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Princeton Tops Yale, Falls To Harvard, During Tri-Meet In Boston
February 01, 2015 | Men's Swimming and Diving
DAY 1 RECAP
For the Princeton men's swimming and diving team, February began in Blodgett Pool with a loss at the hands of the Harvard Crimson.
But the Tigers know that February will conclude in a different venue, and they have every intention of making sure they end with a different result.
Harvard capped a perfect Ivy League regular season Sunday with victories over both Princeton (190-163) and Yale (271-82), while Princeton earned a weekend split with a 267.5-85.5 victory over the Bulldogs. Each of the three teams will be considered strong contenders for the league title when the Ivy Championships are held Feb. 26-28 at DeNunzio Pool.
As it did Saturday evening, Princeton started Sunday's session with a relay victory. The quartet of Michael Strand, Jack Pohlmann, Connor Maher and Harrison Wagner won the 200 medley relay in a pool record time of 1:27.09.
Freshman Corey Okubo saw his classmate Zach Buerger win two events Saturday evening, and he picked up his first H-Y-P win Sunday when he took the 400 IM in 3:51.25. It turned into a showdown between himself and teammate Sam Smiddy, the reigning Ivy champion in the event; Smiddy ultimately finished second in 3:52.65.
The Tigers made it 3-for-3 in the 100 free, as junior Sandy Bole edged teammate Julian Mackrel to win the event in 44.35. Mackrel topped the rest of the field with a second-place time of 44.47.
The Crimson began to take control during the fourth event, where it finished 1-2 in the 200 back. Okubo had Princeton's top finish (third, 1:45.78), and senior Oliver Bennett followed with a fifth-place finish in the 100 fly (49.05). Buerger continued his impressive weekend with a third-place finish in the 500 free (4:27.31).
Senior Michael Manhard moved up from his finish in the 3-meter competition Saturday; he took third in the 1-meter event with 305.25 points, and sophomore Brett Usinger added a third-place finish in the 200 breast in 1:59.45.
Princeton concluded the meet in style, going 1-2 in the 400 free relay. The quartet of Ben Schafer, Wagner, Mackrel and Maher won the event in 2:55.68, while the the team of Jeremy Wong, Michael Hauss, Bole and Buerger topped the rest of the field in 2:57.11.
Princeton will conclude the regular season Friday night in New York City with a 6 pm showdown at Columbia.