Aemisegger and Monroe, will likely compose an 800 free relay team that head coach Susan Teeter is hoping can post an NCAA time, which would be a remarkable accomplishment for a non-scholarship program.
Senior Lisa Hamming, a co-captain of the 2008 Tiger squad, has been a leader for the Tigers for years. While she doesn't have a league championship yet, she has been a top scorer for Princeton and has posted four Top-3 finishes in the last two years. She is also a reliable figure on the relay teams, which always have a major impact on a league championship meet.
Another key component of the Ivy Championships come on the 1- and 3-meter diving boards. Princeton junior Katie Giarra was the 2007 Ivy League Championships Diver of the Meet after sweeping both events, and after suffering an early injury this season, Giarra is rounding into form at the right time. Teammates Charlotte Jones and Peggy Kearns are also experienced competitors at the league meet, and diving coach Greg Gunn's crew has typically been a deep and reliable bunch for the league meet.