Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Day Three
Players Mentioned
#25 Men's Swimming/Diving Goes Wire To Wire For 26th Ivy League Championship
March 07, 2010 | Men's Swimming and Diving
When it was all said and done, veteran head coach Rob Orr called his team "fortunate" for having won its second straight and 26th overall Ivy League championship. Others might call it dominant, as the 25th-ranked and undefeated Tigers completed a wire-to-wire weekend with a convincing win in the 2010 Ivy championship meet, held over three days at DeNunzio Pool.
"It turned out fortunate for us, because it has been a challenging season," Orr said before his team went to the podium after topping second-place Harvard by more than 210 points. "We've had our ups and downs, but everybody rallied when it counted. We are grateful to have won the meet."
After losing a brilliant 17-member Class of 2009, many wondered if Princeton could maintain its position atop the league. There may have been fewer seniors this season, but their impact was no less meaningful.
"We graduated 17 and only have five freshmen," Orr said. "The two we had did well for us this weekend. This year's seniors were smaller in numbers, but they got the job done. We lose another good group this year, so we're going to enjoy it while it lasts. The future will be very challenging."
We'll leave that for the future, because the present was plenty special.
Princeton won the championship with 1552.5 points, while Harvard placed second with 1341.5 points. A back-and-forth battle for third went to Columbia, who scored 996.5 points to hold off Penn.
Heading into the third night with a big lead, Princeton was able to overcome a third distance event that was dominated by a talented Harvard squad. Ivy League Championships Swimmer of the Meet Alex Meyer won the event in 9:01.87, while Princeton freshman Travis McNamara placed fourth in 9:14.87. The Crimson placed six of the top nine finishers and cut its deficit to within 40 points.
And then Princeton began building it back again.
Sophomore Colin Cordes began the process by winning the 200 back in a B-cut time of 1:46.06, while junior Colin Hanna placed fourth overall in 1:47.65. Freshman Kaspar Raigla, who took second in the 100 back, completed a strong weekend with a sixth-place finish in 1:48.35.
What the 200 free did for Princeton on Friday night, the 100 free did for it on Saturday night. Basically, it ended all the drama. Talented Columbia senior Adam Powell won the event in 43.92, but the next five swimmers to finish were all from Princeton. Sophomore Matthew LaMonaca took second in 44.55, while classmate Michael Monovoukas took third in 44.62. Senior tri-captains Chris Quemena (fourth, 44.64) and Jon Hartmann (5th, 44,67) followed, as did junior Geoff Faux, who tied Hartmann to share fifth.
With a 10th-place finish for freshman Andres Tung (45.44) and an 11th-place finish for classmate Will Lawley (45.51), Princeton had seven of the top 11 finishers. The lead that had been under 40 points only minutes earlier was now a 215-point advantage.
A duel between Cornell's Michael Cai and Princeton's Jonathan Christensen took place in the 200 breast. The Big Red sophomore completed a strong weekend for Cornell with a win in 1:57.17, while Christensen — already a two-time winner over the weekend — placed second in 1:57.51.
Princeton got another two-time winner in the next event, as sophomore Bryan Tay won the 200 fly in 1:47.07. Junior Brett Lullo also made the final and took seventh in 1:51.03.
That would be the final individual swim event of the weekend, and one-meter diving took over. As was the case in the three-meter finals, a rookie showdown took center stage between Harvard's Michael Stanton and Princeton's Stevie Vines. Stanton completed a weekend sweep and won Ivy Championships Diver of the Meet honors by winning with 320.50 points, while Vines performed well once again and finished second with 304.35 points. Senior tri-captain Daniel Dickerson finished third with 298.40 points and was honored afterwards as the Career High Point Diver.
Princeton ended the weekend as it began, with a relay victory. The foursome of Cordes, Faux, LaMonaca and Hartmann won the 400 free relay in 2:57.98, while Yale placed second in 2:59.91.
Hartmann touched the wall last, a fitting end for a senior who joined the rest of his classmates to lead a talented Princeton program back to the top of the league.