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#24 Tigers Return To Blodgett, Site Of '11 Heroics, For Annual H-Y-P Meet
February 02, 2012 | Men's Swimming and Diving
While the stakes will be raised four weeks later when the 2012 Ivy League Championship meet comes to Princeton's DeNunzio Pool (March 1-3), the most anticipated dual meet of the Ivy regular season will take place this weekend when both Princeton and Yale head north to take on Harvard at Blodgett Pool.
The men's meet will take place over two sessions, beginning Friday night at 6 p.m., and continuing Saturday at noon. A full order of events can be found here.
The meet will be streamed online, and fans will have several options for subscription purchase. A single session will cost $9.95, while the entire men's (or women's) meet will cost $14.95. Fans who wish to see all four sessions (the women will compete Saturday night and Sunday afternoon) can purchase the full weekend package for $24.95.
Live results will be available here.
All three teams come into the weekend with matching 4-0 Ivy League records, though both Princeton and Harvard also have perfect 5-0 overall records. Princeton is currently ranked 24th nationally and scored a thrilling win over Patriot League champion Navy last month.
Harvard and Princeton have split the last four HYP meets, with Harvard scoring a 189-164 victory last season in New Haven. Of course, Princeton returned the favor with a wild 5.5-point victory over the Crimson in Blodgett Pool for the 2011 Ivy League championship.
The two programs figure to battle to the end during the 2012 championship meet, though Yale has a handful of swimmers who are looking to gain both confidence and momentum as they head into the final month of the season.
Both Princeton and Harvard will bring premier sprinters into the weekend. Tiger freshman Harrison Wagner has the league's best 50 time (19.91), while senior Matt LaMonaca ranks second with a 20.68. Harvard's Chris Satterthwaite is third in the 50, but he leads the field in the 100 (44.74).
Princeton senior tri-captain Colin Cordes, who has the second-fastest 100 time, leads all swimmers in the 200 (1:37.99), while Harvard's Spencer Goodman (1:38.56) and Princeton's Will Lawley (1:39.21) both figure to be in the mix.
Princeton sophomore Paul Nolle has been the class of the league through the first half of the season in the distance events. His 500 time of 4:24.82 is the class of the league by nearly 10 seconds, while his mile time of 15:17.24 is more than 35 seconds faster than the best time of Yale's Robert Harder. Harvard's Michael Guadini is the top Crimson distance swimmer, and his 500 time of 4:34.79 is second-best in the league.
Princeton freshman Michael Strand and junior Kaspar Raigla are 1-2 in the 100 back. Strand has the best time (48.49), while Raigla, the reigning Ivy League champion, is next with a 49.52. The same holds true in the 200, as a Princeton freshman (Connor Maher, 1:46.95) is just ahead of Princeton's reigning Ivy champion (Cordes, 1:47.46).
Both Harder of Yale and Harvard's Robert Newell are two to watch in the back.
Princeton senior tri-captain Jon Christensen has the top 100 and 200 breast times of anybody in the field. His 100 time of 53.58 is 1.5 seconds faster than Harvard's Charles Katis, and his 200 time of 1:56.91 is nearly four seconds faster than Katis. Princeton sophomore Daniel Hasler, who was ill and unable to compete in the HYP meet last year, and Harvard's Owen Wurzbacher are both swimmers to watch in the breast events.
Yale's Goksu Bicer, the reigning Ivy League champion in the event, will come into the weekend with the best 100 fly time (48.98), those Princeton freshman Michael Strand will provide a stiff test (49.69). Yale's Alwin Firmansyah (1:48.17) and Harvard's Kyle McIntee (1:48.72) are the favorites in the 200 breast, though Princeton freshman Oliver Bennett (1:50.09) is looking forward to his opportunity to establish himself among the Ivy elite.
There will be no shortage of elite swimmers in either IM event. Of the top nine Ivy League times in the 200, eight have come from swimmers in the HYP meet; of the nine top 400 times, seven are from HYP. The 200 could be a showdown between Christensen (1:48.40) and Katis (1:48.56), though both Firmansyah and Hasler aren't far off the pace.
Hasler's specialty is the 400, though, and his time of 3:55.79 is the best in the field by nearly three seconds. Both Katis (3:55.79) and Princeton's Eric Materniak (3:59.32) could offer the strongest competition to Hasler.
The last two Ivy League Championship Divers of the Meet will renew their rivalry off both the 1- and 3-meter boards this weekend. Harvard junior Michael Stanton, the 2010 individual winner, will welcome reigning Diver of the Meet Stevie Vines; the Princeton junior won his first Ivy League individual title on the 3-meter board last year.