With a series of outstanding swims at their respective conference meets, the Princeton men and Harvard women moved to the top of the final Division I Mid-Major Dual Meet Swimming and Diving Rankings. Both teams become the first repeat champions in the six years of the rankings. Eighty seven teams participated in the 2007 team rankings.

On the men’s side, Princeton (8-4) edged Navy (12-0) for the title by a mere 0.31 points. The Tigers had been ranked near the top all season long, but came through at season’s end to capture the EISL title and national dual-meet title. The Midshipmen moved into the top spot after a historic 165-135 win over the Tigers and captured the Patriot League championships.

Eastern Michigan (9-1) finished third in the final ranking. The Mid-American champions only loss came to the University of Michigan. Cornell (10-0) finished 4th following their 5th place finish at the EISL Championships. Two Big Red swimmers – Wesley Newman and Michael Smit were named CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major All-Americans. Oakland University (8-2) rounded out the top five. The Grizzlies won the Mid-Continent Conference and had Marcin Unold named to the Mid-Major All-American team.

With three teams, the EISL had the biggest presence among conferences in the top ten. Success was wide-ranging. In addition to the EISL, the top ten included champions from the Mid-American (Eastern Michigan), Mid-Continent (Oakland), Atlantic 10 (Massachusetts) and Sun Belt (Western Kentucky) conferences.

On the women’s side, Harvard (7-2) had a nearly three-year old dual meet winning streak snapped but rallied to capture the ECAC title. Noelle Bassi, Samantha Papadakis and Alexandra Clarke were all named to the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major All-American team.

Princeton University (9-1) suffered its only setback to the University of Michigan. The Tigers captured the Ivy League title and upended second-ranked Harvard 174-145. The Tigers were led by Mid-Major Swimmer-of-the-Year Alicia Aemisegger. Aemisegger finished second in the 400 IM and third in the 500 freestyle at the NCAA Division I Championships.

Florida Atlantic (12-2) finished third in the final rankings. The FAU was led by Mid-Major and CSCAA All-American Ellie Weberg. Weberg and the Owls were Sun Belt conference champions. Miami (12-0) the 2003-04 Dual Meet Champions finished fourth while Navy (11-2), winners of the Patriot League, rounded out the top five.

Ivy League schools led the way with three teams – Harvard, Princeton and Pennsylvania – in the top ten. Conference champions from the Sun Belt (Florida Atlantic), Mid-American (Eastern Michigan), Patriot League (Navy) and Missouri Valley (Southern Illinois) conferences earned spots in the top ten.

The dual meet rankings use an objective point system to compare teams’ relative strength in a traditional thirteen-event dual meet lineup. Lineups are submitted by participating teams. Institutions eligible for the Mid-Major designation do not come from one of the eight major NCAA Division I-A football conferences or award fewer than seven women’s or five men’s scholarships. Mid-Major teams are also eligible for the CSCAA Division I Coaches’ Poll.

Past Mid-Major Dual-Meet Champions: 2006-07: Princeton (M) Harvard (W); 2005-06: Princeton (M) Harvard (W); 2004-05: Missouri State (M) UC-Irvine (W); 2003-04: Eastern Michigan (M) Miami-OH (W).