Photo Courtesy: Beverly Schaefer<\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2013 Today\u2019s dual meet between Columbia and Princeton women\u2019s swimming and diving featured a team battle that was not decided until the final relay.<\/p>\n
If one were to look only at the number of first-place finishes throughout the women\u2019s dual meet today, it would appear that Columbia was the dominant team in the pool, winning 10 of the 16 events. But only winning races does not turn into a team victory. Princeton kept responding to every Columbia win with second- and third-place finishes, keeping the score close.<\/p>\n
The final event, the 400 free relay, would decide the meet. Columbia led by just seven points, 145-138. Whichever team won the relay would win the meet. The teams were even through the first exchange, but Princeton gained a lead of 1.2 seconds at the halfway point. That extended to 1.7 seconds after the third leg, but a 49.97 from Columbia\u2019s Jennifer Shahar put some excitement into the anchor legs. Shahar\u2019s contribution wasn\u2019t enough to give Columbia the relay win as Princeton took the victory with a 3:24.91 to Columbia\u2019s 3:25.68.<\/p>\n
That gave the Princeton Tigers a two-point victory, 151-149. Diving played a big role in giving Princeton the team win in the girl\u2019s meet, including a 1-2-3 finish in the 3-meter event (led by Caitlin Chambers\u2019 winning score of 318.31) and a 1-2-4 finish on 1-meter (another Chambers win with 267.37 points).<\/p>\n
Through the first five events, Columbia and Princeton were involved in an exciting battle to lead the points race, with 1-2 finishes by the top team in each of the five events. Columbia struck first in a big way, going 1-2 in the 200 medley relay for a 15-3 advantage. Salena Huang, Shahar, Christina Ray and Kate O\u2019Rourke posted a 1:43.29 ahead of their \u201cB\u201d team\u2019s 1:44.81.<\/p>\n
Up next was the 1000 free, and Princeton\u2019s Isabel Shipman looked in control of the race in the early stages. But teammate Rebecca Fleming was on the prowl, and caught Shipman at the 900-yard mark. The two raced to the finish, where Fleming got the win with a 10:06.58 to Shipman\u2019s 10:06.90. Columbia\u2019s Mallory McKeon was in the hunt, but faded after the 800-yard point to finish third with a 10:09.70.<\/p>\n
Princeton posted another 1-2 finish in the next event, the 200 freestyle. Nikki Larson won with a 1:50.74 just ahead of teammate Mallory Remick\u2019s 1:51.74. Columbia responded with two 1-2 finishes in the next two events. Huang won the first of her two individual events with a 56.25 in the 100 backstroke over O\u2019Rourke\u2019s 56.89. Up next was the 100 breaststroke, where Shahar posted a 1:03.60 ahead of Mikaila Gaffey\u2019s 1:04.52.<\/p>\n
Columbia kept things rolling with a 2:01.94 from Kristina Ng to win the 200 fly and a 23.48 from Ray to take the 50 free victory. Princeton had a 80-70 lead at the first break, thanks to the 1-2-3 finish in the 3-meter diving.<\/p>\n
Ray was back in the water for the 100 free, and she picked up another victory with a 50.74. Huang celebrated a backstroke sweep with a 2:01.14 in the 200 back, while Columbia attempted to bridge the gap on Princeton with a 1-2 finish in the 200 breast. Celia Frick had the lead at the 100-yard mark over Ng by two tenths, but Ng surged in the third 50 to pull ahead and win comfortably, 2:18.47 to 2:20.88. The 200 breast marked the first time Columbia had the lead since the 1000 freestyle at the start of the meet, and it was just a 10-point lead.<\/p>\n
Princeton got their first swimming win after an eight-event drought with a 5:01.03 from Shipman. The Tigers went 1-2 thanks to a 5:03.77 from Elsa Welshofer that gave Columbia only a two-point lead in the overall meet.<\/p>\n
Two familiar names from Columbia wrapped up the individual swimming events with one more win each in an attempt to widen the gap to make a relay win by Princeton moot. Ray posted a 54.66 in the 100 fly, while Ng won her third individual event with a 2:03.91 in the 200 IM.<\/p>\n