Freshmen Claim Five Individual Wins, Lead Princeton To Pair Of Season-Opening Wins In Miami

Friday, November 3

Coral Gables, Fla.

4:00 PM

Princeton University

219

Nova Southeastern

Sophomore Gianna Garcia earned a win in the 100 back in 56.74.

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Freshmen Claim Five Individual Wins, Lead Princeton To Pair Of Season-Opening Wins In Miami

November 03, 2017 | Women's Swimming and Diving

COMPLETE RESULTS

The Princeton women's swimming & diving freshman class was a highly touted one, and it showed why in its collegiate debut Friday afternoon at the University of Miami. The Tiger newcomers won five individual events, including two apiece for Jenny Ma and Courtney Tseng, to help Princeton to victories over both Miami (195.5-100.5) and Nova Southeastern (219-73).

Princeton got off to a winning start in Coral Gables, as the 200 medley quartet of Lindsay Temple, Jenny Ma, Elsa Welshofer, and Maddy Veith claimed a meet-opening win in 1:44.87.

Junior Monica McGrath opened the individual portion of the meet by winning the 1000 in 10:24.12, and sophomore Gianna Garcia followed with a 100 back victory in 56.74.

Ma was the first of two double-winning freshmen, as she swept the breast events; she began with a 100 win in 1:04.21, and she followed with a 200 victory in 2:18.21. Tseng followed suit later in the meet; she opened with a 500 free win in 4:57.28, and she doubled up by taking the 200 IM in 2:06.17. Princeton had one more newcomer claim victory in Miami, as freshman Regan Barney won the 200 back in 2:02.62.

Junior tri-captain Joanna Curry won the 200 fly in 2:02.29, and Veith, a senior tri-captain, followed by winning the 100 free in 52.37.

The Tigers, who completed their Florida fall trip with this meet, will return to action next weekend when they compete in the two-day Virginia Invitational.

Head coach Bret Lundgaard, who claimed victories in his head coaching debut, shared these thoughts after the meet:

It was a pleasure to race these two great teams today, in a great college environment. We will get a chance to compete against Miami again during the Big Al invite, and we look forward to having the unique opportunity to race the same out of conference team twice.

The freshman class really rose to the occasion today. They competed with a lot of purpose and were the story of the meet.

Lauren McGrath was a tremendous competitor today. She was able to race a few of the concepts she's been working on in practice, and it really paid off. She was selected meet MVP by her teammates.

Harley Lopez Miro was also a great freshman competitor today. It was fun to see how much she enjoys racing.

Courtney Tseng came to us with a middle distance free background and is showing versatility in every stroke and every distance. She is discovering how good of a swimmer she can be in many events.

Jo Curry raced some mature races and showed off her versatility in all the strokes today. She was tough and inspired her teammates very early on.

Overall I was pleased with how we've begun using some skills to gain competitive advantages, and we are starting to see some improved habits in our races. Most importantly, we relentlessly gave to one another and competed for one another today.

This was a nice culmination to a fantastic week of training in Florida. I commend our veterans for their leadership and consistent work ethic throughout the week. They have been terrific models for our freshmen, and I believe that helped motivate our young group of swimmers this evening.