In a start-to-finish nailbiter at Uris Pool on the Columbia University campus in NYC, the Quakers and the Lions traded tit-for-tat all afternoon.
Columbia freshman Jayden Pantel inaugurated his collegiate career with a pair of wins on the 1- and 3-meter boards.
Penn followed with a win in the 200 medley, breaking a 2006 Uris pool record in the process. Philip Hu (23.80), Kyle Yu (25.17), Michael Wen (21.93), and Eric Schultz (19.71) combined for 1:30.16. Columbia’s Michael Fox-Moles (23.87), Stanley Wong (25.43), Kevin Quinn (22.15), and Alex Ngan (19.74) were second with 1:31.19.
The Quakers continued with a 1-2-3 sweep in the 1000 free, led by Alex Peterson’s 9:19.55. Chris Swanson (9:19.66) and Taylor Uselis (9:29.44) rounded off the podium. But Columbia answered with a (yet another come-from-behind) win from David Jakl in the 200 free. Jakl was third at the 150, but split a final 50 of 23.92 to overtake both Penn’s Kevin Su (1:39.81) and Lion Terry Li (1:39.90) and touch the wall in 1:39.28. Penn led Columbia at that point, 40-31.
Michael Fox-Moles gave the host Lions a victory in the 100 back with his 51.14, and the scored was all tied up, 45-45. Penn’s Bobby Francis put the Quakers back on top with a win in the 100 breast, 56.81.
Columbia’s Quinn won the first of his two events of the evening with a 1:48.58 in the 200 fly. He later won the 200 back in 1:49.85. Penn’s Eric Shultz took the 50 free with 20.33, putting the Quakers back in the lead, 78-69.
Jakl pulled another back-half win out of his bag of tricks, just out-touching Penn’s Schultz 44.81 to 44.97 in the 100 free. That put the Lions in front with a slim 96-88 lead over the Quakers. Penn’s Cole Hurtwitz notched some points for the Quakers with a win in the 200 breast, going 2:02.57.
With the score 121-101 in Columbia’s favor, Penn’s Swanson won the 500 free in 4:33.59. That narrowed the margin but the Lions were still up, 125-116.
Columbia’s Jakl got a hat trick, winning his third event, the 100 fly, in 49.32. Teammate Li tied with Penn’s Wen for second, both touching in 50.06. Columbia freshman Jeff Park won the final individual event, going 1:51.47 in the 200 IM.
Penn won the 400 free relay in 3:02.24 (Su-46.68, Zach Fisher-46.24, Dillon McHugh-45.28, and Schultz-44.04) but it wasn’t enough to secure the victory.
Final score:
Columbia University 159.5 – 136.5 University of Pennsylvania
Clutch Jakl, the Columbia Lion ., does it again with come from behind wins in his hat trick., great swim!!!
Could have gone either way. Some great, close races. Wish I could have been there to cheer!