2023 Ivy League Women’s Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2023 Women’s Ivy League Swimming & Diving Championships

• Wednesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 18, 2022
• Prelims 11:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
• DeNunzio Pool, Princeton, New Jersey
• Defending Champions: Harvard University (results)
• Live Results
• Live Video (ESPN+)
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide

FRIDAY EVENING HEAT SHEETS

Women’s 400 Individual Medley – Finals

• Ivy League Record: 4:06.15 – Alicia Aemisegger, Princeton (2009)
• Ivy Championships Record: 4:06.15 – Alicia Aemisegger, Princeton (2009)
• Princeton Pool Record: 4:06.74 – Cristina Teuscher, Columbia (1999)
• NCAA A Standard: 4:03.62
• 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 4:11.60

Podium:

1. Ellie Marquardt, Princeton – 4:12.69
2. Meg Wheeler, Princeton – 4:13.97
3. Anna Kalandadze, Penn – 4:15.13
4. Emily Appleton, Princeton – 4:15.16
5. Sumner Chmielewski, Brown – 4:16.02
6. Aziza Ganihanova, Columbia – 4:16.25
7. Olivia Paoletti, Yale – 4:18.79
8. Julianne Jones, Dartmouth – 4:19.67

Ellie Marquardt of Princeton won the 400 IM to pick up her fourth career Ivy League title in four different events. Penn’s Anna Kalandadze was first out of the chutes on the butterfly, clocking in at 57.33, half a body length in front of the field. Columbia’s Aziza Ganihanova was in second place behind with 57.89. Behind them, Princeton’s Marquardt and Emily Appleton and Brown’s Sumner Chmielewski all turned together into the backstroke.

Chmielewski pulled to the front of the pack on the backstroke, splitting 32.0 and 31.0 to clock in at 2:01.32 at the halfway mark. Ganihanova crushed the backstroke, too, and was only four-tenths behind the leader at the 200.

Princeton’s Marquardt made her move on the breaststroke, splitting 34.8 and 36.2to pass Chmielewski and pull up just behind Ganihanova at the 250 wall. Wheeler also moved up on the leaders with her breaststroke.

Marquardt began the freestyle leg ahead by a full body length. Behind her, Wheeler, Kalandadze, Ganihanova, Emily Appleton, and Chmielewski all turned within .4 of each other at the breast-to-free wall. Marquardt split a 28-mid and 28-low to come home with the win in 4:12.69, while teammate Wheeler threw down two 28-lows to pass Kalandadze for second place (4:13.97). Kalandadze just barely got by Appleton, robbing Princeton of a 1-2-3 finish at the end.

Princeton extended its lead with the 400 IM, but the race for second place tightened up, as Harvard earned two more points than their prelims placings and Yale lost 4.5.

Women’s 100 Butterfly – Finals

• Ivy League Record: 51.57 – Alex Forrester, Yale (2013)
• Ivy Championships Record: 51.57 – Alex Forrester, Yale (2013)
• Princeton Pool Record: 51.57 – Alex Forrester, Yale (2013)
• NCAA A Standard: 50.92
• 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 52.35

Podium:

1. Nikki Venema, Princeton – 51.95
2. Sydney Lu, Harvard – 52.31
3. Alex Massey, Yale – 53.11
4. Heidi Smithwick, Princeton – 53.59
5. Amelia Liu, Princeton – 53.74
6. Anna Gruvberger, Cornell – 54.00
7. Zehra Bilgin, Brown – 54.17
8. Karen Liu, Columbia – 54.21

dipping under the 52-second mark for the first time with a dominant 51.95. In a tight field of qualifiers, Venema exploded off the block and got to the 25 wall just ahead of Harvard’s Sydney Lu. The pair began to pull away from the field on the second 25, with Venema turning .10 ahead of Lu, at 24.24. That’s more than half a second faster than her front half from 2022, when she won with 52.42. It was Venema’s third 25 that was the most decisive. She turned for home with the clear advantage, clocking a 27.71 on the back half. Lu came home in 27.97 to place second with 52.31 and a new Harvard program record.

