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Men's Swimming Caps Dominant Big Al Weekend With Five More Victories
December 05, 2011 | Men's Swimming and Diving
SUNDAY RESULTS l FULL WEEKEND RESULTS
The Princeton men's swimming and diving team knows that its season will be remembered most for what it does during three days in March, but it still put on a memorable performance during the annual three-day Big Al Open, which concluded Sunday night at DeNunzio Pool.
Princeton dominated the its annual December meet, named in honor of former Princeton swimmer Alan "Big Al" Ebersole '07, scoring 1,377 points over the three days. Columbia finished second with 691 points, while Brown placed third with 519 points. Princeton also improved to 3-0 on the Ivy League season, as its dual meet against Brown was scored throughout the weekend; the Tigers earned a 167-74 win.
Princeton won three individual events during the final session. Paul Nolle opened the night with an absolutely dominant performance in the mile. His winning time of 15:17.24 beat the rest of the field by more than 43 seconds, while freshman Andrew Klutey added an eighth-place finish in 16:20.98.
The 200 back final turned into a Princeton exhibition, and five Tiger swimmers placed in the top six. Four were freshmen, including Connor Maher, who won the event in 1:46.95. Senior Colin Cordes, the reigning Ivy League champion in the event, finished second in 1:47.46, while freshman Adam Lebovitz finished third in 1:48.80.
The Class of 2015 also took the fifth and sixth spots, as Michael Strand finished in 1:51.14 and Conner Jager followed in 1:52.03.
Another Princeton freshman finished first in the 100 free, as Harrison Wagner edged Brown's James Hunter for a win in 45.27. After those two, Princeton took the next four spots, including a third-place finish for Ian Rea in 45.88. Senior Michael Monovoukas took fourth in 45.98, while juniors Will Lawley (46.11) and Brian Barrett (46.40) took the next two spots.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the 200 breast, with reigning Ivy League champion Jon Christensen winning in an impressive time of 1:56.91. That time was close to his own Princeton record of 1:56.33, set last season. Sophomore Daniel Hasler finished second in 2:02.12, while Materniak took third in 2:03.66.
Freshman Oliver Bennett placed third in the 200 fly in 1:50.09, while junior Ryan Chiu finished fourth in 1:50.97. Freshman Michael Hauss rounded out the top five in 1:51.77.
Princeton ended the meet in style, going 1-2 in the 400 free relay. The Tiger quartet of Cordes, Wagner, LaMonaca and Monovoukas beat the rest of the field by more than two seconds and scored a winning time of 2:59.01. The foursome of Christensen, Maher, Barrett and Rea finished second in 3:01.63.
Princeton is now off until January 7, when it heads to Annapolis for a showdown of 2011 conference champions. The three-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton Tigers will compete against Patriot League champion Navy in a 2 p.m. dual meet.