Princeton’s Big Al Open wrapped up in the midst of snow flurries but that didn’t put a damper on the mood or slow anyone down. Indeed, seventeen “B” cuts and one “A” cut were achieved in the final session of the three-day meet. All in all, the weekend produced the Ivy League’s top times to date in 10/13 of the women’s events and 9/13 of the men’s.
Yale’s Eva Fabian won the 500 and the 1650 at Big Al Open (photo courtesy of Yale Athletics)
Day three began with the mile where Yale’s Eva Fabian concluded her sweep of the distance events with a decisive win (16:15.33), fourteen seconds ahead of her second-place teammate Isla Hutchinson-Maddox (16:29.94). Both Bulldogs made the NCAA “B” cut. Third and fourth went to Brown freshman Megan Viohl (16:49.55) and Maureen McCotter (16:54.56) of Princeton. Villanova’s freshmen trio of Emily Mayo (16:55.90), Erin Merkle (17:00.34), and Mary Snyder (17:01.81) dropped a combined 1m38s in their three miles to finish fifth, eighth and ninth, respectively. Dartmouth’s Danielle Kerr (17:02.82) was tenth. Rider’s Melanie Leonhard (17:15.40) took sixteenth.
Paul Nolle, the 2012 Ivy champ, won the men’s mile with a “B” cut of 15:26.53. Brown’s Cory Mayfield (15:36.27) successfully kept Princeton freshman Sam Smiddy (15:36.72) at bay despite the latter’s 1:51.7 final 200 (.5 faster than his first 200) in his bid for second place. Fourth went to Rider’s Sam Cramer (15:42.87) who had a terrific meet, breaking the school record in the mile by nearly 12 seconds and nearly getting the 500 record as well. Jun Oh of Dartmouth took eighth in 15:56.89. Columbia’s top finisher was Harry Stephenson (eleventh, 16:02.09); Villanova’s was freshman Harrison Rodts (16:32.36).
Michelle Chintanaphol of Yale won the 200 back with 1:58.86, touching just before Princeton’s Sada Stewart (1:59.18) who nearly negative-split the race. Both women made their NCAA “B” cuts. Brown Bears’ Emma Wyke (2:02.50) took fifth and Villanova’s Megan Conrad (2:03.29) was seventh. Carlee Oswald of Rider (2:03.86) and Valerie Orellana of Dartmouth (2:04.51) were their school’s top finishers.
Dartmouth Swim and Dive at Big Al Open 2013 (photo from @DartmouthSwim Twitter account)
The top three finishers on the men’s side all came in under the NCAA “B” standard: Connor Maher (1:43.98) and En-Wei Hu-Van Wright (1:44.26), both of Princeton, and James Verhagen (1:44.93) of Dartmouth. Kevin Quinn of Columbia was sixth (1:50.75) and Brown’s Nick Johnston (1:52.33) was eighth. Rider’s Jeffrey Prichard (1:52.40) took twelfth, while Villanova’s Kyle Grant (1:56.09) was twenty-first.
In the women’s 100 free, too, the first three to the wall achieved “B” cuts. Princeton’s Lisa Boyce led the way with 48.91. Yale’s Kina Zhou (49.75) took second, just touching out Brown’s Kate Dillione (49.86). Charlotte Kamai of Dartmouth was fourth in 50.51; Villanova’s Mary Snyder (52.18), eighteenth.
Princeton’s Jeremy Wong turned third at the 50 but came on strong to win the men’s 100 free in a “B” cut of 43.98. Second-place Jeffrey Strausser of Brown (44.16) also made the standard. Third place went to Dartmouth sophomore Daniel Whitcomb (44.54). Jason Moyer of Villanova (46.69), Ian Flynn of Rider (47.03) and Codi Saunders of Columbia (47.15) were 13-15, respectively.
Princeton freshman Olivia Chan nearly ran out of steam in the women’s 200 breast, but hung in there to claim victory over Yale’s Ali Stephens-Pickeral, 2:16.89 to 2:16.94. Brown and Dartmouth got top-eight finishes from Katie Roach (fourth, 2:19.61) and Heather Laedtke (sixth, 2:21.94), respectively. Heather Good of Rider finished fourteenth in 2:24.99, while Villanova’s Katie Koch (2:30.14) was eighteenth.
Dartmouth senior Nejc Zupan missed the pool record by .10 but still crushed the rest of the field en route to winning the 200 breast in a “B” cut of 1:56.52. Princeton’s Jack Pohlmann edged out teammate Daniel Hasler for second, 2:00.78 to 2:00.98. Brown got fifth with Thomas Mercurio (2:04.00), while Rider picked up a seventh thanks to freshman Zachary Mabin (2:05.01). John Santoro of Columbia (2:07.40) and Villanova’s Tony Sipala (2:10.49) took top honors for their respective schools.