Yale’s Alex Massey came in third (53.11), one place better than her fourth-place finish in 2022. Princeton’s Heidi Smithwick (53.59) and Amelia Liu (53.74) came in fourth and fifth.

Harvard continued to outperform their morning results, adding 15 points in the 100 fly with wins in both the B final (Abigail Carr, last year’s runner-up to Venema) and the C final (Mandy Brenner).

Women’s 200 Freestyle – Finals

• Ivy League Record: 1:41.93 – Lia Thomas, Penn (2021)
• Ivy Championships Record: 1:43.12 – Lia Thomas, Penn (2022)
• Princeton Pool Record: 1:44.26 – Miki Dahlke, Harvard (2019)
• NCAA A Standard: 1:42.84
• 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 1:45.42

Podium:

1. Samantha Shelton, Harvard – 1:46.13
2. Ellie Marquardt, Princeton – 1:46.72
3. Raime Jones, Yale – 1:47.62
4. Olivia Jubin, Columbia – 1:47.79
5. Morgan Lukinac, Brown – 1:47.96
6. Anna Podurgiel, Brown – 1:48.36
7. Addie Rose Bullock, Harvard – 1:48.80
8. Kelly Dolce, Brown – 1:48.99

Harvard’s Samantha Shelton, the 2022 runner-up in this event to Penn’s Lia Thomas and the Ivy League champion in her freshman season, scored a big win for Harvard with a 1:46.13 victory in the 200 free.

It was Princeton’s Ellie Marquardt out in lane 8, fresh off her win in the 400 IM, who shot out to an early lead, flipping at 25.26 on the first 50. Shelton outsplit Marquardt by half a second on the second 50, 26.6 to 27.1, and took over the lead at the 100 wall. Columbia’s Olivia Jubin and Brown’s Morgan Lukinac were just behind, and it seemed they were gaining on Marquardt.

Marquardt dug in on the third 50 and outsplit everyone but Shelton with 27.2. Shelton continued to build her lead with 26.9, heading into the final 50 with a seven-tenths lead over Marquardt.

Marquardt’s final 50 was the fastest in the field but it wasn’t enough to catch Shelton, who took home the gold in this event for the second time in her career. Shelton finished with 1:46.13 to Marquardt’s 1:46.72. Yale’s Raime Jones had an outstanding second half, coming from fifth place at the 100 to third overall with 1:47.62. She just edged out Jubin (1:47.79) and Lukinac (1:47.96).

Women’s 100 Breaststroke – Finals

• Ivy League Record: 58.44 – Katie Meili, Columbia (2013)
• Ivy Championships Record: 58.44 – Katie Meili, Columbia (2013)
• Princeton Pool Record: 58.44 – Katie Meili, Columbia (2013)
• NCAA A Standard: 58.10
• 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 59.87

Podium:

1. Jessey Li, Yale – 59.96
2. Ava Franks, Yale – 1:00.73
3. Margaux McDonald, Princeton – 1:01.38
4. Eliza Brown, Princeton – 1:01.47
5. Ashley Hu, Columbia – 1:01.52
6. Isabella Pytel, Penn – 1:01.65
7. Kaia Li, Harvard – 1:01.78
8. Victoria Eisenhauer, Harvard – 1:02.39

Yale’s Jessey Li, the top seed coming into the meet, won the 100 breast with a new personal best time of 59.96. The freshman and her teammate, sophomore Ava Franks, who took third place in this event a year ago, were in the middle two lanes and they dominated the field from start to finish. Franks was out first, turning in 28.14 at the halfway point. Li trailed by .06 but her second 50 of 31.76 left everyone in the dust.

Princeton’s Margaux McDonald, who placed fourth a year ago, and Eliza Brown held off Columbia’s Ashley Hu, who came home in 31.8, to finish third and fourth.

