With an impressive display of depth and talent, the men's and women's swimming and diving teams clinched their season openers Friday night, defeating Oakland University at DeNunzio Pool.
The spotlight was definitely on the men's team, as it risked its first-ever home loss to a talented Oakland (2-1 overall) men's team. The night couldn't have been more exciting, as the Tigers battled it out against the Grizzlies in race after race, with each team showcasing its new and veteran talent. But the Tigers refused to lose their perfect streak, and, when the dust finally settled, Princeton came out on top, 178-122.
"We did really good as a team tonight, and a lot of the guys stepped up," junior Dan Eckel said. "Our freshman class also did well, with Patt Biggs leading the way in both of his events."
Despite the loss of last year's talented senior class, the gap was hardly noticed as a strong freshman and junior class helped push Princeton ahead. Biggs won the 500 m and 1000 m freestyle, while sophomore Chris Quemena, took first in the 200 IM and second in the 50 m freestyle. The junior class came out strong as always, with Will Schaffer, Doug Lennox, Eckel and Mike Carter all taking first-place finishes against the Grizzlies.
"The guys knew it was going to come down to the wire tonight, and they came out on top," men's head coach Rob Orr said. "There were some pretty good performances tonight, and the divers really rose to the occasion, but now it's time to get back to work."
For the women's team, Friday night was simply a preview of what it has in store for the rest of the season. Coming off a busy week of practice and a tough Fall Break training trip, the team was anything but rested when it stepped up onto the blocks. But after winning 12 of the 14 swimming events, the Tigers showed that they were ready to race, defeating the Grizzlies 160-133. Of the 12 first-place finishes, seven were won with one-two finishes, with many of them close to making NCAA-B cuts — a rare occurrence this early in the season.
"This has been one of the best starting meets in my recollection," head coach Susan Teeter said.
The Princeton women came out strong, setting the tone early by taking first in the 200 medley relay by over two seconds. They followed it with an impressive performance in the 400 IM, with the Tigers taking the top three finishes. Between senior Ellen Gray, junior Justina DiFazio and freshmen Megan Waters and Ming Ong, the Princeton women took first place in all freestyle events. The Tigers have also filled large gaps in the backstroke, with freshmen Meredith Monroe and Julie Kochman taking second and third, respectively, in both the 100 m and 200 m back.
"We've definitely come together a result of our training camp. It was a big meet for our freshman, and they had a lot of good performances," DiFazio said.
Sophomore Courtney Kilkuts had solid swims, winning the 100 m breaststroke by more than three seconds and the 200 IM by over four.
"The swim of the meet was definitely by Courtney Kilkuts; her 100m breast was phenomenal, and she looked really good in the 200 IM," Teeter said. "I'm really excited about how she looks right now and what she'll do this season."
The men's and women's diving teams also had great performances, with sophomore Daniel Dickerson leading the way for the men, edging out sophomore Michael Papageorge for the win in the three-meter event by one point, with a final score of 300.37. Freshman Carolyn Littlefield led the way for the Princeton women, finishing with the top score in the three-meter event with 230.25 points and taking third place in the one-meter event with 211.27.
"It felt pretty good to start our season right; and we all did pretty well with Daniel Dickerson really stepping it up in the three-meter," Papageorge said. "But we need to work on being more consistent throughout the entire meet."
Both the men's and women's teams will head off to Philadelphia next week; the Tiger women will swim against Penn on Saturday while the Princeton men face both Cornell and the Quakers on Friday night.
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