Aquawomen Reserves Dominate Yale, 87-53

With far less than its strongest lineup, the Harvard women's swimming team defeated Yale Saturday in New Haven.

After losing in the first event to the usually-weaker Elis, the Crimson (7-1 overall, 3-0 EISL) went on to dominate, winning the meet, 87-53. Yale Coach Frank Keefe thanked Crimson Coach Maura Costin-Scalise afterwards for not using her normal lineup in the dual meet, which would have further widened an already large talent gap between the two schools.

The Alabama Invitational last weekend--in which Harvard finished 4-1, losing only to third-ranked Florida--left many of the top Crimson swimmers tired and aching. Against the Elis, Costin-Scalise decided to give some other swimmers a chance to compete.

"We allowed our second-string people to swim in some of the events," Costin-Scalise said. "If we got in trouble, we could have put our faster swimmers in."

Trouble is exactly what the Elis provided, surprising the Crimson by winning the first event, the 200-medley relay. Yale's initial success caused Costin-Scalise to make several changes in her lineup, and the rest of the race was all Crimson.

"Yale turned out to be a little stronger than we thought they'd be," senior Co-Captain Mia Costello said.

Harvard took first place in all the freestyle events. Sophomore Stacie Duncan won the 1000 and 500, while teammate Lynn Kelley edged out her opponents in the 200. Lisa Reed rounded out the Crimson's success in the stroke with a victory in the 100.

In the backstroke, All-America Sheila Findley topped the field in both the 100 and 200. The Crimson trio of Kelley, Duncan and sophomore Ruth Tannebaum swept the 200 butterfly, while Yale swept the 100.

While NCAA qualifier Wriede won the 100 breaststroke, Costin-Scalise had to call upon All-America Costello, who was not slated to swim in the meet, to handle the Eli swimmers. A surprised Costello took first place over Crimson rookie Elaine Weigand.

Despite finishing third in the one-meter diving, Reed took top honors in the three-meter competition. Then, Harvard's Jenny Meyer edged out the field for first place in the 200 individual medley.

Despite losing the first relay, Harvard rounded out the meet with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay. The foursome of Wriede, Kelley and freshmen Laura Alonzo and Eva Romas took first place honors.

THE NOTEBOOK: The Crimson travels to Hawaii next weekend to meet up against Minnesota.