Despite Yale’s 1-2 finish, Harvard outscored their prelims spots by 10 points to remain ahead of Yale in the team standings.

Women’s 100 Backstroke – Finals

• Ivy League Record: 52.34 – Bella Hindley, Yale (2019)
• Ivy Championships Record: 52.34 – Bella Hindley, Yale (2019)
• Princeton Pool Record: 51.36 – Natalie Coughlin, Cal (2003)
• NCAA A Standard: 50.89
• 2022 NCAA Invite Time: 52.46

Podium:

1. Anya Mostek, Harvard – 52.77
2. Jenna Reznicek, Brown – 53.00
3. Lindsey Wagner, Yale – 53.63
4. Isabella Korbly, Princeton – 53.73
5. Quinn Murphy, Yale – 53.98
6. Sabrina Johnston, Princeton – 54.08
7. Alexia Pappas, Princeton – 54.29
8. Isabelle Shapiro, Brown – 54.31

Harvard, who are having themselves A Night, won yet another event to keep the battle with Yale alive. Freshman Anya Mostek, trailing in third place behind defending champion Jenna Reznicek of Brown and Yale’s Lindsey Wagner at the halfway mark, powered home in 27.0 to clock a winning 52.77.

Reznicek and Wagner flipped in unison at the 50 wall but the Brown sophomore came home six-tenths faster to earn the silver medal with 53.00. Wagner held off Princeton’s Isabella Korbly, whose second 50 of 27.9 was four-tenths faster, to secure third place, 53.63 to 53.73.

Women’s 3-Meter Diving – Consolation Final

• Ivy League Record: 360.55 – Caitlin Chambers, Princeton (2015)
• Ivy Championships Record: 360.55 – Caitlin Chambers, Princeton (2015)
• Princeton Pool Record: 336.00 – Katie Giarra, Princeton (2007)
• NCAA A Standard: 280.00

Top 8:

1. Francesca Noviello, Princeton – 293.50
2. Amy Wotovich, Harvard – 287.75
3. Elise Jendritz, Cornell – 278.15
4. Hayden Henderson, Yale – 270.00
5. Katie Laverty, Harvard – 265.40
6. Macy Pine, Columbia – 263.50
7. Alice Diakova, Columbia – 249.75
8. Elena Yeh, Brown – 223.80

Women’s 400 Medley Relay – Timed Final

• Ivy League Record: 3:32.72 – Harvard (2020)
• Ivy Championships Record: 3:32.72 – Harvard (2020)
• Princeton Pool Record: 3:36.20 – Yale (2019)
• NCAA A Standard: 3:31.38

Podium:

1. Harvard – 3:35.64
2. Princeton – 3:35.70
3. Yale – 3:35.91
4. Columbia – 3:40.65
5. Brown – 3:41.74
6. Cornell – 3:42.94
7. Penn – 3:44.35
8. Dartmouth – 3:46.58

Harvard, Princeton, and Yale all came in under the previous pool record but it was Harvard in lane 1 who got the edge on their Ivy foes. Anya Mostek (52.62) led the field from that outside lane, going just a bit faster than she had when she won the individual event. Kaia Li (1:01.45) kept the Crimson in front on the breaststroke leg, while Sydney Lu (52.59) and Samantha Shelton (48.98) kept Princeton and Yale just out of reach of the title.

Princeton’s Isabella Korbly (53.54), Margaux McDonald (1:00.35), Heidi Smithwick (52.92), and Amelia Liu (48.89) combined for a new Princeton record of 3:35.70.

Yale’s third-place finish came from Lindsey Wagner (54.46), Jessey Li (59.66), Alex Massey (53.36), and Ophelia Pilkinton (48.43).

Team Scores After Day 3

1. Princeton – 1023
2. Harvard – 794
3. Yale – 768.5
4. Brown – 607
5. Columbia 599
6. Penn – 521
7. Cornell – 366
8. Dartmouth – 182.5