Men finish first, women second vs. Ivy League opponents at Brown Invitational

Notes from Nationals

While most of the men and women of Princeton Swimming and Diving were in Rhode Island for the three-day Brown Invitational last weekend, nine of their teammates competed at the USA Swimming AT&T Winter National Championships.

Senior Michael Strand; juniors Sandy Bole, Teo D’Alessandro, Byron Sanborn and Nikki Larson; sophomores Sam Smiddy and sophomore Olivia Chan; and freshmen Lindsay Temple and Elsa Welshofer traveled to Greensboro, N.C., to represent Princeton at Nationals.

The quartet of Chan, Larson, Temple and Welshofer impressed with a top-20 finish in the 400 medley relay, finishing No. 17overall with a time of 3:44.56.Individually, the most remarkable effort for the Tigers was a No. 6 finish overall in the 200 IM “A” final for senior and defending Ivy champion D’Alessandro, who posted a 1:45.76 time.

Women take silver at Brown Invitational

The women’s swimming and diving team finished No. 2 in the Brown Invitational last weekend, scoring 954.5 points to Yale’s 1,167. Though they didn’t take home the title, the women remain undefeated in the Ivy League, as the competition served as the team’s dual-meet against Brown (751.5) and Dartmouth (503). Rider (193) and Columbia (46) also participated in the competition, finishing No. 5 and 6respectively.

Friday, the first day of competition, ended with standings that would eventually match the final rankings. For the Tigers, notable first-day performances included a No. 2 finish in the 500 free in 4:50.11 by freshman Claire McIlmail and a No. 3 finish in the 200 free relay by freshman Madelyn Veith, sophomore Katie Diller, junior Elizabeth McDonald and junior Morgan Karetnick, finishing in 1:33.72.

Saturdaysaw some Tiger victories, as McIlmail stayed hot, claiming the 200 free in 1:47.97. Sophomore diver Caitlin Chambers remained undefeated on the season, winning the 1-meter board with 293.20 points. Senior Shirley Wang delivered another Princeton victory in the 100 back by sprinting to a 55.34 finish.

On Sunday, Chambers won the 3-meter board with 326.3 points. The Seattle, Wash. native — now 6-0 this winter across three meets — took her impressive year to a new level, breaking Erin Lutz ’01’s 16-year-old school record by posting a 342.70 score in the preliminary round.

Men continue Ivy dominance at Brown

The men’s team continued its strong season thus far, leading wire-to-wire in a convincing victory over the rest of the field at the Brown Invitational. Princeton finished with 1,030 points, ahead of Brown (807), Columbia (704), Dartmouth (666) and Rider (434). Like the women, they are now 4-0 in the Ivy, with the competition serving as the team’s Brown and Dartmouth dual-meet.

The men impressed early, winning five of six eventson Fridayto race out to an early lead that proved insurmountable. The quartets of seniors Harrison Wagner and Connor Maher, sophomore Julian Mackrel and freshman Alexander Lewis, and Maher, junior Jack Pohlmann, freshman Corey Okubo and junior Jeremy Wongwon the 200 free relay and 400 medley relay respectively. Lewis (50 free), Okubo (200 IM) and senior Michael Manhard (1-meter) also tacked on individual victories for the Tigers.

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Saturdayalso proved fruitful for the Tigers. Junior Andrew Helber, Pohlmann, Maher and Wagner won the 200 medley relay in 1:27.60, and freshman Zach Buerger, senior Michael Hauss, Okupo and senior David Paulk took home the 800 free relay in 6:40.14. Pohlman (100 breast), Okubo (400 IM) and Manhard (3-meter) all padded their resumes with individual wins to boot.

Unsurprisingly, there was no let-up from the Tigers on Sunday. Princeton foursomes of freshman Ben Schafer, Lewis, Mackrel, and Wong (2:57.6) and Paulk, Maher, Hauss and Buerger (2:58.97) placed first and second in the 400 free relay. Elsewhere, Pohlmann added yet another victory by taking the 200 breast in 2:01.18.

While many swimmers and divers performed well at Brown, Okubo was the story of the weekend. The freshman phenom added two more victories to his collectionon Sunday, winning the 200 fly in 1:46.44 and the 200 back in 1:45.01. Okupo, from Irvine, Calif., was the top recruit in what was a top-10 nationally ranked class last year and has wasted no time in asserting himself as one of the Ivy’s fastest swimmers.

Both sides have concluded their competitive schedules for 2014. On January 3, the men will inaugurate 2015 by welcoming the U.S. Naval Academy to DeNunzio Pool for a one-day meet before North Caroline State University rolls into town on January 9to take on both the men and women.