Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Harvard & Yale
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Women's Swimming/Diving Holds Tight Lead Over Harvard After Day One Of HYP
January 30, 2009 | Women's Swimming and Diving
The Princeton women's swimming and diving team concluded the first day of its annual HYP meet with a 94.5-74.5 lead over Harvard and a 113-56 lead over Yale. Senior Alicia Aemisegger and freshman Jillian Altenburger both won a pair of individual events at Harvard's Blodgett Pool; Princeton won eight of the nine events in the opening session.
Princeton opened the session by winning the 200 medley relay in 1:43.04. The team of Megan Waters, Aemisegger, Justina DiFazio and Courtney Kilkuts topped a pair of Harvard teams to get the Tigers off to a strong start.
Aemisegger followed with a win in the 1000, going 9:40.09 to top Harvard's Alexandra Clarke by more than 10 seconds. Aemisegger, a six-time Ivy League champion, came back to win the 200 fly in 1:57.31, an NCAA B-cut time. Aemisegger topped Harvard All-Ivy swimmer Kate Mills by more than one second to win the event.
Altenburger made a strong impression in her first HYP by winning the 200 free in a B-cut time of 1:46.97, less than half a second faster than Mills. Sophomore Megan Waters followed with a win in the 100 back with a time of 55.45, more than a second faster than the rest of the field. Junior Courtney Kilkuts followed with a win in the 100 breast (1:03.26), while freshman Caitlin Baran added a fourth-place finish (1:05.41).
Harvard picked up its first win of the evening when Katy Hinkle claimed the 50 free. Waters had the Ivy League top time in the event heading into the night, but she had a false start in the event and didn't score. Princeton's top finisher in the 50 was Emily Trautner, who took seventh in a time of 24.37.
Princeton made a big push on the 1-meter board, where Katie Giarra placed first with 299.10 points. Yale's Rachel Rosenberg took second, and a trio of Tigers finished third, fourth and fifth. Senior Shelby Rudd took third with 253.30 points, while freshmen Courtney Fieldman (241.35) and Christina Kirkwood (239.20) took the next two spots.
Altenburger picked up a second win by recording a B-cut time of 4:16.92 in the 400 IM to conclude the first session.