Ivy League: Day One

EAST MEADOW, New York, February 27. THE Harvard women's swimming and diving team got its quest for a ninth league title off to a good start Thursday, finishing the first day of the Ivy League Championships in first place at the Nassau County Aquatic Center.

With 353 points, the Crimson holds a narrow 16-point advantage over three-time defending champion Princeton. The scores, however, do not include the 200 free and 400 medley relays, as both are under official review. In the 200 free relay, the first final of the evening, Harvard's team of Katherine Pickard, Ali Slack, Laura Murray and Katy Hinkle clocked a winning time of 1:32.90, while five of the other seven entries were disqualified. The coaches of the disqualified squads appealed, and the results of both relays are being reviewed.

Harvard did much of its damage in the first individual swim of the day, the 500 free. The Crimson claimed four of the top five places, all in NCAA Championships provisional qualifying times. Sophomore Kate Mills set a school record with her preliminary time of 4:43.41, only to see that mark eclipsed in the final by junior Alexandra Clarke, who touched in 4:42.84, good for second place ahead of Mills in third.

Clarke and Mills were followed to the wall by sophomore Christine Kaufmann and freshman Catherine Zagroba. Princeton's Alicia Aemisegger won the event. It was the second runner-up finish in the 500 free for Clarke, who also placed second as a freshman and was fourth last year.

The Crimson put on another strong team showing in the 200 individual medley. Pickard was Harvard's only competitor in the A final, finishing sixth in 2:03.45. However, the Crimson picked up significant points by dominating the B final. Senior Linnea Sundberg won that race in 2:04.08 and was followed by teammates Sophie Morgan and Meghan Leddy for the top-three sweep. They were among five Harvard swimmers in the B final. Courtney Kilkuts won the A final for Princeton.

Hinkle led the Crimson in the 50 free, placing third in 23.38 seconds. It was the second straight top-three finish in the event for Hinkle, last season's champion. Slack took sixth in the event, 11 one-hundredths of a second back of Hinkle. Dartmouth's Hillary Preston won the race in 23.29.

Sophomore Jenny Reese and freshman Leslie Rea both made the A final round of the one-meter diving, earning valuable points and keeping two threatening Princeton divers out of the A final. Reese had the third-highest score in the preliminary round with 241.31. She placed seventh in the final with 241.70. Rea was right behind with 240.20 points.

Yale stands third after one day with 189 points, followed by Penn (164), Columbia (161.5), Brown (100.5), Dartmouth (97) and Cornell (46). The meet resumes with Saturday's preliminary heats at 11 a.m. Finals are at 6 p.m., and Sunday's competition follows the same schedule.

Special thanks to Harvard for contributing this report.

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