The first day of the Big Al Open, hosted by Princeton at DeNunzio Pool, saw two school records fall and several early-season NCAA “B” cuts.
Lisa Boyce, Liz McDonald, Morgan Karetnick and Nikki Larson of Princeton started the final session with a win in the 200 free relay in 1:32.24. Brown’s Reia Tong, Paige Gilley, Emma Lamothe, and Kate Dillione (1:33.31) were second and Dartmouth’s Kendese Nangle, Siobhan Hengemuhle, Mary Van Metre, and Charlotte Kamai (1:33.54) were just behind in third. Yale’s relay of Kina Zhou, Olivia Jameson, Anna Wujciak, and Michelle Chintanophol were fifth (1:35.24); Rider’s Jacquelynn Parker, Ariana Palmer, Courtney Reed, and Gess Charniga finished eighth (1:37.19); and the Villanova quartet of freshmen Mary Snyder, Erin Merkle, Kristin Haufler and Emily Mayo was ninth in 1:37.22.
Two Princeton men’s relays finished 1-2: Harrison Wagner, Connor Maher, Julian Mackrel, and Jeremy Wong (1:20.06) and Michael Strand, En-Wei Hu-Van Wright, Sandy Bole, and Brooks Powell (1:21.05). Brown (Jeffrey Strausser, Alexander Pascal, Jack Nee, and Tommy Glenn) was third in 1:21.51; Dartmouth (Daniel Whitcomb, Andrew North, Ian Woon, and David Harmon), finished fourth in 1:22.21. Columbia’ David Jakl, Andrew Wood, Philipp Gaissert, and Alex Ngan (1:22.59) were fifth and Villanova’s Jason Moyer, Chris Tamanini, Kyle Grant, and Michael Rodriguez (1:25.87) were ninth.
Yale stacked the women’s 500 free with four of the top eight places. Eva Fabian was victorious in 4:47.86, 3.3 seconds ahead of teammate Isla Hutchinson-Maddox. Villanova freshman Emily Mayo was third (4:51.71). Princeton freshman Sam Smiddy took the men’s race in 4:27.82. Brown sophomore Cory Mayfield was second, while Rider’s Sam Cramer came in third with 4:29.82.
Yale and Princeton women filled the A final of the 200 IM. Eli sophomore Emma Smith was first to the wall in 2:01.41. Princeton’s Beverly Nguyen (2:01.51) and Olivia Chan (2:01.60) were right on her heels. Smith and Nguyen achieved “B” cuts, while Chan earned hers in prelims. On the men’s side, Teo D’Alessandro of Princeton won with 1:45.37, after having broken the school record in prelims with 1:45.08. Dartmouth’s Nejc Zupan took second with 1:47.97. Princeton’s Marco Bove (1:48.61) was third. All three times were “B” cuts.
Princeton co-captain Boyce won the A flight of the 50 free, improving her time from prelims by .08 and getting a “B” cut with 22.33. Yale’s Zhou was second in 23.15; Nangle of Dartmouth took third with 23.20. Jeffrey Strausser of Brown won the men’s race with a “B” cut of 20.17. Princeton’s Harrison Wagner (20.24) finished second; Brown’s Glenn was third (20.28).
The 400 medley relay went to Princeton (Boyce, Chan, Karetnick, and Larson) in 3:41.91. They were followed by Yale (3:46.78- Chintanaphol, Ali Stephens-Pickeral, Sydney Hirschi, Wujciak), Brown (3:46.90- Gilley, Katie Roach, Leigh Holmes, Dillione) and Dartmouth (3:48.44- Nangle, Heather Laedtke, Emily Holt, Kamai). Villanova (Megan Conrad, Haufler, Merkle, Snyder) was eighth; Rider (Carlee Oswald, Taylor Shelley, Kaitlyn O’Connor, Parker), tenth.
The Tiger quartet of Strand, Jack Pohlmann, D’Alessandro and Wagner won the men’s 400 medley relay in 3:12.88. Strand broke the Princeton record in the 100 back with his leadoff split of 46.68. Dartmouth’s James Verhagen, Zupan, Harmon and Woon were second with 3:13.95. In third were Princeton’s Hu-Van Wright, Daniel Hasler, Bove, Marco and Wong (3:17.17), just in front of the Brown foursome of Pascal, Connor Lohman, Glenn and Strausser (3:17.28). Columbia finished sixth with Ben Xu, Stanley Wong, Jakl and Ngan. Rider (Jeffrey Prichard, Adam Phillips, Shane Tubb, Matthan-Matthew Martir) was ninth, while Villanova (Tamanini, Tony Sipala, Ben Smith, Moyer) was tenth.
Women’s invitational scores – Day 1
Princeton 281
Yale 258
Dartmouth 183
Brown 159
Villanova 93
Rider 49
Men’s invitational scores – Day 1
Princeton 412.5
Dartmouth 271
Brown 219
Columbia 140.5
Rider 75
Villanova 59
Dual meet scores – Day 1
Princeton women 62 – Brown women 29
Princeton women 61 – Dartmouth women 30
Brown women 54 – Dartmouth women 37
Princeton men 92 – Brown men 18
Princeton men 76 – Dartmouth men 34
Dartmouth men 72 – Brown men 28