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Princeton Downs Patriot Champ Navy, Improves To 6-1 This Season
January 03, 2015 | Men's Swimming and Diving
The Princeton men's swimming and diving team has some lofty goals in their sights now that the calendar has officially turned to 2015. The Tigers' opening statement of the new year was an impressive one Saturday afternoon.
Double wins by Teo D'Alessandro, Connor Maher and Michael Manhard, along with a strong effort throughout the lineup, pushed Princeton to a 171-129 victory over reigning Patriot League champion Navy Saturday at DeNunzio Pool. In one of Princeton's closest rivalries over the last several years, the Tigers won the first four events to build a lead they would never relinquish.
"It was a great opportunity for the team to start off with a victory against a quality team to build confidence that we can do bigger and better things later in the year," sophomore Sam Smiddy, an individual winner Saturday, said afterwards. "After one of our last hard weeks of training we are definitely zeroing in on how we are going to perform at our very best at the end of the year."
Princeton opened the meet in impressive fashion, as the quartet of Michael Strand, D'Alessandro, Maher and Harrison Wagner won the 200 medley relay in 1:28.80. The Tigers actually posted two of the top three teams, as the relay of Andrew Helber, Jack Pohlmann, Alex Lewis and Julian Mackrel finished third in 1:31.38.
Smiddy opened the individual events with a victory in the 1000; his time of 9:22.34 topped the rest of the field by more than 3.5 seconds. D'Alessandro, the Princeton record holder in the 200/400 IM, was impressive in taking the 200 free in 1:37.91.
Maher made it three in a row for Princeton, as he edged out Helber to win the 100 back in 49.76. Helber finished second in 50.19, giving the Tigers a 1-2 finish that helped build a considerable early lead.
Navy bounced back with a win in the 100 breast, though the duo of Byron Sanborn (56.01) and Pohlmann (56.68) went 2-3 in the event. Freshman Corey Okubo followed with a runner-up finish in the 200 fly (1:50.21), but Wagner put Princeton back on the winner's side by taking the 50 free in 20.45.
Manhard was one of the Ivy League' hottest divers during 2014, and he started the new year on the right note. He topped teammate Nathan Makarewicz (313.58) to win the 3-meter diving event with 341.55 points, and he later followed by winning the 1-meter competition with 312.14. Makarewicz also finished second in that event with 294.75 points.
D'Alessandro picked up his second win of the day by taking the 100 free in 45.67, while Mackrel earned a runner-up finish in 46.21. Maher added a double of his own by sweeping the back events; he won the 200 in 1:49.04, while Okubo took third in 1:51.37.
After Brett Usinger's third-place finish in the 200 breast (2:04.22), Smiddy took second in the 500 free in 4:32.19. The freshman duo of Ben Schafer (51.11) and Lewis (51.76) went 3-4 in the 100 fly, while Sanborn (1:52.67) and Liam Karas (1:54.39) went 3-4 in the 200 IM.
Princeton concluded the day with the quartet of Schafer, Wagner, Mackrel and David Paulk finishing second in the 400 free relay in 3:03.78.
The Tigers will return to the water this Friday evening when they join the women's team in a double dual against nationally ranked N.C. State. The meet will serve as Senior Day for both teams, though the Princeton men will host the Ivy League Championships in late February.
The N.C. State men are currently ranked 17th nationally, while the N.C. State women are just outside the Top 25.