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Super Sunday Rally Sends #21 Men's Swim/Dive Team To HYP Sweep
February 01, 2009 | Men's Swimming and Diving
The 21st-ranked Princeton men's swimming and diving team rallied from a Saturday deficit to sweep both No. 25 Harvard and Yale during the annual HYP meet, held at Blodgett Pool in Cambridge, Mass. Princeton defeated Harvard 193-160 and Yale 253-100.
The victories move Princeton to 6-0 overall and 6-0 in the Ivy League. The weekend featured the two dominant powers in the league, as either Princeton or Harvard has won or shared the Ivy League title every year since 1971. Princeton won both the 2006 and 2007 titles, while Harvard bounced back strong last year to reclaim the crown.
The close weekend finish should set up an exciting Ivy League championship meet, which will be held during the first weekend of March at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool.
Harvard struck first with a win in the 200 medley relay, although Princeton finished second and third in the event to keep the point total close. The team of Robert Coe, Jonathan Christensen, Mike Carter and Geoff Faux placed second in 1:29.39, while the foursome of Charlie Wang, John LaMonaca, Michael Monovoukas and Matthew LaMonaca took third in 1:29.47.
Princeton started rolling when the individual events began. Sophomore Colin Hanna won the 400 IM with a B-cut time of 3:51.87, while senior tri-captain Will Schaffer took second in 3:53.46. Harvard sophomore Douwe Yntema placed third, but the Tigers came right back with fourth- and fifth-place finishes. Christopher Quemana took fourth in 3:57.96, while Bern Ebersole placed fifth in 3:58.26.
Yale All-Ivy senior Alex Righi won the 100 free in 42.17, but once again, Princeton made up big points against Harvard with three of the top five finishers. All-America senior Doug Lennox posted a B-cut time of 43.19 for second, while Carter (44.52) and Hartmann (44.53) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Crimson came back with the top two finishers in the 200 back, although a pair of Princeton freshmen did take the next two spots. Colin Cordes took third in 1:47.34, while Coe took fourth in 1:47.67.
Lennox came back in his best stroke, the fly, to get Princeton back on the winning track. The Tiger tri-captain won the 100 in a B-cut time of 46.19, while freshman teammate Wang took fifth in 48.64. Princeton followed with three top-five finishers in the 500, led by a second-place finish from sophomore Patrick Biggs (B-cut time of 4:23.27). Freshman Travis McNamara also recorded a B-cut time (4:23.45) for third, while Hanna took fifth in 4:25.07.
Junior Dan Dickerson placed second in the 3-meter diving competition with 293.50 points, while freshman Tom Wells took fifth with 280.30 points.
Princeton dropped the hammer in the final individual event, the 200 breast. Princeton took the top four spots, as well as sixth, to clinch the victory. Ebersole swam a brilliant race (2:00.80) to edge classmate Schaffer by .06 of a second. Chen took third in 2:01.04, while Christensen took fourth in 2:01.45. By the time Quemana finished sixth in 2:03.34, Princeton was secured the pair of victories.
The Tigers ended the meet in style, as the team of Lennox, Carter, Cordes and Hartmann won the 400 free relay in a B-cut time of 2:56.26.