DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, NJ got its first taste of fast swimming on Friday, November 15 and Saturday, November 16 as the Tigers’ men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams hosted the Patriot League’s Lehigh and the Atlantic 10’s Fordham in a non-scored invitational meet. Click for results.
The Lehigh Mountain Hawks came to Princeton with some racing under their belts. The men’s team had amassed a 3-2 (1-0 in Patriot League) record prior to the weekend, having just beaten Colgate and NJIT on November 2. The women brought an undefeated team to nearby Princeton; 4-0 (1-0 Patriot League), their recent victory over Colgate is Lehigh’s first since 2004.
The Fordham Rams had begun their season at the end of October. The men were 1-2 overall, 1-0 in the Atlantic 10 with a close win over Fairfield. The women had two close wins to their name (Marist and A-10 conference rival Fairfield) and one loss.
Princeton’s men’s and women’s teams , meanwhile, were in the middle of a heavy fall training schedule and had yet to test their speed in a racing situation.
The two-day, three session meet began on Friday afternoon with the 200 free relay. Princeton’s Lisa Boyce, Elizabeth McDonald, Nikki Larson, and Morgan Karetnick took first in 1:34.28. Lehigh’s relay (Carolyn Koch, Kelly Carroll, Stephanie Yaszemski, and Kaitlyn Ruffing) were third with 1:38.16. Fordham’s foursome of Shannon Lulley, Megan Polaha, Kelly Carroll, and Chandler Lulley finished fifth in 1:39.95. Lehigh won the men’s race with Chris Hoke, Justin White, Marty Kendig, and Matt Chrzanowski. They touched in 1:24.72, just ahead of Princeton’s En-wei Hu-Van Wright, Michael Strand, Jeffrey Williamson, and Lance Rutkin (1:25.00). Fordham’s Shintaro Noguchi, Thomas Shetler, Joseph Mercurio, and Pat Militti were third (1:25.85).
The women’s 500 free kicked off the individual events. Princeton sophomore Sada Stewart came from behind out of lane 7 with a tough last 100 and finished in 5:00.51, just .19 ahead of heat leader, Lehigh sophomore Courtney Patterson. Tiger junior Reese Iriondo was third; Fordham freshman Kalena Laurent, fourth. In the men’s race it was the freshman from Princeton, Sam Smiddy, who touched first in 4:33.08. Fordham sophomore Steve Sholdra (4:37.12) was second. Sophomore Hu-Van Wright of Princeton was third, and Lehigh freshman Jacob Moyar (4:39.44) fourth.
Princeton sophomore Larson won the 200 IM, leading the field from start to finish and touching in 2:03.48. Tiger teammate, freshman Olivia Chan was second. Megan Polaha (2:06.84), a freshman from Fordham took third. Her teammate junior Kelly Carroll was fifth, while the other Kelly Carroll, a freshman at Lehigh, was sixth, squeaking in at 2:09.13, just .14 ahead of her teammate Patterson.
Lehigh junior Jake Greene. Archive photo courtesy of Lehigh Athletics.
Princeton, led by sophomore Teo D’Alessandro (1:50.35), took the top nine spots in the men’s 200 IM. Lehigh junior, distance specialist Jake Greene, was the first Mountain Hawk with a 1:57.31 finish, while junior Zach Jacobsen touched out his Fordham teammate Michael Grimmett-Norris, 2:00.02 to 2:00.49, to earn top honors for the Rams.
All-Ivy Princeton senior Boyce nabbed an NCAA “B” cut in her first race of the year, winning the 50 free in 22.75. Her teammate Larson was second. Lehigh freshman Ruffing (23.74) was third. The fastest Fordham Ram was sophomore Megan Gray (24.52). The men’s sprint featured a trio from Princeton out front, led by freshman Julian Mackrel (21.05) and sophomores Sandy Bole and Jeremy Wong. Senior sprinter Noguchi of Fordham touched out senior Hoke of Lehigh, 21.30 to 21.31, for fourth place.
In the 400 medley relay, the Princeton quartet of Boyce, Chan, Larson, and McDonald led the way in 3:47.07. Fordham’s Spencer Chappell, Carroll, Polaha, and Lulley were third (3:58.12), while Lehigh’s Alissa Leung, Melissa Feeney, Mary Samuels, and Ruffing (4:02.14) came in eighth. The Tiger men took the top five spots in the 400 medley relay, the fastest team consisting of Strand, Jack Pohlmann, D’Alessandro, and Mackrel (3:22.45). The Fordham quartet Grimmett-Norris, Sholdra, Noguchi and Militti (3:33.10) were sixth, one ahead of Lehigh’s Sean Brant, Kevin Huntley, Moyar, and White (3:34.48).
