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Women's Swim/Diving Runs Streak To 33 With Ivy-Opening Sweep
November 20, 2010 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Senior Megan Waters led a Princeton charge into the 2010-11 Ivy League season. The Tigers, who were ranked third in the latest mid-major poll, swept both Cornell and Penn Saturday afternoon in Ithaca to move to 2-0 in the Ivy League season.
Princeton defeated Cornell 165-127 and Penn 171.5-120.5 to improve its dual meet win streak to 33.
Princeton made an immediate impression in the 200 medley relay, setting a Teague Hall pool record with a winning time of 1:44.68. A pair of freshmen, Karen Wang and Lisa Boyce, joined Kerry Gruendel and Waters in posting the winning mark, while the team of Meredith Monroe, Sarah Furgatch, Carter Stephens and Jillian Altenburger placed fourth overall in 1:50.06.
Freshman Maureen McCotter picked up her first collegiate win in the 1000, finishing in 10:16.47 to win by more than five seconds. Classmate Kasey Morris took third overall in 10:22.79, while senior Nicole McAndrew placed fifth in 10:30.79. With the graduation of Alicia Aemisegger, who was a dominant force in distance events over the last four years, head coach Susan Teeter looks like she has some young standouts in this area.
Princeton placed four of the top five in the 200 free, although Penn freshman Shelby Fortin won the event in 1:52.41. Senior co-captain Ming Ong placed second in 1:52.82, while Altenburger took third in 1:53.17. Junior Aislinn Smalling (1:53.73), a double winner in this meet last year, and sophomore Kathy Qu (1:54.60) rounded out the rest of the top five.
Wang, who led off Princeton's winning 200 medley relay, won a tight battle in the 100 back with a winning time of 57.03. She was one of four swimmers who broke the 58-second mark, including Monroe, who took third in 57.64.
Furgatch was Princeton's top finisher in the 100 breast, placing fourth in 1:06.85, while freshman Rebecca Lewinson tied for sixth in 1:07.80. Stephens got Princeton back on the winning side by taking the 200 fly in 2:03.42. McCotter took third in 2:06.65, while junior Leslie Bargmann finished fourth in 2:08.65.
Waters set another pool record in the 50 free, winning in 23.49. She edged out Boyce, who placed second in 24.16, and freshman Laura Slater, who finished third in 24.50.
Waters and Boyce were right back in the water for the 100, and Waters won again with a pool record time. The senior co-captain took the event in 51.18, while Boyce placed second in 51.63.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the 200 back, with Wang claiming the win in 2:03.19. Monroe finished second in 2:03.75, while Ong finished third in 2:06.68.
Junior Caitlin Baran finished sixth in the 200 breast (2:26.19). Smalling and Baran were the top finishers in the 500, with Smalling winning the event in 5:01.19. Baran took second in 5:01. 80.
With Princeton having clinched the meet at that point, the Tigers basically competed in exhibition swims the rest of the way, with all team points going to Penn and Cornell. Still, Waters and Stephens battled for the wall in the 100 fly, and Waters finished with a winning time of 55.84. Stephens took second in 56.96, while Qu placed fourth in 58.09.
Gruendel and Wang put on one of the most exciting races of the day in the 200 IM, with .03 of a second separating the two. Gruendel placed first in 2:08.30, while Wang finished second in 2:08.33. Princeton would finish with one more pool record, winning the 400 free relay in 3:29.87.
Junior Christina Kirkwood edged out senior teammate Carolyn Littlefield to win the three-meter diving competition. Kirkwood scored 231.90 points, while Littlefield took second with 228.50 points. In the one-meter competition, freshman Emily Kaplan took second with 227.25 points, while Littlefield placed third with 225.15 points.
Princeton is now off for Thanksgiving week and will return to the water for the annual Big Al Open, a three-day meet that will take place during the first weekend of December.