Princeton University Athletics
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#17 Men's Swim/Dive Team Looks For 18th League Title As DeNunzio Hosts Ivy Championships
March 04, 2009 | Men's Swimming and Diving
The 17th-ranked Princeton men's swimming and diving team marched through its regular season unscathed, but its biggest goal is still upcoming. Princeton will go for its 18th league title this weekend when its own DeNunzio Pool serves as host to the 2009 Ivy League championship meet.
After winning both the 2006 and 2007 titles, Princeton saw its crown go to Harvard last season. The Tigers and Crimson figure to be the two top competitors for the 2009 title, although several schools have top swimmers who will be seeking individual championships throughout the three-day meet. The championships, which begin Thursday and run through Saturday, will have a preliminary session at 11 a.m. and a championship session at 6 p.m. The full schedule can be found by clicking on the link above.
Princeton has won 17 league titles in program history, but hasn't won three in a four-year stretch since the mid-1990s. Under the tutelage of head coach Rob Orr, Princeton will have that shot this year. The Tigers were undefeated against the Ivy League and put forth one of its finest performances in the annual Big Al Open since the competition began. At the bottom of this release is an event-by-event preview of Princeton's squad for the upcoming championship meet.
The championship sessions for the 2009 Ivy League men's meet will be video streamed live on TigerZone, which you can sign up for here. GoPrincetonTigers.com will also have nightly recaps of the event, including links for complete results.
FREE
While the top sprinter in the league is Yale senior Alex Righi, who swept both the 50 and 100 at the 2008 championships, Princeton has a number of competitors who are viable contenders for championship finals. The second-best Ivy League time this season in the 50 (19.78), the 100 (43.11) and the 200 (1:36.54) all belong to Lennox, who didn't even swim any of those events at last year's championships. If head coach Rob Orr sends Lennox out in these events, he may be the only swimmer who can challenge Righi.
The next two names to pay attention to in the sprints are senior Mike Carter and sophomore Geoff Faux. Carter, a conference team veteran, reached the 50 final and placed 10th in the 100, and he has top-six times in both events this season. Carter is a threat in both events, while Faux is considered more dangerous in the 50. As a freshman, he placed third in the event, and he has the fifth-fastest time in the league this year.
The talent extends beyond those three swimmers. Youth has served Princeton well in the 50, where freshman Matthew Lamonaca and Michael Monovoukas both have top-10 times. Monovoukos also has a top-10 time in the 100, while junior Jonathan Hartmann has the fifth-fastest time overall (44.53). Hartmann was Princeton's top finisher in both the 100 and 200 last season.
After Lennox, Hartmann has Princeton's fastest 200 time entering the Ivy League championships (1:37.02, fourth overall), while freshman Colin Cordes (1:38.50), junior A.J. Kennedy (1:38.56) and sophomore Colin Hanna (1:38.65) occupy spots seven through nine, respectively.
Moving into the distance events, Princeton can count on another deep corps of competitors to score team points. The Tigers have the top two and three of the top four times in the 500, led by Hanna's Big Al Open time of 4:21.85. That edged out freshman teammate Travis McNamara's time of 4:21.95, which came the same weekend. Sophomore Patrick Biggs stands fourth in the league with a top time of 4:23.27.
Senior co-captain Robert Griest, who has the ninth-fastest time in the 500, leads the Ivy League field with a time of 9:14.74 in the 1000. Griest has been one of the most reliable and consistent distance performers over the last four seasons, and he could pick up his first conference title in this event. Both Biggs (9:18.40) and McNamara (9:21.44) have top-five times in the event, while freshman Ryan Chiu stands seventh in 9:24.35.
Griest, McNamara and Biggs also comprise half of the top six swimmers in the 1650 heading into the Ivy championships. Griest, who placed fourth last season, has the third-best time in the league at 15:13.24, while McNamara stands fifth at 15:20.56. Biggs, who reached the finals of both the 1000 and 1650 last year, is sixth with a time of 15:23.16.
BACK
Just like the 50 and 100 free, two of the top three performers in the 100 back are Righi and Lennox. The Princeton co-captain placed second in the 100 back last year, and his time of 48.41 ranks third in the league right now. Freshman Robert Coe ranks eighth in the league in the 100 (49.85), and he ranks fifth in the 200 (1:47.67).
The Princeton 200 corps is deeper than the 100, as the Tigers are four-deep in the Ivy top ten. Leading the way is Cordes, who ranks fourth overall with a time of 1:47.34. Coe follows closely, while Kennedy (1:49.05) and senior Daniel O'Connor (1:49.42) rank ninth and 10th respectively.
While Lennox may or may not swim the 100 back as his third event (his specialty is the fly events), he could be important on both medley relays as the leadoff leg. He swam the back for both relays, and Orr will have to decide whether to use him on either relay, or save him for the free relays.