Princeton sophomore Nikki Larson. Archive photo courtesy of Beverly Schaefer/ Princeton Athletics.
Isla Hutchinson-Maddox of Yale picked up a “B” cut with her 1:58.64 victory in the 200 fly. Princeton sophomore Nikki Larson (1:59.56) also got in under the standard. Third place went to Brown’s Gina Matsumoto (2:00.67). Dartmouth’s Christine Kerr tied with Brown freshman Caroline Vexler for ninth, both touching in 2:04.28. Erin Merkle of Villanova went 2:06.18 for fourteenth. Rider’s Kaitlyn O’Connor swam a 2:09.93 in the C final.
Brown senior Tommy Glenn (photo courtesy of Brown Athletics)
Brown’s Tommy Glenn provided the sole early-season NCAA “A” cut of the meet, going 1:43.03 (just off his prelims time of 1:42.94) to win the men’s 200 fly. Tiger Marco Bove’s second-place 1:47.47 was good enough for a “B” cut. Kevin Quinn of Columbia finished third in 1:48.25. Dartmouth nabbed points at fifth with David Harmon in 1:49.57. Rider’s Shane Tubb was twelfth with 1:52.52, while Villanova’s Ben Smith finished nineteenth going 1:53.57.
Princeton women ended the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay as Boyce, Stewart, Mallory Remick and Larson touched in 3:20.64. The Yale quartet of Anna Wujciak, Olivia Jameson, Sydney Hirschi, and Zhou battled Dartmouth’s Mary Van Metre, Siobhan Hengemuhle, Sasha Alcon, and Kamai for second. The race was tight throughout. Zhou and Kamai took off together, but the Elis’ anchor got her hand to the wall first and the Bulldogs out-touched the Big Green, 3:23.63 to 3:23.65. Brown’s foursome (Paige Gilley, Reia Tong, Megan Nolet, and Dillione) was just a tick behind at 3:24.03. Villanova (3:28.41) dropped six seconds from its seed time to finish seventh with Snyder, Kristin Haufler, Conrad, and Mayo. Rider came in at tenth, with best-of-meet performances from Jacquelynn Parker, Gess Charniga, Ariana Palmer, and Oswald (3:32.30).
Teo D’Alessandro. Photo courtesy of Beverly Schaefer/ Princeton Athletics.
Princeton men claimed the top two spots in the 400 free relay. Teo D’Alessandro (whose 44.09 leadoff would have placed second in the 100 free final), Harrison Wagner, Maher, and Wong combined for a winning time of 2:55.26. Their teammates Hu-Van Wright, Michael Strand, Julian Mackrel, and Sandy Bole held off 43-lows from Brown’s #2 and #4, Strausser and Glenn, to squeak out the win for second, 2:58.29 to 2:58.36. The Brown relay also consisted of Alexander Pascal and Oliver Diamond. Dartmouth took fourth in 3:01.96 with Jack Long, Andrew North, Ian Woon, and Whitcomb. The Columbia quartet of David Jakl, Philipp Gaissert, Terry Li, and Alex Ngan (3:04.61) finished fifth. Rider (Prichard, Cramer, Flynn, and Matthan-Matthew Martir) took sixth in 3:05.98. Villanova’s Grant, Chris Tamanini, Murphy Smith and Moyer touched ninth in 3:09.62.
Finally, Princeton’s Lisa Li, Caitlin Chambers and Helen Zitkovsky went 1-2-3 in 3-meter diving. Dartmouth’s Katy Feng, Columbia’s Alyssa Menz, and Brown’s Rachel Speakman were their schools’ top scorers.
Women’s overall meet scores
Princeton 1113
Yale 961
Dartmouth 603
Brown 603
Villanova 281
Rider 151
Columbia 31
Men’s overall meet scores
Princeton 1283
Dartmouth 850
Brown 669.5
Columbia 470.5
Rider 309
Villanova 147
UNOFFICIAL Dual meet scores (i.e., these are my calculations)
Princeton women 298 – Brown women 100
Princeton women 281 – Dartmouth women 108
Brown women 201 – Dartmouth women 163
Princeton men 289 – Brown men 81
Princeton men 247 – Dartmouth men 123
Dartmouth men 225 – Brown men 135
Even if they are unofficial, how do the dual meet scores add up to over 300?
Where’s Byron Sanborn this season?