Ivy League Championships: Princeton Wins Eighteenth Title

PRINCETON, New Jersey, March 1. THEIR fans were clad in orange shirts, with a single word in black letters. Tradition. The 2008 Princeton women's swimming and diving team did more than just uphold tradition. The Tigers added to it with a dominant victory in the Ivy League championship meet, which concluded with a victory leap into the waters of their beloved DeNunzio Pool.

On the heels of victories by Alicia Aemisegger, Brett Shiflett and Monika Friedman, the No. 18 Princeton women's swimming and diving team won its third straight and 18th overall Ivy League championship with 1651.5 points. A strong Harvard squad placed second with 1494 points, while Columbia ended third with 1016 points.

Winning the Ivy League championship truly has become a Princeton tradition. The Tigers have won eight of the last nine Ivy League titles, and their only loss came in 2005, when the current senior class lost in DeNunzio Pool as freshmen.

"We lost that year, but we swam really well as a team," head coach Susan Teeter said after celebrating her 13th Ivy championship during her brilliant tenure. "The numbers just didn't add up for us. But that class is a really tight group. They are great trainers, great role models for the younger swimmers. They knew Harvard would be a great opponent, and they really worked for this one."

"This means so much to me," senior 100 and 200 free champion Brett Shiflett said. "We all stuck with it and we all had our ups and downs. We're so close in and out of the pool. We really are all the best of friends."

Aemisegger ignited the capacity crowd with a brilliant opening swim. The previous Ivy League record in the 1650 free was 16:16.94, set by Olympian Cristina Teuscher of Columbia. Princeton's own Olympic hopeful, Aemisegger smashed the record with a winning time of 15:58.57, which bettered the NCAA A-cut mark by nearly 25 full seconds. It was Aemisegger's sixth Ivy League championship in as many events and it opened the final session of the 2008 Ivy Championships on the highest of notes.

Senior Ellen Gray, the hero of Princeton's shocking 2006 Ivy League championship win, placed third in the 1650 with a time of 16:28.88, while freshman Nicole McAndrew, a key piece for the Tiger future, finished sixth in 16:49.55. Princeton placed four in the final, with junior Alex Wiley picking up an eighth-place finish in 16:58.18.

Princeton picked up more points in the 200 back final, as freshmen Meredith Monroe and Julie Kochman went 2-3 with times of 1:59.09 and 2:00.68, respectively. Both were NCAA B-cut times, but neither was enough to stop Penn sophomore Sara Coenen, who won with a meet-record time of 1:58.57. Coenen swept the 100 and 200 back, while Monroe picked up second-place finishes in both during her first Ivy League championship meet.

Shiflett's unbelievable weekend continued in the 100 free final, as she shaved more than a second off her preliminary time to win in 49.82. With two A-cuts and two Ivy League individual titles, she made her final meet at DeNunzio a memorable one. Junior Justina DiFazio placed third in 50.08, while freshman Emily Trautner added a seventh-place finish in 51.70.

Senior Lisa Hamming, whose heroic 400 IM Friday night will long be remembered by those in attendance, placed second in the 200 breast in a time of 2:15.38. Harvard senior Jaclyn Pangilinan went out quickly and had a great swim to win in 2:14.69, while Princeton sophomore Courtney Kilkuts finished an impressive weekend of her own by finishing fourth with a B-cut time of 2:16.63.

The most thrilling final of the night came in the 200 fly, as Friedman and Harvard freshman Kate Mills left the field in the 200 fly. Friedman had the early edge with a strong first 50 yards, but Mills began to cut into the deficit in the second half of the race. As they made their final turn, the two appeared even and had the DeNunzio crowd screaming in anticipation. Friedman fought for whatever lead she had and won a terrific battle in 1:58.69, .04 of a second faster than Mills.

"We really thought Monika had a chance to get it done this weekend," Teeter said. "Honestly, I think she could go even faster in NCAAs."

Princeton placed three in the 3-meter diving finals. Junior Katie Giarra just missed her second straight 3-meter title, but took second with 302.25 points. Columbia's Shannon Hosey won the crown with 305.30 points. Senior Charlotte Jones concluded her Princeton career by placing fifth with 261.35 points, while freshman Carolyn Littlefield completed her first Ivy championships with a sixth-place score of 252.50 points. The team of Shiflett, Brittney Delgado, Hamming and Aemisegger concluded the meet by finishing second in the 400 free in 3:24.47.

Special thanks to Princeton for contributing this report.

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