NEW YORK - Head swim coach Diana Caskey received one of the nicer birthday presents she could hope for.
Columbia led from the opening event in a decisive 184-114 victory over Penn at Uris Swim Center. The victory was the team?s third in a row as Columbia improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the Ivy League.
The Lions swept the top two places in seven of 16 events, including four in a row late in the meet to pull away from the Quakers, who entered the meet with a 4-1 record.
Getting that string of sweeps underway were first-year Mariele Dunn and senior Amy Krakauer, who finished first and second, respectively, in the 200 breast in 2:19.66 and 2:21.55 in event number 12 of 16. It was the second time the tandem went 1-2 in the meet; Krakauer won the 100 breast in 1:04.35 and Dunn was second in 1:05.24.
In event 13, junior Megan Brown (5:04.70) and first-year Abby Reilly
(5:06.80) completed their second lock of the top two spots of the meet in the 500 free. Earlier, they won the 1000 free, rallying to pass Penn’s Naomi Delphin to secure lifetime bests in 10:19.10 and 10:20.20.
“The 1000 is an event that I think people looking at our squad think could be a weakness,” Caskey noted. “I am really proud that we got it rolling right from the start.”
The Lions got off to a start very much in the Lions? favor. In the 200 medley relay, Columbia took the top two positions to leap out to a
15-2 advantage. The team of junior Lauren Fraley, Krakauer, Allison
Hobbs and Hannah Galey swam 1:46.25 to top the rest of the field by three full seconds.
Technically, the meet started with the three-meter diving, as junior
Shannon Hosey matched up alone against four Penn divers and took first place, as she would eventually do on the 1m board as well. Classmate Joanna Corby missed the meet due to an injury. Hosey scored 264.53, 40 points ahead of the top Penn diver in 3m, and 260.93, nearly 20 points ahead of the Quakers? No. 1 diver. The 3m score was not inserted into the team scoring until its traditional spot after event 13.
“It’s great Shannon could win both boards,” said Caskey. “She did a
wonderful job keeping us even all by herself out there.”
All told, Columbia placed first in 13 of the 16 events. Sophomore
Delghir Urubshurow rallied from more than a second behind the leader at the midway point of the 200 free to win the event in 1:53.24. She was also second in the 200 individual medley, won by Dunn in 2:06.64.
Galey was a double winner in the 50 free (24.11) and 100 free (51.60). Allison Hobbs (56.96) and Tina Hughes (59.06) swept the top two in the 100 fly.
“I was really pleased with the result today,” Caskey said. “We came off last week?s invitational and did a lot of work this week, and some people were, sore, tired or sick. I didn?t know which Columbia team would show up.”
Columbia has a little less than 21 hours to rest with a meet at Wagner tomorrow, Saturday, December 8, beginning at 5 p.m.
