It may have lacked the late drama of its last trip to Blodgett Pool, but the 24th-ranked Princeton Tigers left Cambridge Saturday afternoon with the same result it earned after Harvard hosted the 2011 Ivy League championships — victory. Princeton swept the 2012 H-Y-P meet with a dominant two-session performance against its two top rivals.
Princeton, which improved to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the league, defeated Harvard 207-146 and Yale 285.5-67.5. The Tigers avenged their last regular season loss, which came to Harvard during H-Y-P last season, and they did so with strong performances from every class.
Harvard wouldn't lead for long, but it did get the first win of the meet in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:02.50. Princeton took the next two spots, with freshman Harrison Wagner and junior Kaspar Raigla joining seniors Matthew LaMonaca and Michael Monovoukas for a second-place finish in 1:21.02. The second Princeton relay featured one swimmer from each class, as freshman David Paulk, sophomore Ian Rea, junior Brian Barrett and senior Charlie Wang placed third overall in 1:22.14.
Princeton went 1-2 in the first individual event of the weekend. Senior Colin Cordes, a reigning Ivy League champion, held off Paulk to win the 200 free in 1:37.91. Paulk placed second in 1:38.09. The Tigers topped that finish by going 1-2-3 in the 100 back, with freshman Michael Strand taking the event in 49.10. Raigla placed second in 49.57, while freshman Connor Maher took third in 49.91.
Senior Jon Christensen, Princeton's most decorated senior swimmer, won the 100 breast in 53.83, while freshman Oliver Bennett placed third in the 200 fly in 1:49.25. The 200 fly had three freshmen finishing first, with Yale's Alwin Firmansyah winning in 1:47.04.
Wagner grabbed his first win of the weekend by holding off a Harvard pair in the 50 free. The Tiger freshman, who went below 20 seconds at the Big Al Open, won in 20.11, while Harvard's Oliver Lee placed second in 20.51.
Harvard freshman Chuck Katis won a tight 200 IM with Christensen in 1:47.06. Christensen finished in 1:47.41, and nobody else in the field was under 1:50. Maher took third in the event in 1:50.26.
Crimson freshman Michael Mosca announced himself as a major contender at the Ivy League Championships by winning the one-meter event with 363.80 points. Making the win more impressive was that he defeated both of the last two Ivy League Championship Divers of the Meet, Princeton's Stevie Vines (second, 314.00) and Harvard's Michael Stanton (third, 310.55).
Princeton sophomore Paul Nolle was in control of the 1650, winning in 15:30.62, which was more than nine seconds faster than anybody in the field. Friday's opening session ended with the 400 medley relay, which the Tiger team of Strand, Christensen, Wang and Cordes won in 3:15.52.
Princeton came back to Blodgett Pool Saturday with no intentions of letting Harvard get any closer, and it took care of business early. The team of Raigla, Christensen, Strand and Wagner won the 200 medley relay in 1:28.60, while the foursome of Wang, Barrett, Monovoukas, and LaMonaca took third overall in 1:30.98.
Sophomore Daniel Hasler spent the 2011 H-Y-P meet dealing with an illness that would cost him the rest of his season. That had to make his 400 IM win all the sweeter, as his time of 3:54.47 was nearly four seconds faster than anybody in the field. Freshman Caleb Tuten held off his Harvard opponent by .06 of a second to place second (3:58.23).
The Crimson had plenty of strength in its sprint corps, but none could catch Wagner for the win. While Harvard took four of the top five spots, it was Wagner who won the event in 43.99. It was his second win of the weekend, and Cordes quickly followed with his own double; the senior won the 200 back in 1:46.70, while Maher (1:48.09) and senior Robert Coe (1:48.86) finished in the next two spots.
Princeton went 1-2-3 in the 100 fly, as senior Charlie Wang won the event in 48.81, with Raigla placing second in 49.33. Strand came in third with a time of 49.46.
Harvard won its first event Saturday in an exciting 500 free, as Crimson freshman Kyle McIntee rallied in the final 50 to pass Paulk for a win in 4:28.31. The Princeton freshman finished in 4:28.43, setting up a potentially exciting rivalry for the next four years. Their next meeting could come in the first session of the Ivy League Championships, which will be held Mar. 1-3 at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool.
