Tigers win Ivy League champs

Family and friends flooded DeNunzio Pool this weekend, coming from near and far to witness the women's swimming and diving team compete for their seventh Ivy League Championship title in eight years. The fans, clad in orange and black, cheered the Tigers to victory in event after event and were not disappointed in the overall outcome, as the Tigers topped rival Harvard by a score of 1496 to 1408.5.

Though Princeton led from wire to wire to win its 17th Ivy League title, this year's victory was particularly sweet. The last time the championship was held at DeNunzio, which was in 2005, the Tigers were thwarted by Harvard, resulting in the sole blemish in its championship record in the last eight years.

"No one on the current team [has] ever won Ivies at home, so it was awesome for us to win with all our families, friends and alumni here to celebrate with us," sophomore Justina DiFazio said. "Also, we were considered the 'underdogs' last year and defending our title from last year shows that last year's victory was not simply a miracle, but a well fought and well deserved win."

Mimicking the first night of last year's upset win, Princeton successfully dominated Thursday evening. Led by its underclassmen, the Tigers took three of four individual events to sprint to an early lead over its opponents, ending the first session at nearly 497 points, 139 points ahead of second-place Harvard.

"Harvard is a formidable opponent, and we always count on them to show up. We predicted that this meet would go down to the last relay, and we came into the championships ready to fight for that every session," head coach Susan Teeter said. "[Though] the top-two spots were mostly between Princeton and Harvard, there were teams races all the way through the Ivy schools. For the first time in years, all the schools swam very well."

The league's strength was evident from the start, as Princeton lost the opening 200 free relay to Yale, but the squad of senior Sobenna George, DiFazio, senior Kristen Arey and junior Lisa Hamming out touched Harvard by less than half a second to claim second place.

It was freshman star Alicia Aemisegger who set the winning trend and dominating pace for the rest of the meet, capturing the 500 free in a meet record time of four minutes, 43.50 seconds and defeating second-place Alexandra Clarke of Harvard by almost four seconds. Junior Ellen Gray followed, placing sixth.

Aemisegger's classmate Courtney Kilkuts further proved the Class of 2010's strength and Princeton's depth by winning the 200 IM. She led senior Kelly Hannigan and Hamming to third-and sixth-place finishes in that event. While the Tigers were unable to capture first-place in the following 50 free, Princeton continued to prove its strong depth with DiFazio and George taking second and third respectively.

The one-meter dive clinched the Tigers' opening night domination, as sophomore Katie Giarra won the event, leading senior Michelle DeMond, sophomore Shelby Rudd, junior Charlotte Jones and senior Emily Weigand to finish third, fourth, 10th and 11th, respectively, amassing 72 points over Harvard and 96 points over Yale.

Though this may be one of the strongest teams in Princeton's history, as evident by the plethora of individual wins and overall depth, many of the athletes partly attribute the strong performances to the excitement of the Ivies taking place at home.

"Ivies definitely motivates everyone to train harder," Giarra said. "There's nothing like having so many friends and family members there to cheer us on at DeNunzio. The adrenaline is through the roof. It's such a great feeling, and it certainly makes all the swimmers and divers want to do their best."

Princeton's home advantage certainly didn't dwindle over the next two days. The Tigers saw several personal best performances and record-shattering swims, beginning with Aemisegger, who beat her own Ivy record by nearly 10 seconds in the 1000 free, finishing at 9:37.55.

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On Friday, Hannigan scored three impressive victories, starting off the night with gold in the 400 IM in an NCAA B-cut qualifying time. Hannigan won her second individual event in the 100 breaststroke, following DiFazio's win in the 200 free, less than a second off the Ivy record. The Tigers finally topped the podium in a relay as DiFazio, Hamming, Hannigan and Aemisegger touched the wall in 7:20.43 in the 800 free relay, good for first place by over three seconds and a new Ivy record by over two seconds.

The Tigers entered the last day of competition bearing a 72-point advantage, but the same stars that positioned them in the lead pulled Princeton through with more stellar performances. Most notably DiFazio captured her second individual event in the 100 free, and Aemisegger took home her third individual win and meet record in the 200 breastroke, cementing her bid for the Swimmer of the Meet honor.

It was the performers at the other end of the pool, however, whose depth bolstered Princeton to the victory, as the divers again accumulated an impressive point total in the 3-meter dive. Giarra captured the win, with DeMond, Jones and Rudd taking third, fifth and sixth, respectively.

"I think we placed people in events that complemented their strengths and our ability to score points. I also believe our overall commitment to win this as a team — swimmers and divers — was not to be matched," Teeter said. "We feel strongly that we're one of the few schools in the nation that has divers who buy into the total team philosophy and love competing together. The divers were outstanding as always and I think everyone did a great job 'stepping up.' "

While this memorable, undefeated season is over for most, a few will be fortunate enough to represent Princeton at the NCAA Championships meet in three weeks. Aemisegger already has her ticket punched to nationals, while several swimmers have made NCAA-B cuts and will await the national committee's verdict. The divers will compete for a spot at NCAAs at Zone diving, a week from Friday.