Meet of the Week Preview: Harvard, Yale, Princeton

PHOENIX, Arizona, February 2. THIS weekend, SwimmingWorldMagazine.com Meet of the Week will feature the tradition-laden H-Y-P meet with Harvard, Yale and Princeton doing battle from Feb. 2-4 in Princeton, N.J. Meanwhile, Division II offers a top-10 clash between No. 10/11 Ashland and No. 4/3 Wayne State in Detroit, Mich on Feb. 2. Our final match-up will be No. 5/11 Rowan at Kutztown in Division III on Feb. 3.

Next week, we will feature the Stanford/California Pac-10 brawl on Feb. 10 to close out the inaugural run of the Meet of the Week program.

Here is a quick preview of the Harvard, Yale, Princeton match-up:

Date and Time: Friday, February 2 – Sunday, February 4
Location: Princeton, N.J.
Facility: DeNunzio Pool
Collegeswimming.com Mid-Major Rankings:
Men:
Harvard: NR
Yale: NR
Princeton: 2

Women:
Harvard: 2
Yale: NR
Princeton: NR

Harvard's Last Time Out:
The Harvard men beat Brown, 179-116, while the women defeated New Hampshire, 161-74, on Jan. 26.

In the men's meet against Brown, Sam Wollner won the 1000 freestyle and the 400 IM. The Crimson opened the meet by taking the top two spots in the 400 medley relay, with the winning quartet touching the wall in 3:29.59. Harvard extended its lead to 31-4 after just two events when Wollner led a 1-2-3 Crimson finish in the 1000. Wollner finished in 9:21.67. Jason Degan-Rojeski and Geoff Rathgeber each won in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, respectively. The Bears claimed the 200 butterfly, but Harvard answered with wins in the next seven events, sparked by Bill Jones' effort in the 50 freestyle. Lucas Sanders won the one-meter diving, and David Guernsey took the 100 freestyle. Michael Bowen and Tim Parent won the 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke, respectively, before Meyer led a 1-2-3 Crimson showing in the 500 freestyle. Dan Jones led Harvard to the top four places in the 100 butterfly, and Wollner completed his double by leading a 1-2-3-4 Crimson finish in the 400 IM (4:06.66).

For the women, diver Samantha Papadakis set school and pool records with her score of 356.48 in the three-meter diving. The records stood since Jenny Greene notched 343.75 points against Cornell in 1988. Papadakis earlier won the one-meter with 321.45 points, narrowly missing Greene's school record of 324.15, set in 1987. Lindsay Hart had a hand in three victories for the Crimson. She started off the 400 medley relay, which fellow junior Jaclyn Pangilinan, senior LeeAnn Chang and freshman Alexandra Clarke finished off in 3:54.39. Noelle Bassi won the 200 butterfly in 2:03.80. Laurin Weisenthal won the 1650 freestyle in 17:25.76. Hart then won the 200 IM in 2:09.25 and the 200 backstroke in 2:04.99. Foley had a win of her own in the 500 free, touching in 5:08.73. Sophie Morgan won the 50 free in 25.14, while Amanda Slaight won the 100 free in 54.13. Meaghan Colling accounted for Harvard's other victory, claiming the 200 free in 1:55.67.

Looking forward with Harvard women's head coach Stephanie Wriede Morawski:
HYP is always a fast meet. Princeton and Yale have very strong teams this year, so anything can happen. The meet is really fantastic. It is not only great for the teams, but also the alumni, parents and spectators. There is a lot of enthusiasm with the meet, and it helps get the kids ready and racing fast for conference.

Yale's Last Time Out:
Yale swept Brown on its Senior Day. The men downed Brown, 181-119, while the women picked up a 188.5-111.5 victory in their meet on Jan. 27.

In the men's meet, Alex Righi set the pace by winning all of his individual events. Righi claimed first place in the 100 freestyle, the 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly. Dennen McCloskey won the 200 free and the 200 IM. Andrew Foss went on to win the 500 free, while Colin Stalnecker won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. In the diving events, Jeffrey Lichtenstein claimed the one-meter.

On the women's side, Yale opened with a win in the 200 medley relay. After that, Moira McCloskey swept the 100 and 200 back and the 200 IM, while Meg Gill took first in the 50 and 100 freestyle events and the 100 butterfly.

