The men and women of Cornell hosted Boston College in Ithaca, New York as Cornell took the meet on both sides, despite the multiple exhibition swims. The women’s score of 159-114 gave Cornell the boost needed and took first in most of their events while the men’s meet was much closer with a score of 148-125. The depth on Cornell’s team is what really helped them pull through with the wins they needed to start their season off right.
Men
The full results to the men’s meet can be found here.
Diving played in Cornell’s favour for Phillip Truong as he took first on 1 meter and second on 3 meter. The Cornell divers definitely showed consistency on both boards by taking higher ranked spots than Boston. Cole Maltesta played the opposite role of Truong for Boston by taking second on 1 meter and second on 3 meter, though Truong was much stronger on 1 meter than Maltesta was on 3 meter.
In the 400 medley relay, Cornell took first, third, and fourth to start off the meet right by displaying their dominance. The Cornell A-relay took down Boston’s A-relay by five seconds with a 3:25.59 to Boston’s 3:30.43. Third and fourth were both Cornell relays with respective times of 3:31.28 and 3:31.33. With two relays that close together for third and fourth, it really speaks to Cornell’s depth.
Victor Luo was a heavy hitter for Cornell. His first appearance in the 400 medley relay gave him the first event win with teammates Dylan Sali, Michael Reynolds, and Harry Harpham. Luo also placed first in the 100 breaststroke with a 57.40 which was a full second faster than his seed-time of 58.46. His final event was the 200 breaststroke as he took first once again by over three seconds with a 2:06.13.
Senior Harry Harpham, who swam on the 400 medley relay with Luo, kept the Cornell streak going. Harpham’s next win was in the 200 fly with a 1:56.24. His race was beautifully split besides the noticeable drop off from the first and second 50’s. His race by 50 was as follows: 24.73, 29.37, 30.47 and 31.67. With a quick turn-around, Harpham took second in the 100 free with a 47.40. Harpham’s versatility was a large asset to the Cornell win.
Boston College sophomore Daniel Kelly may not have made a big splash in his relay swims, but his individual events brought home two first place finishes for Boston. The 400 medley relay of Conor Chamness, Alex Rudolph, Estephan Saliba and Kelly took fifth but that didn’t stop Kelly. His first place finishes in back to back sprint freestyle events gave Boston a leg up with a 21.23 in the 50 free and a 47.15 in the 100 free. Kelly was a lead off for the Boston 800 free relay that took third with Joe Costa, Luke Keffer and Josh Williams.
In the 1000 freestyle the Cornell men took first and second with Taylor Wilson and Michael Reynolds, both under the 10 minute mark with respective times of 9:53.38 and 9:59.26. Drew Cuttic took third for Boston with a 10:08.44.
Cornell made a huge splash in the 100 back as first through fifth place go to the Bears. Eric Kim, Luke Reisch, Ben Catanese, Zac Cesaro, and Willie Mendelson all represented Cornell in this complete sweep. Though all those places would have gone to Cornell, Cesaro and Mendelson were disqualified and gave up two scoring places to Boston’s Conor Chamness and Josh Williams.
In the majority of the other events, Cornell experienced some hardship due to an excess of disqualifications against them. Regardless of the exhibition swims, Cornell still ended up on top with an end score of 148-125 in Cornell’s favour. If anything, this proves that Cornell is much stronger than what was displayed and in the future their heavy hitters will be able to score more.
Women
The full results to the women’s meet can be found here.
Manita Herlitz-Ferguson dominated both 1 and 3 meter for women’s diving by taking first by more than 40 points on 3 meter and more than 50 points on 1 meter which started the Cornell women off on the right foot. The Boston women were right behind her though with second and third place finishes on both boards with Kathryn Oskar and Dana Hadra on 3 meter and Marina Vranos and Dana Hadra on 1 meter.
Freshman powerhouse twins Billy Murch Elliot and Currie Murch Elliot both made an impact on their fields and in their relays. Billy swam backstroke in the Cornell B-relay, but showed off her backstroke power individually in the 100 back with a 1:00.36 which was good for third place. In the 200 breaststroke, Billy took first place with a 2:27.47 over Boston’s Samantha Couillard. Currie Murch Elliot was the breaststroke leg of the third place Cornell relay for the 400 medley with a time of 1:09.01 in her 100. Individually she made statements in the 500 free and 100 breaststroke. Currie took first in the 500 free with a 5:05.11 and would have placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke. Like Isabella Cecere, she would have been part of the winning 800 free relay.
Cari Stankaitis took two first places in the sprint freestyle events. In her 50 free, her time of 24.47 just out-touched Maureen Barron of Boston who swam a 24.59. With a quick turn-around, her 100 free was just as successful as she took first with a 53.43. Her freestyle was a benefit to the Cornell relays as well. Her leg in the 400 medley (53.64) was a half second faster than the second place Boston relay freestyle leg (54.11).
Isabelle Cecre was another asset to Cornell relays that ended up not scoring. Her 800 free relay would have taken first place by 16 seconds with an end time of 7:41.13. Cecre took first in the 200 fly with a negative split on her last 50, which is pretty impressive on a 200 fly. Her second place in the 100 free helped bring home more points for Cornell with a 53.30 which was just barely off first place Stankaitis.
Jordan Parry of Boston represented the underclassmen in a great way in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Her 100 fly was the only under the minute mark with a 58.63 and she ended up finishing second behind Cecere in the 200 fly by just over two seconds with a 2:11.71. Parry’s 400 medley relay with Maddie Mailliard, Melissa Merwin, and Maureen Barron took second behind Cornell with a time of 4:02.79.
Both of Cornell’s “first place finish” relays would have been pool records. In the 400 medley relay previously stood at 3:58.01 by Cornell with Brookman, Sweetser, Chan, and Gutman but now stands with a 3:55.14 by Stephanie Ah-quah, Kim Jerome, Katie Murphy and Jenna Immormino. The Cornell 800 free relay of 7:41.13 would have been another pool record that previously stood at 7:49.23 by Cornell with Col, Roberts, Conoscenti, and Dean. The new relay would have consisted of Jenna Immormino, Isabelle Cecere, Anna Elling and Currie Murch Elliot.
Referring to BC as “Boston” so often really weirded me out for some reason.
I wouldn’t call it dying, but dying is more accurate than calling it ‘beautifully split’.
24 29 30 31 is not a beautifully split 200 fly. He went out too hard and died
Yes, he went out a bit too fast but I think “dying” would have to produce more of a drop off than what he swam in the last 150. A 29 to a 30 to a 31 is a great way to split that last 150. Once again, just a personal opinion.
I think some confusion may lie in what you are considering a “DQ”. The events were swam “exhibition” after it was determined that the meet had been won by Cornell