Harvard Looks To Topple Tigers for Title

Harvard women’s swimming and diving looks to make a splash tomorrow in East Meadow, N.Y. at the three-day Ivy League Championships.

The Crimson (6-1, 6-1 Ivy) has been cruising through its season, losing only one meet to the reigning three-time Ivy League champion Princeton Tigers (7-0, 7-0). When Harvard faced the Tigers earlier this month, Princeton escaped by a narrow 22-point margin, and this weekend the Crimson is looking for revenge.

Harvard is in an eerily familiar position heading into the weekend’s meet. Last year’s squad was also 6-1 in dual meets and also faced Princeton as its top competition. The Crimson barely fell to the Tigers in 2008, amassing 1494 points to Princeton’s 1651.5. The Tigers were crowned champion of the Ancient Eight for the third year running.

“[The team] feels pretty good [going into the weekend].” Harvard coach Stephanie Morawski said. “Princeton is the returning champions and we are the underdogs. Everyone is looking to have some fun, and that’s what it is really all about: having fun and getting out there racing.”

Winning the Ivy League is a definite possibility for this well-rounded and talented Crimson squad. Two NCAA Championship qualifiers—junior co-captain Alexandra Clarke and sophomore Kate Mills—and six athletes who combined to earn All-Ivy honors in eight events have all returned from last year, and have risen to the challenge to lead this young team in the pool. Clarke, who last year reset her own school record in the 1,000-yard freestyle and placed 21st in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships, was second to All-American Tiger Alicia Aemisegger in both events at Ivies last year. Mills placed in the top four in three events at the Ivy meet in 2008 and now owns five individual school records.

“We have strengths across the board and no particular weakness,” co-captain Kelly Mooney said. “From sprints to middle distance to distance, we have very strong competitors. I am looking forward to the distance swimmers starting us off strong.”

What makes the Harvard squad so unique is that there is no kink in the chain. The team has been consistently strong in all of its meets throughout the entire season. At the Harvard-Yale-Princeton double-dual meet, the Crimson demonstrated its enormous depth, earning a top-two sweep of the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly, and most notably, the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Sophomores Katy Hinkle, Laura Murray, and Kate Mills and freshman Alicia Lightbourne dominated the relay, finishing nearly four seconds ahead of their teammates in 3:24.89. Close behind, rookies Monica Burgos and Margaret Fish and sophomores Ali Slack and Holly Furman took second, capping the most impressive win for Harvard.

Hinkle is the defending Ivy champion in the 50-yard freestlye, winning the race in 23.18 seconds last year.

The young swimmers have contributed greatly to the success of the Crimson, posting up big wins and strong performances. Alongside the leadership of Mooney and Clarke, the rookies have set a new tone.

Freshman Meghan Leddy has already made a name for herself, setting a school record in the 200-yard backstroke in December and winning that event at HYP.

“It is an entirely different team [this year],” Mooney said, “and it has an entirely different feel with the new freshman class.”

Due to the immense depth of Harvard’s squad, every event has a talented individual who has a good chance at placing in the top eight, which is crucial to winning the Ivy championship. A team can accumulate points by placing anywhere in the top 24, but earning a spot in the eight-swimmer A final guarantees the team at least 22 points. In dual meets, only the top five places score.

“That’s our goal, honestly.” Morawski said. “If they can get in the top eight, then we have a really good chance at winning the meet.”

Throughout its meets all season, the Crimson has demonstrated its ability to place well in competition. With strong leadership and young talent, it looks as if the Ivy title is inching closer to the hands of the Harvard underdog.