Mosca won the three-meter diving competition with 394.80 points, while Vines took second again with 343.95 points. Christensen gave Princeton a third double-winner by taking the 200 breast in 1:59.75, and the Tigers closed the meet with a second-place finish in the 400 free relay; the team of Cordes, Wagner, Maher and Monovoukas finished in 2:58.05.
Princeton won't have to leave DeNunzio Pool again throughout the Ivy League season. The Tigers will honor their impressive senior class, which is going for Princeton's first Ivy four-peat since 1989-92, during Friday's Senior Day meet against Columbia. Three weeks later, it will invite the best in the league for the three-day championship meet at DeNunzio Pool.
And whether it's as dramatic as last year or as dominant as this weekend, Princeton will be looking for nothing more than another victory.
The Harvard men's swimming and diving team went into the second day of the HYP meet within striking distance of Princeton, but was unable to catch the Tigers as it fell 207-146. Both Harvard and Princeton defeated Yale, with the Crimson topping the Bulldogs 268-85 and the Tigers earning a 285.5-67.5 victory.
Princeton's sweep of the HYP puts it in sole possession of first place in the Ivy League standings with a 6-0 record. Harvard sits in second with a 5-1 mark while Yale has dropped to third at 4-2.
Harvard got off to a good start on Friday with a win in the 200 free relay to open the meet. The team of Oliver Lee, Griffin Schumacher, Will Brophy and Chris Satterthwaite posted a time of 1:20.50, besting Princeton which finished second in 1:21.02.The Tigers went 1-2 in the 200 free, however, with Satterthwaite (1:38.44) touching the wall third.
Princeton swept the 100 back with a first, second and third-place finish, and the Tigers' Jonathan Christensen (53.83) outdueled Chuck Katis (54.29) in the 100 breast. Kyle McIntee posted Harvard's second straight second-place finish in the 200 fly, stopping the clock in 1:48.51 behind Yale's (5-0, 4-0 Ivy League) Alwin Firmansyah who finished in 1:47.04. The 50 free also went to Princeton, as Harrison Wagner's time of 20.11 narrowly bested Lee's time of 20.51.
Katis turned things around for the Crimson with a win in the 200 IM. Katis entered the meet ranked 43rd in the NCAA in the event, but topped his previous personal best by 1.5 seconds when he posted a 1:47.06 for the win. Mike Mosca followed up with a win on the one-meter diving board, blowing away the competition with a final score of 363.8. Stephen Vines (314.0) placed second for Princeton with Michael Stanton (310.55) taking third.
The Tigers closed the day with a pair of wins in the 1,650 free (15:30.62) and 400 medley relay (3:15.52). Harvard took second in both events, however, with Mike Gaudiani (15:40.79) finishing as the runner-up in the 1,650 and the team of Jack Pretto, Katis, McIntee and Satterthwaite placing second in the medley relay with a time of 3:17.02.
At the end of day one, Princeton led Harvard 104-84 and held a 148.5-37.5 advantage over Yale, while the Crimson had built a 143-43 margin against the Bulldogs.
Princeton kicked off day two with five straight wins as it looked to put the meet away. The Tigers first won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:28.60, just beating out the Harvard squad of Pretto, Katis, Lee and Schumacher which posted a time of 1:29.15. Princeton went 1-2 in the 400 IM before Wagner (43.99) edged out Schumacher (44.64) and Satterthwaite (44.70) in the 100 free. The Tigers followed up with pair of 1-2-3 finishes in the 200 back and 100 fly to all but seal the victory.
McIntee earned Harvard's first victory of the day with a time of 4:28.31 in the 500 free, just edging out Princeton's David Paulk who touched the wall in 4:28.43. Mosca swept the diving portion of the meet with a record-setting performance on the three-meter board, earning a final score of 394.80 while Stephen Vines of Princeton took second with 343.95 points. Mosca's score marked a new school record in the event, as the freshman now owns the program record on both the one and three-meter boards.
Princeton got back in the win column as Jonathan Christensen (1:59.75) outdueled Katis (1:59.89) in the 200 breast. Schumacher, Lee, Zach Walters and Satterthwaite closed the meet out with a win in the 400 free relay, posting a time of 2:57.04.
Harvard will close out its regular season Saturday, Feb. 11 at Penn and will then turn its attention to the 2012 Ivy League Championships, being held this year at Princeton March 1-3.