When competition resumed in the two-day HYP tri-meet among Princeton, Yale and Harvard at Blodgett Pool in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Princeton was leading the Crimson by 4 points and both were ahead of Yale.
Princeton University 77.00 – 73.00 Harvard University
Harvard University 95.00 – 55.00 Yale University
Princeton University 83.50 – 66.50 Yale University
Saturday began with the 100 free. Princeton’s Nikki Larson and Katie Diller, swimming in lanes 3 and 7 respectively, both hit the wall in 50.64. Kina Zhou of Yale was third in 50.94. The trio were the only sub-51s in the field.
With the Tigers up by 13 after the 100 free, Harvard needed to come up with a big performance in the 200 back. The Crimson did just that, as Danielle Lee (1:59.93), Kristina Li (2:00.44), and Marissa Cominelli (2:00.48) swept the event. Yale moved up on the Tigers with Kate Rogers (2:00.68) and Michelle Chintanaphol (2:01.66), both of whom finished ahead of seventh-place Shirley Wang (2:02.01).
Harvard moved ahead of Princeton by 13 points when Katie Evans won the 200 breast (2:19.03) and Stephanie Ferrell took third (2:20.10). Yale’s Paulina Kaminski place second in 2:19.75, and the Bulldogs inched closer to closing the Tigers’ lead. Harvard had a 57-point lead over Yale at this point.
Harvard increased its lead over its Ivy foes with the 500 free. Sherry Liu (4:53.71) and Margaret Ramsey (4:55.31) went 1-2 for the Crimson, while Yale’s Cailley Silbert (4:55.49) finished just ahead of Princeton’s Isabel Shipman (4:55.81) in third. Harvard now led Princeton by 22 and Yale by 66, while the Tigers held a 13-point advantage over the Bulldogs.
The 100 fly proved to be a turning point for Yale and Princeton, both of whom placed three swimmers ahead of anyone in a Crimson cap. Maddy Zimmerman of Yale was first to the wall in 54.92. Princeton’s Elizabeth McDonald (55.07), Larson (55.08), and Elsa Welshofer (55.28) followed in quick succession. Touching fifth and sixth were Kasey Mann and Sydney Hirschi in 56.16 and 56.20, respectively.
The visitors made more progress on their hosts in 1-meter diving. Princeton’s Caitlin Chambers came out on top with 298.0 points, just eking out the win over Lilybet MacRae of Yale (296.30). Deborah Daly of Princeton picked up a third with 296.30 points.
Geordie Enoch won the 200 IM (2:04.10) and put Harvard back in front of Princeton by 5 points leading into the final realy. Princeton’s Beverly Nguyen was second (2:04.77).
Harvard needed a win in the 400 free relay to claim their fifth consecutive HYP tri-meet title in front of their home crowd. Failing that, they needed a second- and third-place finish to tie the Tigers, if Princeton won the relay. Yale, missing a big point-scorer throughout the meet with Eva Fabian off in Perth, Australia representing Team USA, was out of the running for the team title. The 400 free relay was close, but Princeton A (Diller-51.22, Larson-50.55, Claire McIlmail-51.24, and Mallory Remick-50.95) edged Harvard A, 3:23.96 to 3:24.17. Harvard B topped Princeton B and the two teams finished with 150 points
Final Scores:
Princeton University 150.00 – 150.00 Harvard University
Harvard University 187.00 – 113.00 Yale University
Princeton University 169.50 – 130.50 Yale University
I applaud leading with the photo the Yale’s women’s team. Victory is possible for any team on any given day!