Princeton sophomore Nikki Larson. Archive photo courtesy of Beverly Schaefer/ Princeton Athletics.
The 200 medley relay kicked off Saturday morning’s session. First to the wall were Princeton’s Boyce, Chan, Larson, and Karetnick (1:44.27). Lehigh took third with Leung, Kimberly Weyand, Samuels and Ruffing (1:50.73). Fourth went to Morgan Fairclough, Anna Marshall, Aurelia O’Keefe, and Maureen McKenna of Fordham with 1:51.29.
Princeton men shuffled the deck a little in the 200 medley relay but still came out on top. The quarter of Strand, Pohlmann, Mackrel, and Connor Maher (1:32.48) were the first of three Tiger teams leading the pack. The fastest Lehigh foursome (Matt Carducci, Huntley, Hoke, and White) touched fourth in 1:36.59. The Fordham Rams’ were sixth with Grimmett-Norris, Ben Dwyer, Mercurio, and Shetler (1:39.97).
Lehigh sophomore Courtney Patterson. Archive photo courtesy of Lehigh Athletics.
Fordham’s Polaha avenged her third-place finish in the 200 IM by winning the 400 in a season-best time of 4:28.45. Patterson of Lehigh was second, improving her seed time by 11 seconds with 4:30.56. Princeton freshman Kathleen Mulligan finished third in 4:34.10. In the men’s race Princeton’s D’Alessandro was only a second off the 400 IM NCAA “B” cut with his 3:55.41, a nice early-season swim for the sophomore. A trio of fellow Tigers followed, then Moyar of Lehigh was fifth in 4:05.96 and Sholdra of the Rams was sixth (4:07.37).
Fordham senior Shintaro Noguchi. Archive photo courtesy of Fordham Athletics.
Boyce (54.78) and Larson (55.29) of Princeton were the 100 fly leaders. Polaha of Fordham was third with 56.40. Lehigh’s Samuels was the fastest Mountain Hawk with 58.74. For the men, the Tigers’ Hu-Van Wright came back from fourth at the 50 to touch first in 49.97. Noguchi of Fordham was second (50.31). Lehigh’s Hoke (52.85) was tenth.
Iriondo (Princeton, 1:53.53), Laurent (Fordham, 1:54.29), and Patterson, (Lehigh, 1:56.34) were their school’s top finishers in the 200 free, touching first, second and fifth, respectively. In the men’s race, Wong (1:43.00) was the fastest of four Tigers at the top; junior Eric Sherwood was the first Mountain Hawk, going 1:45.58 for fifth place; and freshman Miguel Mattox led the Rams with 1:49.68.
In the 100 breast, Princeton’s Chan edged Fordham’s Carroll for first, 1:05.61 to 1:05.64. Princeton freshman Melissa Fulenwider came in third, while Lehigh’s Weyand (1:08.91) was eighth. Tiger freshman Brett Usinger led the men’s race, holding off a superb finish from teammate Pohlmann. Lehigh freshman Huntley (1:01.18) was eighth; Fordham senior Dwyer (1:02.34), ninth.
Ivy champ Boyce of Princeton won the 100 back in 55.57. Sophomore teammate Beverly Nguyen (58.10) was second. Lehigh’s Leung (junior, 59.22) came in fourth, while Fordham freshman Theresa Goehring (59.56) finished seventh. Junior Maher (50.46) was the first of four Princeton men at the top of the 100 back. Lehigh junior Kendig was fifth in 54.48. Grimmett-Norris (55.26) of Fordham touched ninth.
The 800 free relay ended the morning session: Princeton women (7:40.93, Larson, Stewart, McDonald, and Iriondo) were followed by Fordham (7:43.35, Laurent, Megan Zarriello, Gray, and Kara Field) and Lehigh (7:48.87, Carroll, Cora Summerfield, Patterson, Koch). On the men’s side, Princeton took the top three spots, with the quartet of D’Alessandro, Hu-Van Wright, Mackrel, Julian and Anton Lundin the fastest at 6:47.37. Lehigh (7:05.05, Danny Bennett, Moyar, Owen Dunbar, and White) and Fordham (7:06.04, Noguchi, Sholdra, Nick Belfanti, and Militti) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Fordham sophomore Steve Sholdra. Archive photo courtesy of Fordham Athletics.
