Big Al Invite Day 3: Princeton’s Khosla Hits 1:42.4 200 Fly, 4th NCAA “B” Cut

Princeton Swimming Big Al Open

• December 3rd – December 5th, 2021
• Princeton, NJ
• SCY (25y) Invitational
• Live Results

Men’s Recap:

Princeton got the night started with a victory in the men’s 1650 free, as junior Dylan Porges won (15:08.25) by almost 11 seconds over Columbia’s Stanford Li (15:19:40). 4 athletes in this event, including Porges and Li, earned an NCAA Division I “B” qualifying time.

The Princeton men went 1-2-3 in the 200 fly finals, with Raunak Khosla leading the pack in 1:42.48. That time is just off Khosla’s best time (1:42.05) from the 2019 Ivy League Championships, however his time was still under the NCAA “B” qualifying standard. There were 6 men in the final that were under the 1:46.69 NCAA “B” cut.

This was Khosla’s 3rd individual win at the Big Al Invite, having already swept the IM events. Khosla’s times in the 200 IM (1:43.66) and 400 IM (3:45.55) earned him NCAA “B” qualifying standards, in addition to his 100 breast prelims (52.45), which he decided to scratch. Khosla now has 4 individual NCAA “B” qualifying times, but he’ll have to see

The Ivy League didn’t compete last season due to COVID-19 concerns, but he did qualify for NCAAs during that 2019-2020 season. At the Ivy League Championships, Khosla won the 200 fly/200 IM/400 IM and qualified for NCAAs in all 3 events.

The Princeton men also won the 400 free relay, with the quartet of Josh Brown (44.19), Max Walther (43.10), Nicholas Lim (43.47), and Khosla (42.81) combining with a final time of 2:53.57.

Princeton made a late charge on Utah, but it wasn’t enough to fill the gap, as Utah ultimately won the invite by 60 points.

OTHER EVENT CHAMPIONS:

• George Washington got their first win of the night as senior Marek Osina had a monster last 50 yards (26.09) on his 200 back to win the event (1:43.84) well under the NCAA “B” time of 1:45.04.
• Columbia freshman Demirkan Demir won the men’s 200 breast in 1:54.28 and was the only athlete to keep all of his splits under 30 seconds. Along with Demir, Princeton’s Brian Lou (1:57.10) also achieved an NCAA “B” time.
• There were only 10 divers in the 10m platform event, so everyone scored points. Utah freshman Ben Smyth led the way with 398.95 points, well ahead of Princeton’s Colten Young (356.25). Utah had the most divers in the event (4) and scored 62 points for their team.

TEAM SCORES (MEN) – FINAL

1. University of Utah, 1075.5
2. Princeton University, 1015.5
3. Columbia University, 615.5
4. University of Denver, 529.5
5. George Washington University, 469
6. Texas Christian University, 37

Women’s Recap:

Utah had 5 athletes, all of them being freshman, score in the top-8 of the 1650 free. Utah’s Marlene Sandberg won the event in 16:36.45.  Utah scored 77 total points in this event alone.

Rutgers University was the only 400 free relay to have 4 sub-50 splits, including the leadoff leg. Sofia Chichaikina led off in 49.73, followed by Sofia Lobova (49.17), Virginia Menicucci (49.87), and Elen Trentin (49.73).

Chichaikina was faster than she was in the individual 100 free where she placed 3rd in 49.91. Rutgers gained major points in the individual 100 as well, as all 4 women from their championship relay scored points. Lobova was 2nd (49.38), Menicucci was 6th (50.76), and Trentin was 9th from the B-Final (50.76). In total, Rutgers earned 55 points from the women’s 100 free event.

OTHER EVENT CHAMPIONS:

• Princeton sophomore Jess Yeager was the only athlete under 2:00 in the 200 fly, as she won the event in 1:59.93.
• Denver’s Natalie Arky won the women’s 200 back (1:53.37) by almost 3 seconds over Utah’s Emma Lawless (1:56.61). Both women were under the NCAA “B” qualifying standard of 1:57.11.
• It was a race from start-to-finish between Utah’s Charity Pittard and Denver’s Jennifer Maeda, with Pittard having the better back-half and winning with an NCAA “B” qualifying time of 2:12.53.
• Rutgers got huge diving points as they went 1-2-3, with Savana Trueb leading the divers with 295.60 points. The top 3 divers alone scored 53 points.

TEAM SCORES (WOMEN) – FINAL

1. University of Utah, 1005
2. Princeton University, 849
3. University of Denver, 639
4. George Washington University, 539
5. Rutgers University Swimming, 513
6. Texas Christian University, 73
7. Columbia University, 48