Stoppa Swims 1:58 200 Fly as Rutgers Takes Down Princeton

Rutgers vs Princeton

• Friday, January 11th
• Rutgers Aquatic Center, Piscataway, NJ
• Short Course Yards
• Results

TEAM SCORES

1. Rutgers – 156
2. Princeton – 144

Rutgers downed in-state foe Princeton at the Rutgers Aquatic Center on January, 11th. Rutgers won 10 of 16 events, but Princeton’s depth actually kept them in the lead through the 2nd-to-last event, where they led by a 1 point margin over Rutgers. Rutgers then picked up a 1-2 finish in the final event – the 200 free relay, awarding Rutgers 15 points to Princeton’s 2 points. Rutgers relays were very similar in times, with the A going 1:35.60, and the B going 1:35.78.

Francesca Stoppa help lead the Scarlet Knights to victory, sweeping the fly events, and helping the A 200 free relay to victory. In the 200 fly, Stoppa blasted a 1:58.79, winning by almost 3 seconds, and posted her fastest 200 fly in a dual meet this season. That time was only 2.7 seconds off her overall season best of 1:56.03. She also went on to win the 100 fly with a 55.12, which comes in as her 3rd fastest dual meet 100, and 4th fastest 100 fly overall this season.

Rutgers took both backstroke events, but with 2 different event winners. Freshman Terka Grusova claimed victory in the 100 back, swimming a 55.36. Vera Koprivova then overtook Grusova in the 200 back, touching in 2:01.46 to Grusova’s 2:02.04. Jenny Ma swept the breaststroke events for Princeton. In the 100 breast, Ma posted a 1:05.19, swimming the fastest split in the field on both 50s. In the 200, Ma swam a 2:25.10, narrowly beating out Rutgers freshman Nora Woods (2:25.69), and Priceton senior Kate Didion (2:25.99).

PRESS RELEASE – RUTGERS:

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Jan. 11, 2019) – Rutgers swimming and diving celebrated the careers of Marin Bloise, Rachel Byrne, Vera Koprivova, Abbey Saunders and Francesca Stoppa on Senior Day before defeating Princeton, 156-144, in a dual meet on Friday evening in the Rutgers Aquatic Center.

Through 15 of 16 events, Princeton held a one-point lead at 142-141 and the 200-yard freestyle relay would decide the meet. The Scarlet Knights took the top two spots in the finale with Stoppa, and juniors Meghan Moses, Alexandra Fabugais-Inaba and Sarah Davis winning in 1:35.60.

THE BOTTOM LINE

• Rutgers 156, Princeton 144
• Event Wins: Rutgers 10, Princeton 6

FIRST THINGS FIRST

• The Scarlet Knights set the tone with the opening relay, winning the 200-yard medley relay 1:45.28 with freshman Terka Grusova on backstroke, sophomore Delaney Carey on breaststroke, junior Federica Greco on butterfly and junior Clare Lawlor anchoring with freestyle.
• Junior Francesca Bertotto continued a dominant season in distance freestyle with a win in the 1,000 to kick off the individual events, and later winning the 500. Bertotto has won every distance freestyle race she has entered this season (500, 1000 and 1650).
• Fabugais-Inaba triumphed in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.80, her fourth win in the event this season.
• Grusova claimed the 100-yard backstroke in convincing fashion, clearing a second over teammate and fellow Czech Koprivova.
• Stoppa celebrated her Senior Day with a pair of wins: the 200-yard butterfly in an NCAA B cut time of 1:58.79 and the 100 Fly in 55.12 seconds.
• Senior Rachel Byrne also got a victory in her final home meet, posting a season-best 287.25 in 1-meter diving and first place points.

FANTASTIC FINSHES

• Finishing spots 1-6 in the 50-yard freestyle were decided by less than a half-second. Princeton took first and second place points as Lawlor finished third just a quarter-second off the winning pace.
• Freshman Nora Woods scored important runner-up points in 200-yard breaststroke, touching in three-tenths of a second ahead of a Princeton competitor and keeping points away.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Stoppa’s two wins gave her 30 event victories for her career.

UP NEXT
Rutgers travels to Princeton on Saturday for a tri-meet with Villanova beginning at 11 a.m.

PRESS RELEASE – PRINCETON:

Sophomore Jenny Ma swept the breast events, while senior Joanna Curry, sophomore Sophia Peifer and freshman Cathy Teng each picked up individual victories, but those results weren’t enough Friday afternoon as Princeton dropped a tight 156-144 dual meet to an undefeated Rutgers squad at the Rutgers Aquatic Center.

Princeton won’t have to wait long to try and avenge that loss, though. Rutgers will join Villanova at DeNunzio Pool Saturday at 11 am for the Tigers’ final tri-meet before the winter break. The meet will also serve as Senior Day for the Princeton Class of 2019, and the Tigers will honor Joanna Curry, Kathryn Didion, Elaina Gu, Carolyn MacFarlane, Monica McGrath, Izzy Reis and Karen Zhang during a 10:30 ceremony prior to the meet.

You can find the complete results here (PDF).

Ma picked up her first win in the 100 breast in 1:05.19, more than 1.4 seconds faster than anybody in the field. She came back after the break to win a tight 200 breast in 2:25.10, less than a half second ahead of Rutgers’ Nora Woods.

Teng claimed a thriller over senior teammate Izzy Reis in the 50 free. Teng took the race in 24.05, just .03 of a second faster than the Princeton tri-captain. Curry won the final individual race of the day when she took the 200 IM in 2:05.36, more than a second faster than anybody in the field.

The best individual event of the day for Princeton came on the 3-meter board, where Peifer led a 1-2-3 Tiger finish. Peifer edged classmate Sine Scribbick for the win with 303.67 points; Scribbick took second with 302.23 points, and junior Mimi Lin finished third with 289.50 points. Peifer nearly had the double, but she finished second on the 1-meter board with 273.22 points.

Princeton had a handful of top finishes throughout the other Tiger swimmers, including sophomore Harley Lopez Miro and freshman Anna Durak, who traded second- and third-place finishes in the 500 and 1000 free events. Junior Shaelyn Choi was the runner-up to Ma in the 100 breast, and she took third to Curry in the 200 IM.