The mile turned out to be an exciting race in the middle of the pool between Tigers Iriondo and freshman Rebecca Fleming, and in the outside lanes between Princeton freshman Victoria Lepesant and Lehigh’s Patterson. Patterson led the entire field out of lane 1 through the 650, at which time Fleming pulled even and eventually took over. Fleming and Iriondo then battled for first, the lead changing several times until Iriondo finished with a 59-low final 100 to win the event in 17:14.30 to Fleming’s 17:15.09. Lepesant used the clean water in lane eight to her advantage and ended on a 29-mid to out-touch Patterson, 17:25.70 to 17:25.81. Fordham junior Zarriello was fifth in 17:27.90.
Princeton sophomore En-Wei Hu-Van Wright. Archive photo courtesy of Beverly Schaefer/ Princeton Athletics.
Fordham’s Sholdra won the men’s contest in 15:42.58. Smiddy (15:56.97) and Paul Nolle (16:04.34) of Princeton were second and third. Fourth place went to Lehigh’s Moyar (16:15.36), thanks in no small part to a blazing 27-low final 50 to squeeze in front of Princeton sophomore Zach Ridout.
The Tiger women dominated the 200 back with Boyce (2:05.87) followed by Nguyen and junior Shirley Wang. Five of the top nine were Fordham Rams; the fastest of these was junior Chappell (2:06.77) who finished fourth. Leung of Lehigh (2:12.50) was eleventh.
Princeton’s men snagged the top six spots with Hu-Van Wright leading the way in 1:46.49. Seventh went to Lehigh junior Brant (1:56.51). The fastest Fordham backstroker was Grimmett-Norris (1:57.79) in ninth.
Princeton’s Larson was first to the wall in the 100 free in 50.72. Teammate Boyce finished 1.1 back in second place; Ruffing of Lehigh was third with 52.62. Fordham’s Lulley (54.93) came in thirteenth. Four Princeton men came in essentially together: only .3 separated first-place Mackrel (46.24) from fourth-place junior David Paulk. Fordham’s Noguchi (47.12) was fifth; Lehigh senior Chrzanowski (48.21), tenth.
Princeton senior Daniel Hasler. Archive photo courtesy of Beverly Schaefer/ Princeton Athletics.
Next up was 200 breast, where Chan scored her second win of the weekend with 2:21.85. Tiger teammates Nguyen and junior Emily Yu were second and third; Fordham sophomore Marshall (2:27.40) took fourth, Lehigh’s Weyand (2:29.03), sixth. Princeton senior Daniel Hasler led a contingent of six Tigers to the top spots in the men’s race. With a 32-low on the end, he managed to snatch first place away from Usinger, 2:06.04 vs 2:06.09. Huntley of Lehigh was sixth in a season-best 2:14.04, one ahead of Jacobsen (2:15.41) of Fordham.
The 200 fly belong to the guests, as Fordham took the top two slots and three of the top five, while four of Lehigh’s women finished in the top ten. Polaha and Laurent of the Rams touched 1-2 with times of 2:03.28 and 2:05.24, respectively. Lehigh’s Patterson (2:09.26) and Summerfield (2:10.00) were fifth and sixth. Karetnick was the top Tiger, finishing third in 2:05.53. Princeton sophomore Marco Bove won the men’s race in 1:49.14. Teammate, junior Oliver Bennett, was right on his heels, finishing second with 1:49.76. Lehigh’s Moyar (1:53.13) took fourth; Fordham’s Noguchi (1:55.87), fifth.
The final session ended with the 400 free relay. The Princeton quartet of Boyce, McDonald, Mallory Remick, and Fulenwider (3:32.08) came in ahead of the second-place Rams’ Laurent, Gray, Field, and Polaha (3:34.80). Lehigh (3:38.63) finished fifth with Carroll, Summerfield, Ruffing, and Koch.
The Tigers head to Ithaca, NY on November 22-23 to take on Cornell and Penn in the first of their Ivy League contests.
Fordham’s next outing is in Lewisburg, PA at the Bucknell Invitational, November 22-24.
Lehigh confronts Patriot League rival Lafayette at home on November 22.