Looking forward with Yale head coach Frank Keefe:
It's the big meet in the East this weekend. All three of the women's teams are undefeated. Cornell spoiled the party a bit on the men's side, but there's still the tradition of the HYP. It's always been the highlight of our season.

Princeton's Last Time Out:
Princeton swept Dartmouth on Jan. 28 during 2007 Senior Day. The men won, 201-94, while the women scored a 219-74 triumph.

The men opened the meet that featured a variety of non-traditional events by winning the 275 medley relay in the time of 2:10.46. Dan Eckel edged out classmate Robert Griest to win the first individual race, the 500 free, in 4:30.62. Easton Chen edged out Seok Jun Lee by .03 seconds to win the 100 breast in 59.71. Doug Lennox finished atop the 50 fly (23.66), and Mike Baity followed with a sub-10-second performance to win the 25 free (9.99). Voorheis edged out 2006 All-America Meir Hasbani by .01 seconds to win the 50 back in 25.41. Chen won the 50 breast in 27.37, and Eckel followed by winning the 100 fly in 51.86. Mike Zee claimed the final individual event of the day, the 200 IM, in 1:58.42. The 300 free relay team ended the meet by winning in 2:08.73.

For the women, Ellen Gray edged out Alex Wiley to win the 400 free in 3:54.45, and Lisa Hamming also won a close showdown with Kristen Arey to win the 100 back in 1:00.25. Freshman phenom Alicia Aemisegger won her first of three events by taking the 100 breast in 1:04.67; she later claimed the 50 back in 28.53 and the 200 IM in 2:05.04. Justina DiFazio was another multi-event winner, claiming the 50 free in 24.65 and the 100 fly in 57.98. Princeton's first diving win of the day came via Katie Giarra, who took the one-meter competition with 286.88 points. Giarra later claimed the three-meter competition with 327.16 points. Princeton won the 600 free relay in 5:49.44, and Arey avenged her close loss earlier in the day with a winning time of 53.23 in the 100 free. Erica Pang won the 50 breast in 31.54, and Hamming claimed another double win with her victory in the 200 free (1:53.99). The meet ended with Princeton winning the 300 free relay in 2:26.26.

Looking forward with Princeton men's head coach Rob Orr:
We've been very fortunate to have achieved what we have at DeNunzio, and with the talent of the swimmers combined with a little luck, we will add more victories in the future.

Looking forward with Princeton women's head coach Susan Teeter:
We're excited to be hosting the annual HYP meet here at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool. The emotion, compositeness, rivalry and pageantry of this meet have turned out to be very special for all the athletes involved. It's a true look at what college swimming is all about- cheering, fast swimming, divers at their best and alumni coming back from all over the USA- it's awesome in its own right- no matter where it's hosted. The Yale women are swimming quite well this year and are led by a tough senior class. Their freshmen have really helped them step up their performances. Harvard is always strong and always ready. We're excited for their challenges. Our Princeton squad has trained harder this year than any year and our seniors have been outstanding in leading this group. We're ready to swim fast and get to the Ivy Championships in two weeks and then on to NCAAs!

