Penn's McHugh Breaks Ivy League Record on Day Two of the Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Complete Results // Day Two Gallery

PRINCETON, N.J. -- In front of a packed Blodgett pool for day two of the 2011 Ivy League Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship, Penn junior Brendan McHugh stole the show as he captured the 100 breast in a meet and Ivy record time of 53.66. Other day two highlights included two more relay wins for the Princeton Tigers and an impressive win by Dartmouth freshman Nejc Zupan in the 1,650 free.

After two days of competition, the Tigers lead on the team scoreboard with 950 points, followed closely by second place Harvard (916.5). Columbia is third (688.5), followed by Yale (639.5), Penn (547), Cornell (531.5), Dartmouth (520) and Brown (479). The Bulldogs made the biggest jump in the standings as they moved from sixth after day one to fourth after day two.

Night two of the Championships kicked off with the 200 medley relay. Princeton sophomore Kaspar Raigla built a first leg lead, but Penn’s McHugh used a strong showing in the second leg to keep the Quakers within striking distance. Princeton junior Mike Monovoukas opened up lead in the third leg and then Tiger senior Geoffrey Faux closed out the win as Princeton posted a time of 1:28.05. Penn finished second in 1:29.13, while Columbia placed third in 1:29.22. It was Princeton’s third win in as many relay events at the 2011 Championships.

Next up was the final heat of the 1,650 free. At 1,000 yards, Paul Nolle of Princeton and Wes Stearns of Harvard were in the lead. Stearns opened up a body-length lead with 200 yards left and won in 15.18.82. But, in one of the three afternoon heats, Zupan had the fastest time at 15:14.83, good enough for an NCAA B-cut time and to place him first overall after all heats of the 1,650 were swum. With the win, he became the first swimmier in Big Green history to capture the 1,650 free title. Stearns ended up in second place, while Noelle placed third with a time of 15:18.62.

The 400 IM championship field was packed with favorites including 2009 champion Colin Hanna of Princeton, who entered with the fastest seed time from morning prelims (3:54.36), and 2010 champion Dean Holcomb of Cornell. In the end, Hanna blew away the field with in a time of 3:50.30. The wire-to-wire win also earned him an NCAA B-cut time as he became Princeton’s first two-time winner in the 400 IM since Jim Tuchler won titles in 1985 and ’87. Holcomb finished second in 3:55.17, followed by Harvard junior Niall Janney’s third place showing in 3:56.48.

In the 100 fly championship final, Goksu Bicer of Yale (48.18) out-touched teammate Mike Dominski (48.33) to claim the win, while Princeton’s Monovoukas finished third in 48.39. Also of Yale, Kyle Veatch took fourth in 48.44 to give the Bulldogs 86 points from the 100 fly final. Goksu became Yale’s first 100 fly champion since Jason Rosenbaum won the second of his back-to-back titles in 1995.

Next up was the 200 free, with last year’s winner Will Lawley of Princeton looking to defend his title and Columbia’s Hyun Lee looking for his second championship in as many nights, having captured the title in last night’s 500 free. Lee led three quarters of the way through tonight’s 200 free, with the Tiger duo of Lawley and Colin Cordes closing the gap for the final 25. But Lee was able to hold on and win in 1:36.53. Cordes finished second with 1:36.63, while Lawley placed third in 1:36.84. With the win, Lee became the first two-time individual winner at the 2011 Championships.

Princeton’s Jonathan Christensen entered the 100 breast final with a chance to defend his 2010 title and join Lee as a two-time individual champion in 2011, having won last night’s 200 IM. Christensen’s main rival looked to be Penn’s McHugh, who had the top qualifying time of 54.31. McHugh led after 50 yards and went on to post a meet and Ivy record time of 53.66. He fended off second place finisher Christensen (54.28) and third place racer Conor Carlucci of Brown (54.77). McHugh’s time broke the meet and Ivy records that were previously set by Cornell’s Dave McKechnie (53.94) in 2007.

In the 100 back, Raigla of Princeton came away with the title in a time of 48.11, becoming Princeton’s first 100 back champion since 2003 when Pat Donohue won the crown. Columbia’s Adam Powell finished second in 48.78, followed by Harvard freshman Jack Pretto, who finished third with a time of 49.03.

In the three-meter diving finals, Princeton sophomore Stephen Vines took the championship with a score of 351.95. Harvard senior Zac Ranta finished second with a 340.35 mark, followed by Yale freshman Tyler Pramer, who totaled a 308.30.

The night concluded with the 800 free relay. Lee gave Columbia the lead after the first 200, followed closely by McHugh of Penn. Traub kept Columbia in front through the 400 yard mark, but in the third leg, Princeton’s Christensen chased down Columbia’s Patrick Dogherty to give the Tigers the lead after 600 yards. Cordes went on to anchor another Tiger relay win, as Princeton took the race in 6:31.96. Harvard made a late push and ended up in second with a time of 6:34.95, followed by Columbia in 6:36.01.

The 2011 Ivy League men’s swimming and diving championships conclude tomorrow, March 5, beginning with an 11:00 a.m. preliminary session. Tomorrow’s championship finals will then start at 6:00 p.m.

Team Scores (Through Day Two)
1. Princeton -- 950
2. Harvard -- 916.5
3. Columbia -- 688.5
4. Yale -- 639.5
5. Penn -- 547
6. Cornell -- 531.5
7. Dartmouth -- 520
8. Brown -- 479