Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Ivy Day 2
Players Mentioned
Hu-Van Wright Gets 100 Back Record, But Tigers Need Big Saturday Rally
February 27, 2016 | Men's Swimming and Diving
COMPLETE RESULTS
When it looked like things were getting out of hand, that maybe the deficit would be simply too great, the Princeton men's swimming and diving team put together a strong Friday finish and will now bring that bit of momentum into a potentially historic final day at the Ivy League Championships.
A Princeton record-setting 100 back from En-Wei Hu-Van Wright led off a 1-2 Tiger finish in the event (Alexander Lewis took second in 47.36), and the Tigers followed it up with a thrilling win in the 800 free relay. The quartet of Ben Schafer, Julian Mackrel, Teo D'Alessandro and Sandy Bole beat Penn by .06 of a second with a winning time of 6:25.73, and that helped get Princeton to within 52.5 points of Harvard with one day remaining.
That 52.5 points is a tall order for Princeton, but consider two factors:
• the Tigers will have three more swimmers than Harvard competing Saturday.
• the Crimson lead had been twice that much earlier in the evening.
Yes, the challenge is a great one for Princeton, but the Tigers kept themselves in the mix with a fantastic finish Friday.
The evening started with a runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay, as the quartet of Lewis, Jack Pohlmann, Schafer and Hu-Van Wright finished in 1:26.27. The Tigers got another runner-up finish from sophomore Corey Okubo, who took second in the 400 IM in 3:46.04. Junior Sam Smiddy took third in the event in 3:46.73, while freshman Cole Buese took seventh in 3:50.02.
Schafer took second in the 100 fly in 46.79, while classmate Zach Buerger finished fifth in 47.35. Mackrel (third, 1:36.81), D'Alessandro (fifth, 1:37.06) and Sandy Bole (eighth, 1:37.15) gave Princeton three finalists in the 200 free, while Byron Sanborn took third in the 100 breast in 53.68. Pohlmann also reached the final and took eighth in 54.36.
That set up the thrilling 100 back, which also included a fifth-place finish from senior Andrew Helber (47.69).
Saturday's crucial preliminary session will begin at 11 am, and it can be seen live on the Ivy League Digital Network.