The University of Pennsylvania men’s (4-3 overall, 4-2 Ivy League) and women’s (3-4 overall, 2-4 Ivy) swimming and diving teams hosted Brown University in front of a full house at Sheerr Pool on Saturday. Both Quaker teams came away with decisive victories over their Ivy rivals, the Bears.
Both Penn teams jumped out to early leads with wins in their respective diving events. Jack Stein led the way for the men in the three-meter with 313.35 points, ahead of Sazzy Gourley of Brown and Will Hartje of the Quakers. On the women’s side it was Sivan Mills (262.13) in one-meter diving, followed by Brown’s Rachel Speakman and Penn’s Cassidy Golden.
Penn women’s 200 medley relay team of Lauryn Brown, Haley Wickham, Lauren Church, and Rochelle Dong (1:44.58) cruised to victory over Brown’s Paige Gilley, Briana Borgolini, Emma Lamothe and Reia Tong. For the men it was the Quaker foursome of Philip Hu, Kyle Yu, Rhoads Worster, and Eric Schultz (1:29.94) with a commanding win over their teammates Dillon McHugh, Bobby Francis, James Jameson, and Alex Porter and Brown’s Alexander Pascal, Christopher Meyers, Jeffrey Strausser, and Jack Nee.
Shelby Fortin of Penn and Megan Viohl of Brown kicked off the individual events with an exciting 1000 free. Viohl took it out strong and kept about a half second lead through the 500. From then on the two swam virtually stroke for stroke until the 850 mark, when Viohl pulled ahead again. But it wasn’t over for Fortin; she dug in and finished with a 27.90 final 50 to squeak in for the win, 10:10.14 to 10:11.19. Penn’s Annie McCotter was third. In the men’s race Chris Swanson (9:23.56) and Wes Thomas of Penn took the first two spots, while Brown’s Cory Mayfield finished third.
The Penn women swept the 100 back with Church (56.19), Brown, and Taylor Sneed all coming in ahead of the Bears’ Gilley. Church’s 56.19 broke the Sheerr Pool record of 56.21, set by Princeton’s Sada Stewart in 2012. Not to be outdone, the Quaker men finished 1-2-3 as well: Worster (49.53), Hu, then McHugh. Brown’s Pascal was fourth.
In the women’s 100 breast Borgolini of Brown swam a patient race and it paid off. In fourth place after the first 50 she outsplit the field by a full second in the second 50 to win in a season-best 1:05.38. Penn’s Lia Lombardi and Wickham were second and third, respectively. The men’s race featured another 1-2-3 sweep by Penn, with Yu, Francis and Cole Hurwitz taking the top three spots. Connor Lohman led the Bears’ contingent; Meyers and Thomas Mercurio were fifth and sixth.
The Bears were out in front again in the 200 fly. Gina Matsumoto took the women’s race in 2:04.05 and Tommy Glenn showed why he is the reigning Ivy champ in the event with an easy 1:50.72 win. Penn’s Madeleine Jardeleza took second, just in front of Brown’s Leigh Holmes, while Sam Haley of Penn and Alexander Treil of Brown were second and third in the men’s race.
The 50 free showcased Penn’s sprinters as Dong (23.77) and Schultz (20.76) won the women’s and men’s races decisively. Hurley of Penn came in just ahead of Brown’s Tong on the women’s side; Bears Nee and Strausser were the men’s runners-up.
Penn divers Stein and Hartje claimed the top two spots in men’s one-meter diving, ahead of third-place finisher Billy Rosenberg of Brown. For the women it was Penn’s Golden with the win in three-meter diving, ahead of her teammate Mills, and Speakman of Brown.
After the break Fortin was back with another close one, this time a 52.00 to 52.32 win in the 100 free over Brown’s Dillione. The Quakers’ Hurley was third. In a tight men’s race, Schultz (45.34) and McHugh (45.89) added to Penn’s lead by making Glenn (45.98) settle for third.
The Quaker women dominated the 200 back with Church (2:04.75), Brown, and Jardeleza all touching before Emma Wyke of Brown. Their counterparts on the men’s team also finished in the top three; it was Brian Foley (1:51.75) who got the win over teammates Grant Proctor and Hu. Nick Johnston was Brown’s top scorer.
Borgolini picked up her second win of the day for Brown with a 2:21.07 victory in the 200 breast. Lombardi and Grimes of Penn took second and third. Yu (2:04.50) and Hurwitz of Penn went 1-2 in the men’s race, while Brown’s Mercurio was third.
The Bears’ Viohl swam a nice 500 free for the win over Quakers McCotter and Kristi Edelson. Brown distance standout Mayfield came from behind to win the men’s 500 with a strong final 200, outsplitting Penn’s Bradley Wachenfeld by nearly 3 seconds to finish with 4:36.23 to Wachenfeld’s 4:38.30. Mayfield’s teammate Kai Wombacher was third.
Dong (56.30) of Penn beat Brown’s Holmes and Matsumoto in the women’s 100 fly, while Quakers Worster and Jameson both came in ahead of the Bears’ Strausser on the men’s side.
In the 200 IM it was Penn’s Grimes with the victory, with Caroline Vexler and Matsumoto of Brown claiming second and third. Lohman (1:54.75), Meyers and Mercurio of Brown swept the men’s race.
Brown won the women’s 400 free relay with Tong, Dillione, Gilley, and Grace Hendee (3:31.64). Their teammates Strausser, Pascal, Nee, and Glenn also finished first.
University of Pennsylvania Women 172 – 126 Brown University Women
University of Pennsylvania Men 179 – 116 Brown University Men