February 9, 2012

Women's Swimming and Diving Update 5

Women's Swimming & Diving Championship Central | Championship Info

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Last weekend, Harvard posted League wins over Princeton and Yale to claim the 2012 Ivy League dual season championship with a 7-0 record, while also snapping the Tigers’ 43-straight dual meet win streak.

With the wins, Harvard claimed its first dual meet championship since 2006. The Tigers did best Yale at the event to move to 5-1 on the year, setting up a showdown for second-place between Princeton and Columbia this weekend. The Lions have a busy weekend as they swim at Princeton on Friday and then welcome Dartmouth to Uris Pool on Sunday.

The Ivy teams close out the regular-season this weekend and then set their sights on the 2012 Ivy League Championships, which Harvard will play host to on Feb. 23-25 at the Blodgett Pool in Cambridge, Mass.

The third set of CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Division I Rankings were released on Feb. 9 with the Harvard women taking over the top spot from San Jose State and Princeton holding strong in the fourth position and Columbia remaining in the top-20 at No. 17.

Ivies in the Mid-Major rankings
1. Harvard (257.87 points)
4. Princeton (253.08)
17. Columbia (239.88)
RC. Dartmouth

Brown
The Bears split with Columbia and Boston University on Jan. 28, losing to the Lions (182-118) but picking up their first win of the season over the Terriers (160-140) … sophomore Briana Borgolini bested Columbia’s Katie Meili in the 200-breast, coming in at 2:18.34 … senior Kristen Caldarella had a strong day as she was part of Brown’s 200-medley relay team that won in 2:05.48 and she also took the 50-free (24.37) and the 100-free (51.99) … most recently, the Bears lost to Cornell on Feb. 4 (169-131) … Cardella again swept the 50-free (24.25) and 100-free (52.59) … Brown swims in a dual meet versus Yale on Feb. 11 in Kingston, R.I., before setting its sights on the 2012 Ivy League Championship.

Columbia
The Lions turned in wins over Brown (182-118) and Boston University (184-115) on Jan. 28 … the wins improved Columbia to 6-1 on the season and 4-1 within the Ivy League … junior Katie Meili won in the 100-breast with a time of 1:04.16 … the Lions’ best event of the day was the 100-fly, where juniors Kristina Parsons (55.96), Caroline Lukins (57.11) and Lacey Harris-Coble (57.51) combined for a 1-2-3 finish … Columbia closes out its regular-season with a pair of meets this weekend including swimming at Princeton on Feb. 10 and playing host to Dartmouth on Feb. 11.

Cornell
The Big Red downed Brown on Feb. 4 (169-131) to snap a 13-meet losing skid to Ivy League opponents … Cornell improved to 2-6 overall (1-6, Ivy) by winning 11 of 16 events versus the Bears … senior Chiara Spinazzola led the way with two individual wins including the 100-back (57.32) and the 100-fly (57.37) … other Big Red highlights included sophomores Sarah Schlichte and Melissa Mrozinski finishing 1-2 in the 1,000-free with times of 10:15.11 and 10:25.47, respectively … Cornell is off until the 2012 Ivy League Championships.

Dartmouth

The Big Green finished first of three at the Dartmouth Invitational on Jan. 27 and 28 and then fell to Princeton (175-125) on Jan. 29 … the Big Green then downed Rhode Island (234-66) and Northeastern (171-129) on Feb. 4 and fell at Connecticut (158-142) on Feb. 5 to round out a busy two weeks ... the Big Green had several record-breaking performances at the Dartmouth Invitational as sophomore Christine Kerr set pool records in the 500 (5:00.84) and the 200 (1:52.79) -free events and her twin sister Danielle Kerr set a record in the 1,650-free (17:22.02) ... the lopsided wins over URI and Northeastern included junior diver Erica Serpico claiming both the one-meter and three-meter titles and her winning score of 319.25 on the three-meter board was four tenths of a point away from a Dartmouth varsity record … Serpico claimed the one-meter with a score of 298.00 … against the Huskies, sophomore Meredith Sweeney won the 100-back (58.82) and the 200-back (2:05.67) … the Big Green finish out the regular-season by swimming at Columbia on Feb.11 when a win would give Dartmouth its first winning record in the Ivy dual-meet standings since they went 4-3 in 1994-95.

Harvard
The Crimson turned in wins over Princeton and Yale at the annual HYP event, which took place at Harvard’s Blodgett pool on Feb. 4 and 5, to claim its first Ivy League dual meet championship since 2006 ... the Crimson finished 7-0 in the Ivy standings by defeating Princeton (190-110) and Yale (235-65), and snapped the Tigers’ 43-dual meet win streak in the process … the Crimson started things off with a record-setting performance in the 200 medley relay, as the team of junior Caroline Weaver, junior Mackenzie Luick, freshman Ana Anaya and freshman Sarah Sumner set a new school-record of 1:42.39 to place first … Luick went on to claim the 200-breast (2:15.62) on Sunday … junior Laura Evans was the first to touch the wall in the 200 IM (2:02.70), while senior Meghan Leddy finished second (2:04.12) to help Harvard close out the tri-meet victory … Harvard is now off until it plays host to the 2012 Ivy League Championships.

Penn
The Quakers closed out their dual meet slate with consecutive wins over West Chester (163-134), UMBC (152.5-142.5) and La Salle (180-114)… against West Chester and UMBC, senior Laura Klick won the 100-breast (1:05.72) and 200-breast (2:22.41) … sophomore Shelby Fortin also had an impressive day, recording wins the 50-free (24.09), 100-free (52.00) and 200-free (1:51.78) … Penn will swim at Maryland’s Terp Invite on Feb. 10 and 11 before heading to Cambridge, Mass. for the 2012 Ivy League Championships.

Princeton
The Tigers had a busy stretch as they returned from their winter exams break that included a win at Dartmouth on Jan. 29 (175-125) and a split with Harvard and Yale at the annual HYP meet … the Tigers bested Yale (231-69) but saw their 43-meet win-streak snapped by the Crimson (190-110) ... against the Big Green, sophomore Lisa Boyce set a Karl Michael Pool record in the 100-fly, winning by more than three seconds with a time of 55.29 … then on day one of the HYP meet, Boyce turned in the Tigers’ two wins on the day, including victories in the 100-back (53.80) and the 50-free (22.92) … on day two of the HYP meet, Boyce added a win in the 100-back (53.80), while junior Carter Stephens notched a win in the 100-fly (54.71) … Princeton plays host to Columbia on Feb. 10 to close out its regular-season.

Yale
The Bulldogs suffered a pair of defeats in the annual HYP meet, falling to Princeton (231-69) and the hosts form Harvard (235-65) … senior Rachel Rosenberg swept the one-meter and three-meter diving events, winning on the one-meter bards with a score of 267.65 and with 292.30 points on the three meter ... Yale closes out its regular-season with a meet versus Ivy foe Brown on Feb. 11 at the University of Rhode Island's Tootell Aquatics Center in Kingston, R.I.