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Men's Swimming Splits H-Y-P Weekend; Christensen Wins Three
January 30, 2011 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Despite three individual victories from junior Jon Christensen, the Princeton men's swimming and diving team was unable to sweep the annual H-Y-P meet for the first time since 2008. Princeton defeated Yale 238-115, but the Tigers fell 189-164 to Harvard.
Princeton will have another opportunity at Harvard during the 2011 Ivy League championship meet, but it will have to pull off the victory at the Crimson's own Blodgett Pool during the three-day league meet from Mar. 3-5. The last time Harvard hosted the Ivy Championships was 2008, and the Crimson held off Princeton for the title.
This weekend's meet started with the three-meter diving event, and it came down to a rematch between the top two divers of the 2010 Ivy League Championship meet. Harvard sophomore Michael Stanton ended up winning the event with 336.05 points, while Princeton sophomore Stevie Vines placed second with 316.95 points.
Princeton opened the swimming portion of the competition with a win in the 200 free relay. The quartet of Geoff Faux, Matt LaMonaca, Brian Barrett and Mike Monovoukas took the event in 1:20.87.
The first individual event of the weekend gave the Crimson a strong foundation to build upon; Chris Satterthwaite and Spenser Goodman tied for first in a 1-2-3 Harvard finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:38.99; Princeton junior Colin Cordes placed fifth overall in 1:40.46 for the top Tiger finish.
Harvard followed with a win in the 100 back, but Princeton picked up a fourth-place finish by sophomore Kaspar Raigla in 50.43 and a sixth-place finish for junior Robert Coe in 50.87.
Needing a win to keep the meet within reach, Princeton called on its top scorer for the 2010 Ivy championship meet. Christensen set an NCAA B-cut with his 100 breast winning time of 55.29, while freshman teammate K.J. Park placed third overall in 56.41. Classmate Eric Materniak took fifth in 57.89.
Harvard regained any momentum it might have lost in the previous event with a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 fly. Ryan Cutter won the event in 1:48.36, while Princeton junior Adlai Pappy placed fourth overall in 1:51.53.
Princeton took three of the top four spots in the 50 free, although the Crimson got the big points with Oliver Lee's win in 20.42. LaMonaca took second in 20.48, while Cordes and Faux shared third in 20.65.
Christensen got his second win of the weekend when he led a 1-2 Tiger finish in the 200 IM. Friday's double winner took the race in 1:49.25, while Hanna placed second in 1:49.65.
Harvard won the mile, while Tiger freshman Paul Nolle took fourth in 15:38.16 and Hanna placed sixth in 15:46.33.
Princeton finished a Friday relay sweep by taking the 400 medley relay in 3:19.48. The quartet of Raigla, Christensen, Monovoukas and Cordes won the event in 3:19.48, while the 'B' team of Charles Wang, Park, Brett Lullo and Tung placed third in 3:21.02.
Sunday's portion of the meet began with the 400 IM, and Hanna placed fourth in a time of 3:55.94. Freshman Daniel Hasler added a fifth-place finish in 3:57.40.
LaMonaca was Princeton's top finisher in the 100 free, placing second overall in a time of 45.21. Tung took seventh in 45.94, while freshman Thomas Fellowes took eighth in 46.14.
Princeton had a big effort in the 200 back, including a win by Cordes in 1:46.99. Princeton also went 3-4-5, with Lebovitz leading that stretch in 1:48.39. Freshman Nick Beaulieu was fourth in 1:48.59, while Coe took fifth in 1:48.60.
Junior Charles Wang gave Princeton back-to-back victories when he won the 100 fly in 48.53, while Monovoukas placed fifth in 49.52. Unfortunately, any momentum Princeton gained was lost in the 500 free, when Harvard took the top four spots. Nolle was Princeton's top finisher, placing fifth in 4:32.79, while Hanna took 11th in 4:37.13.
Christensen got his third win of the weekend when he took the 200 breast in a Yale pool record time of 1:59.69. That would be another NCAA B-cut time for Christensen, who will enter the Ivy Championships as one of the top contenders for the individual point title.
Princeton did end on a high note, as the team of LaMonaca, Monovoukas, Tung and Cordes won the 400 free relay in 2:59.97.
Princeton will return home next weekend to take on Navy during Senior Day at DeNunzio Pool.