Harvard Doubles Up Columbia

MEN'S DIVISION
The No. 25 men’s swimming team took 13 of 16 events as the Crimson doubled up Columbia 200-100 Friday at Blodgett Pool.  Harvard improves to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in EISL action.

Sophomore Jordan Diekema captured wins in four events, including both relays, while senior Bill Jones touched the wall first in three events, including both relays as well. Junior Simone Melillo, sophomore Zac Ranta and senior co-captains Eric Lynch and David Guernsey each added two wins for the Crimson.

Diekema, Melillo, Jones and freshman Graham Frankel just pulled out a win over Columbia in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 1:33.48, while Columbia came in at 1:33.94. Diekema, Jones, Guernsey and sophomore Will Heyburn finished off the meet  by capturing first in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:24.49, beating out Columbia’s A squad which finished in 1:25.26.

Diekema took home first in the 100 and 200 backstrokes, capturing first in the 100 with a time of 51.20, only .11 seconds faster than sophomore Derick Chui. Diekema then easily won the 200, finishing in 1:51.70, ahead of Columbia’s Cedric Cheung-Lau who completed the race in 1:54.42.

Jones, meanwhile, won the 200 fly along with his two medley wins with a time of 1:52.39, beating out Columbia’s Josh Brown by nearly two seconds. Melillo won the 100 breast in a close finish with teammate and sophomore Justin Davidson, outswimming the second-year player 58.34 to Davidson’s 58.59.

Guernsey and Lynch captured wins in the 100 and 200 freestyles, respectively. Lynch beat out the Lions’ Kevin Wakefield by touching the wall in 1:41.28 to Wakefield’s 1:42.01, while Guernsey was first in the 100 with a time of 46.93 over Columbia’s Darren Pagan in 47.08.

Lynch was also first in the 500 free in 4:32.51 as the Crimson finished 1-2-3 in the event, with junior Alex Meyer coming in second in 4:36.67 and sophomore Blake Lewkowitz taking home third in a time of 4:40.45.

Meyer and Lewkowitz then went 1-2 in the 1000 free, with Meyer touching the wall in 9:23.91 and Lewkowitz finishing in 9:29.36.

Ranta continued his dominance on the diving board, winning both the one- and three-meter events. He beat out two Crimson freshmen in the three-meter with a point total of 311.40. Colby Krantz and Taylor Nickel finished second and third with scores of 249.53 and 248.56, respectively.

Ranta also won the one-meter with a score of 283.43, beating out Columbia’s David Levkoff who finished with 260.40 points.

Sophomore Douwe Yntema won the second-to-last event of the day for the Crimson, taking home first in the 200 individual medley in 1:53.71, a little over a second faster than Columbia’s Pagan.

The Crimson heads south to return to the pool as the team will compete in the Georgia Invitational Dec. 5-7 against Clemson, Denver, West Virginia and the host Bulldogs in the Crimson’s last action of the 2008 calendar year.

WOMEN'S DIVISION
Following an opening relay win by Columbia, the Harvard women’s swimming and diving team won three straight events and pulled away to a 190-110 win Friday afternoon at Blodgett Pool.

Freshman Meghan Leddy swept the backstrokes to lead the Crimson (3-0, 3-0 Ivy League), while sophomores Katy Hinkle and Katherine Pickard won individual events and contributed to a relay victory. Columbia’s Mariele Dunn played a part in three event wins but could not prevent the first loss for the Lions (2-1, 2-1).

Junior Kay Foley, sophomores Kate Mills and Christine Kaufmann and freshmen Catherine Zagroba and Monica Burgos also picked up individual victories as Harvard won 10 of the day’s 16 events.

The Lions started the afternoon with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, as the team of Lauren Fraley, Dunn, Allison Hobbs and Hannah Galey got to the wall in 1:46.37, ahead of the second-place Harvard squad of Leddy, Alicia Lightbourne, Monica Burgos and Hinkle. Columbia led, 11-6.

Harvard, however, turned things around quickly, thanks to consecutive wins by Pickard, Zagroba and Leddy. Pickard and Foley gave the Crimson the lead for good, posting a 1-2 finish in the 400 individual medley, with Pickard touching in 4:25.14. Foley finished in 4:26.65, more than four seconds ahead of the first Columbia finisher.

Zagroba then took the 200 freestyle in 1:51.58, with junior Alexandra Clarke placing third. Leddy and junior Natalia Festa followed with a 1-2 finish in the 100 back. Both broke the one-minute mark, with Leddy winning in 58.68. Dunn won the 100 breaststroke for Columbia, but the rookie trio Helen Pitchik, Lightbourne and Victoria Pratt took the next three spots to keep the Harvard lead at 19.

The Crimson then broke things open with a sweep of the top three spots in the 200 butterfly. Mills led the way, in 2:03.59, followed by Kaufmann and Kristi Korsberg. Hinkle followed by winning the 50 free in 24.49 seconds, with Burgos taking third.

Shannon Hosey picked up the first of her two diving wins for Columbia, but the Crimson once again used its depth to keep the Lions from rallying. Sophomore Jenny Reese placed second in the three-meter with 255.75 points, fewer than five points back of Hosey, to lead Harvard finishers in the next five spots.

A Galey win in the 100 free cut the margin to 101-68, but Harvard again took control with a top-three sweep, as Leddy (2:05.11), Mills (2:07.73) and freshman Margaret Fish (2:08.98) took the top three spots in the 200 back. Dunn then won the 200 breast, but Pitchik, Pratt and Foley went 2-3-4 to keep Harvard up big, 126-81.

Another Crimson sweep followed, as Kaufmann won the 500 free in 4:57.28, followed by Zagroba and Clarke. Burgos and Pickard then provided the finish of the day, with the freshman edging the sophomore by two one-hundredths of a second to win the 100 fly in 57.43. Hosey then won the three-meter for the Lions with Reese again taking second for Harvard.

Foley won the final individual event, the 200 IM, in 2:09.91. Harvard then ended the day in winning fashion, with Hinkle, Pickard, Lightbourne and sophomore Laura Murray taking the 400 free relay in 3:32.82.

The dual meet was the Crimson’s last of 2008, but Harvard will be in action Dec. 5-7 at the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Ga.