BREAST
Senior Easton Chen swam the breast leg in both medley relays last season, and he will likely do so again this year. Chen currently ranks second in the 100 breast with a time of 55.42, and he was Princeton's lone finalist in the 100 last season. His time is only .11 of a second off the top time in the league, and he could challenge for his first league title this season. Chen is also a viable threat in the 200, where he ranks fifth with a time of 2:01.04.
Another Princeton veteran who could be racing for his first league title is senior co-captain Will Schaffer, who placed second in the 200 breast last season. Schaffer, who ranks fourth in the league in the 100 (55.79), also ranks fourth in the 200 (2:00.86). Schaffer, whose strongest events are the IM ones, could contend for either breast title.
Other Princeton names to watch are freshman Jonathan Christensen (5th in 100, 55.87), senior John Lamonaca (8th in 100, 56.29; 7th in 200, 2:01.45), senior Bern Ebersole (3rd in 200, 2:00.80) and junior Chris Quemana (10th in 200, 2:03.34).
FLY
In the last three years, two of which ended with Princeton league championships, the Tigers have won a grand total of two individual titles. Both were won by Lennox, and both came in fly events. The 2007 100 fly and 2008 200 fly champion comes into the 2009 championships with the league's best time in both events. The 2008 Puerto Rican Olympic competitor swam a 45.72 in the 100 and a 1:42.87 in the 200, which is more than a second faster than anybody in the league.
In the 100, the top 10 times in the Ivy League are held by six seniors and four freshmen, which could set up an interesting event. Two of the freshmen are Lennox' teammates, Charlie Wang (sixth, 48.64) and Monovoukas (eighth, 48.81). Wang ranks above all freshmen and will be a swimmer to watch in this event for years to come, but he and Monovoukas will also be looking to make an impact this season. Schaffer also ranks 10th in both the 100 and 200.
The toughest competition for Lennox in the 200 could come from senior teammate Dan Eckel, who ranks second in the Ivy League with a time of 1:44.08. A championship finalist in this event last season, Eckel will look to push Lennox as he defends his 2008 title. Sophomore Brett Lullo (seventh, 1:49.39) and Wang (ninth, 1:49.52) join Schaffer in the top 10 times in the 200.
IM
In its previous championship years, Princeton has been extremely formidable in the IM events, and this season looks like it could fit into that category.
Orr's squad has six of the top nine competitors in the 200 field. Lennox leads the way with a time of 1:45.75, but he very well could go after three other individual events, leaving this event to the rest of his talented teammates. One of those is Schaffer, who has finished fourth, second and second in this event during his three years. In the last two seasons, he has lost only to 2008 Harvard graduate and All-America swimmer Geoff Rathgeber, so this could be Schaffer's time to win an Ivy League title.
Schaffer's top 200 time is 1:48.39, which ranks him slightly ahead of Hanna, who is third with a time of 1:48.92. Those three swimmers (including Lennox) are the only Ivy League competitors to go below 1:50 in this event, which could set up a Princeton showdown in the final stretch.
Hartmann (sixth, 1:50.11), junior Chris Quemana (seventh, 1:50.27) and Ebersole (ninth, 1:50.61) are also among the Princeton swimmers who could vie for a berth in the championship finals. With the 200 IM being one of the individual events during Thursday's opening session, Princeton could use it to springboard to an early lead in the championship event.
Princeton also has six of the top 10 swimmers in the 400. Hanna has a major edge on the rest of the field; nobody has come within four seconds of the 3:48.93 mark he posted during the Big Al Open. Schaffer, who edged out Hanna for third in this event last year, is currently second in the league with a time of 3:53.46.
Quemana is currently fourth in the event with a time of 3:54.80, while Ebersole is seventh with a time of 3:58.26. Freshmen Matt Jacobson (3:58.72) and Ryan Chiu (3:59.06) round out the ninth and 10th spots.
DIVING
Juniors Michael Papageorge and Dan Dickerson have led the Princeton men's diving corps since they began their work under coach Greg Gunn, and there is no reason to expect anything different this weekend.
Papageorge was the 3-meter runner-up last year and finished second in both events as a freshman. After an injury-plagued season, which included missing the HYP meet at the end of January, Papageorge is hoping to come back strong for his first individual title.
Dickerson reached both championship finals last year and will look to top his sixth-place finish, which he recorded on the 3-meter board. He was Princeton's top finisher in both events during the HYP meet.
Two other divers to watch are senior Yarden Fraiman and freshman Tom Wells. Fraiman is having the best season of his career and would like nothing better to jump into at least one of the championship finals, while Wells is a talented young diver who could turn some heads with a strong first championship event.