Top 2006-07 Times Comparison:
Men:
50 Free
HU: 20.74, Pat Quinn
YU: 19.83, Alex Righi
PU: 21.08, Michael Carter
100 Free
HU: 45.46, Pat Quinn
YU: 43.93, Alex Righi
PU: 45.74, Michael Carter
200 Free
HU: 1:40.36, David Guernsey
YU: 1:40.21, Andrew Foss
PU: 1:41.08, Jon Hartmann
500 Free
HU: 4:30.20, Sam Wollner
YU: 4:31.38, Andrew Foss
PU: 4:29.27, Robert Griest
1000 Free
HU: N/A
YU: 9:29.98, Dennen McCloskey
PU: 9:30.56, Robert Griest
1650 Free
HU: 15:36.30, Eric Lynch
YU: 16:09.73, Ilya Byzov
PU: 15:29.11, Robert Griest
100 Back
HU: 50.45, Jason Degnan-Rojeski
YU: 47.62, Alex Righi
PU: 50.80, Mike Zee
200 Back
HU: 1:47.40, Geoff Rathgeber
YU: 1:49.54, Tom Robinson
PU: 1:51.12, Mike Zee
100 Breast
HU: 55.25, Geoff Rathgeber
YU: 57.90, Colin Stalnecker
PU: 58.53, Easton Chen
200 Breast
HU: 2:07.37, Joc Christiana
YU: 2:05.36, Colin Stalnecker
PU: 2:07.89, Will Schafer
100 Fly
HU: 48.77, Dan Jones
YU: 49.54, Alex Righi
PU: 49.23, Doug Lennox
200 Fly
HU: 1:48.52, Dan Jones
YU: 1:51.33, Ben Dzialo
PU: 1:47.94, Meir Hasbani
200 IM
HU: 1:47.34, Geoff Rathgeber
YU: 1:53.14, Alex Righi
PU: 1:52.42, Meir Hasbani
400 IM
HU: 3:53.83, Geoff Rathgeber
YU: 4:02.83, Dennen McCloskey
PU: 3:57.56, Tim Ruse
200 Free Relay
HU: 1:22.13
YU: 1:22.99
PU: 1:24.18
400 Free Relay
HU: 3:01.14
YU: 3:04.54
PU: 3:06.37
800 Free Relay
HU: 6:42.80
YU: 6:51.13
PU: 6:53.20
200 Medley Relay
HU: 1:30.70
YU: 1:31.96
PU: 1:33.17
400 Medley Relay
HU: 3:19.52
YU: 3:21.41
PU: 3:24.89
1M Diving
HU: N/A
YU: 298.00, Doug Scott
PU: 302.77, Michael Papageorge
3M Diving
HU: N/A
YU: 338.90, Doug Scott
PU: 346.50, Michael Papageorge

Women:
50 Free
HU: 23.54, Amanda Slaight
YU: 23.66, Meg Gill
PU: 23.94, Justina DiFazio
100 Free
HU: 51.95, Emily Wilson
YU: 51.32, Jane Kim
PU: 51.63, Justina DiFazio
200 Free
HU: 1:50.18, Alexandra Clarke
YU: 1:50.49, Jane Kim
PU: 1:47.03, Alicia Aemisegger
500 Free
HU: 4:49.26, Alexandra Clarke
YU: 4:57.93, Jane Kim
PU: 4:43.48, Alicia Aemisegger
1000 Free
HU: 9:45.28, Alexandra Clarke
YU: 10:17.41, Caroline Dowd
PU: 9:53.06, Alicia Aemisegger
1650 Free
HU: 16:22.45, Alexandra Clarke
YU: 17:20.41, Caroline Dowd
PU: N/A
100 Back
HU: 56.34, Lindsay Hart
YU: 55.50, Moira McCloskey
PU: 57.63, Kelly Hannigan
200 Back
HU: 1:59.84, Lindsay Hart
YU: 1:58.52, Moira McCloskey
PU: 2:03.10, Kelly Hannigan
100 Breast
HU: 1:03.31, Jackie Pangilinan
YU: 1:04.58, Susan Kim
PU: 1:04.67, Alicia Aemisegger
200 Breast
HU: 2:13.98, Jackie Pangilinan
YU: 2:17.66, Susan Kim
PU: 2:15.53, Alicia Aemisegger
100 Fly
HU: 55.98, Bridgett O'Connor
YU: 56.14, Meg Gill
PU: 57.37, Justina DiFazio
200 Fly
HU: 1:58.01, Noelle Bassi
YU: 2:04.36, Meg Gill
PU: 1:59.57, Alicia Aemisegger
200 IM
HU: 2:03.59, Lindsay Hart
YU: 2:06.33, Moira McCloskey
PU: 1:59.59, Alicia Aemisegger
400 IM
HU: 4:18.86, Noelle Bassie
YU: 4:37.05, Susan Kim
PU: 4:09.27, Alicia Aemisegger
200 Free Relay
HU: 1:37.30
YU: 1:38.48
PU: 1:36.27
400 Free Relay
HU: 3:31.01
YU: 3:27.79
PU: 3:28.81
800 Free Relay
HU: 7:35.11
YU: 7:32.54
PU: 7:26.94
200 Medley Relay
HU: 1:45.94
YU: 1:45.95
PU: 1:45.04
400 Medley Relay
HU: 3:50.61
YU: 3:49.85
PU: 3:52.93
1M Diving
HU: N/A
YU: 249.05, Ali Jones
PU: 286.88, Katie Giarra
3M Diving
HU: N/A
YU: 269.77, Marisa Poverman
PU: 327.16, Katie Giarra

* – denotes meter conversion

MOTW, Harvard-Yale-Princeton Map

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