Split Squad Narrowly Misses Ivy Title, Competes at ECACs

First and foremost, Harvard swimming and diving is an Ivy League team.

Traditionally, the Ivy League and ECAC championships fall on the same weekend, leaving the women’s swimming and diving team with a decision to make.

“In the past we’ve had a big enough team to go for a dual championship,” co-captain Jackie Pangilinan said. “But, since we have such a small team this year we could only send five girls to ECAC’s. Our top priority is the Ivy Championships.”

The Harvard women (6-1, 6-1 Ivy League) indeed brought a force to DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, N.J., hoping to avenge a dual-meet loss to the defending champion Tigers (7-0, 6-0).

Despite an excellent showing, the Crimson came up a bit short. Princeton proved dominant, amassing 1651.5 points on the way to claiming the team championship. Harvard’s performance cannot be discounted, though, as the Crimson hung with the Tigers on the way to earning 1494 points and a second-place finish. Columbia took third with 1016 points.

“Across the board we couldn’t ask for more from our team,” Pangilinan said. “From freshmen to seniors, everyone has been amazing.”

ECAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Through Saturday, the five Harvard swimmers enjoyed a 13th place standing at Pittsburgh University.

Junior Kelley Mooney, freshman Robyn Thom, and sophomores Camille Vasquez, Vanda Gyuris, and Katie Faulkner made a valiant effort for the Crimson.

Harvard placed 10th in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 400-yard medley relays, as well as 16th in the 200-yard medley and eighth in the 800-yard free.

While Faulkner and Mooney posted the only top-10 finishes in any individual event, with seventh in the 500-yard free (5:03.60) and 10th in the 400 IM (4:41.40) respectively, all five women swam hard in numerous events over the weekend.

“It’s hard being away from the team,” co-captain Lindsay Hart said. “The girls did a great job of staying positive.”

Despite struggling in a very competitive field, the five Crimson swimmers gained valuable experience and left their mark with 86 team points.

IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Harvard and Princeton pulled away from the rest of the field early, and by the end of the first day of competition there was a 200-point gap separating the second place Crimson from the rest of the pack.

Harvard showed its strength in the freestyle relays, bookending the weekend with victories in the 200- and 400-yard events. Freshmen Katy Hinkle, Ali Slack, and Laura Murray, along with senior anchor Amanda Slaight, set school records in both events and made the “B” cut for the NCAA championships.

The 200-free relay provided particular excitement, as the Crimson found itself trailing in the final leg. But Slaight refused to give in and posted a 22.88 anchor leg to edge Princeton by 0.07 seconds. The winning relay time was 1:33.14, but the record fell with a scorching preliminary time of 1:32.70, eclipsing the previous record from 2003. The win gave Harvard an early lead, but it would not last.

Harvard dropped the 800-yard relay, but sophomore Alexandra Clarke and freshmen Kate Mills, Katherine Pickard, and Murray made the NCAA “B” cut with a second-place time of 7:21.21.

Princeton soon pulled away, though, as a result of its depth.

Clarke and freshman Chris Kaufman qualified for an NCAA “B” cut in the 500 freestyle, with times of 4:51.86 and 4:52.68, capturing fourth and sixth in the event. The problem, though, was that Tiger swimmers flooded the final, taking the rest of the top seven spots.

Despite trailing as a team from this point on, the Harvard women earned their share of individual championships and never stopped pushing.

“It was awesome to see every single person putting forth everything she had,” Hart said. “People swam their best and put up some great times.”

Senior Samantha Papadakis claimed the second Ivy championship of her career in 1-meter diving with a score of 297.15. Freshman Jennifer Reese and senior Alison Pipitone finished fifth and sixth in the event. Papadakis also made a strong third-place showing in the 3-meter dive (282.15), and she had the highest score of any competitor (312.75) in the prelims. The Crimson enjoyed high marks for numerous divers, as Kelcey Moore, Anne Taylor, Reese, and Pipitone all finished in the top ten.

Hinkle earned the first championship of her young career, qualifying for the “B” cut in the 50-yard freestyle. The only reason her 23.18 time in the finals did not count as a new school record was that she had already set the new mark at 23.17 in the prelims. Slaight took fifth in the event with a time of 23.56.

The final Crimson swimmer to take home a championship was Pangilinan in the 200-yard breaststroke. The Ivy League record holder surpassed the NCAA “B” cutoff with a time of 2:14.69 en route to her fourth-consecutive Ivy League crown.

“When I touched the wall, that was one of the most emotional moments of my career,” Pangilinan said. “It was a great way to go out, I couldn’t believe I won.”

Even if other Harvard swimmers did not take home titles, the Crimson squad posted many noteworthy finishes. Clarke and Mills qualified for NCAA’s, with “A” cut times in the 1650-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly respectively, while Kaufman, Pickard, and sophomore Sophie Morgan made the “B” cut in the 1650, 400 IM, and 200 fly.

Although Harvard may have to wait another year to take down the Tigers, it finished the Ivy League season with tremendous success.