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Princeton University
Ivy Championship
Players Mentioned
Aemisegger, Giarra, DiFazio Claim Individual Honors, But Harvard Wins 2009 Ivy Women's Swim/Dive Title
March 01, 2009 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Two seasons ago, the Princeton women's swimming and diving team swept the field at the Ivy League Championships, winning the team title and claiming both top individual honors. While it was Harvard who swam away with the 2009 team championship, Princeton did once again sweep the major individual awards, and it did so with two of the same winners from 2007.
Harvard won the team title with 1583.5 points, while Princeton finished second with 1,334 points. Yale finished third, although the Bulldogs finished nearly 300 points behind the Tigers. Princeton junior Alicia Aemisegger claimed Swimmer of the Meet honors after winning all three individual events for the third straight year, while senior Katie Giarra won Diver of the Meet honors after finishing off the weekend sweep with a win in the 3-meter competition.
A third individual honor went to Tiger senior co-captain Justina DiFazio, who won the Career Points honor; DiFazio, a multiple-time Ivy champion and member of three championship teams, scored 534 points in her four years in Orange and Black.
"We're excited to have finished off this last session on such a high note," head coach Susan Teeter said after Saturday's championship session. "We had seniors swimming lifetime best swims, divers dominating the boards, a mile meet record for Alicia Aemisegger and a 400 freestyle school and meet record. We had multiple NCAA A & B standards and garnered all three major individual awards. It was a night of classic Princeton swimming & diving."
Aemisegger completed her streak of nine straight Ivy League individual championships by breaking a Princeton and Ivy League championships record in the 1650 with a winning time of 15:57.34. Her time topped Harvard junior Alexandra Clarke, who finished 13 seconds behind Aemisegger for second place. The Crimson would add third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the event, while Princeton freshman Aislinn Smalling placed sixth overall in 16:48.05. Fellow Tiger freshman Lauren Shanley placed 13th in 17:07.90, while sophomore Ming Ong took 16th in 17:11.30.
Senior co-captain Meghan Capparell won the consolation final of the 200 back in 2:02.24, while Ong placed 21st overall in 2:05.72. Princeton sent two to the championship final of the 100 free, with sophomore Megan Waters leading the way with a third-place finish in 50.35. Columbia senior Hannah Galey continued her strong meet with a winning time of 49.78, while Hillary Preston placed second in 50.25. Three Crimson swimmers finished after Waters, while DiFazio placed seventh in 51.20. Another strong Princeton freshman, Jillian Altenburger, placed 13th in 51.85.
Yale's Susan Kim defended her 200 breast title and broke her own Ivy championship record with a time of 2:12.86, while Princeton junior and 200 IM champion Courtney Kilkuts placed third in 2:14.57. Princeton also got a 10th-place finish from freshman Caitlin Baran, who recorded a time of 2:20.65, and a 12th-place finish from freshman Kerry Gruendel, who swam in 2:21.59.
Yale senior Hayes Hyde won the 200 fly in 1:59.15, while defending champion and Princeton senior Monika Friedman placed third in 2:01.52. Sophomore teammate Nicole McAndrew placed 10th in 2:03.70.
Giarra wrapped up Diver of the Meet honors by winning the 3-meter competition with 332.35 points, which nearly broke her own championship record from 2007. Giarra, who won the 1-meter competition on Thursday, also swept both diving competitions two years ago. It was another major effort for Princeton, which took four of the top five positions. Following Columbia's Shannon Hosey, who took second with 305.15 points, was Princeton senior Peggy Kearns (292.70), sophomore Carolyn Littlefield (278.20) and senior Shelby Rudd (270.55).
The meet ended with a final Princeton relay win, as the quartet of Altenburger, DiFazio, Waters and Aemisegger won the 400 free relay in an Ivy championship record time of 3:20.33. The Tiger relay topped Harvard by 1.03 seconds to finish the three-day meet on a winning note.
While Princeton may not have ended the 2009 Ivy League championships with the title, it had several terrific performances and will now look forward to the NCAAs. Divers will be up first, as they compete for NCAA berths in the Zone Competition in two weeks, and then all qualified swimmers will head to College Station, Texas, for the NCAA Championships March 19-21.