Princeton University Athletics
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Players Mentioned
Tigers "Extremely Happy" With Winning Effort In 2011 Big Al Open
December 05, 2011 | Women's Swimming and Diving
SUNDAY RESULTS l FULL WEEKEND RESULTS
Women's head coach Susan Teeter didn't try to hide her pride and enthusiasm for the Princeton women's swimming and diving team following a wire-to-wire victory in the 2011 Big Al Open.
Of course, that pride was only partially for the win itself.
"I'm extremely happy with how we were able to come together this weekend as a team," Teeter said. "We came into this weekend with expectations that had nothing to do with times on clocks and everything to do with who we are and want to be this year. I'm happy that we found that and more.
"We are even more excited as coaches that with only one additional morning off this week, we were able to perform at this level at this time of year. We have been on a new training cycle that is clearly paying off for us in the water. I am most proud of our seniors who were all swimming at or better than their best times, which is a phenomenal feat in women's college swimming. And as always, we were grateful and honored to see Bruce Ebersole in the stands for our meet that stands in honor of his late son 'Big Al (Ebersole '07)' whom we still hold in our hearts."
Several individual victories and a multitude of championship finalists highlighted the day. Princeton also improved its dual meet win streak to 41, as its Ivy League meet with Brown was scored throughout the weekend.
Sophomore Maureen McCotter opened the session with a second-place finish in the mile. She touched the wall in 16:40.91, while senior Lauren Shanley placed fourth in 16:52.96. Freshman Reese Iriondo added a sixth-place finish for the Tigers in 16:55.95.
Senior Meredith Monroe and freshman Shirley Wang put on a duel in the 200 back final. Monroe, a former Ivy champion in the event, won the race in 1:58.92, while Wang placed second in 2:00.42. Sophomore Laura Loughran gave Princeton a third finalist and ended up eighth in a time of 2:07.31.
Like the 50 free on Friday, the 100 free final came down to former Princeton standout Megan Waters and Princeton sophomore Lisa Boyce. Waters, the 2011 Ivy League Championships Swimmer of the Meet, won the showdown in 49.34; Boyce, who broke the Princeton record in the 100 back Saturday night, placed second in 49.59. Sophomore Laura Slater placed seventh in 52.05, while senior Aislinn Smalling finished eighth in 53.42.
The Tigers put four in the 200 breast final, and freshman Cara Slear had the Tigers' top finish with a fourth-place showing of 2:19.64. Fellow freshman Sarah Liang ended sixth in 2:20.20, while senior co-captain Kerry Gruendel followed in seventh in 2:20.23. Freshman Emily Yu placed eighth in 2:20.36.
Junior Carter Stephens gave Princeton a victory in a 1-2-3 Tiger finish in the 200 fly. Stephens won in 2:00.55, while Ciardiello took second in 2:02.92. Junior Kathy Qu completed the trio finish in 2:03.31, and McCotter added a seventh-place finish in 2:06.08.
Princeton ended the competition with a victory in the 400 free relay, as the quartet of Boyce, Slater, Loht and Stephens won the event in 3:25.08. The Tigers also picked up a sixth-place finish in 3:30.21 with the team of Wang, Loughran, Gruendel and Qu.
"I am proud of our team for coming together, not only on the deck and behind the swims of their teammates, but in the work they did in and out of the pool this weekend," assistant coach Suzanne Yee said. "The whole team did what they needed to in between races and sessions to prepare to improve this weekend and in the future, and they worked on all the small things in their races that will help them in the coming months.
"The underclassmen have used the experiences of their older teammates to learn what a three-day meet is all about for a Tiger team, and I believe that our team represented what this meet represents in memory of Big Al and the Tiger family," Yee added.
Princeton will be off for more than a month for both holidays and finals, and will return to the water Jan. 29 in Hanover, N.H., for a tri-meet with New Hampshire and Dartmouth.