Harvard began the 2015-16 season on Friday night by welcoming Bryant University to a first-time dual meet at Blodgett Pool in Cambridge. The Crimson men won all but one event, with several freshmen standing out for their individual performances.
Harvard began with an impressive show of depth in the 200 medley relay, when all five of their quartets touched the wall ahead of the Bulldogs’ (although the last team was only .02 ahead of Bryant). At 1:31.48, Jack Manchester, Paul O’Hara, Ed Kim, and Steven Tan led the way for the Crimson.
Freshman Danny Tran earned his first collegiate victory with a 1:47.54 in the 200 back. His classmate Justin Wu eked out a narrow win in the 100 fly with 50.48, just .20 ahead of senior Leo Lim, winner of the 200 fly (1:50.35). Wu also was the faster 200 IMer with 1:53.50.
Bryant’s Ben Schulte earned a decisive win in the 100 breast, touching in 57.20, a half-second ahead of Harvard’s Christian Yeager. Schulte later finished second in the 200 breast (2:09.52) behind Harvard’s Eric Ronda (2:02.93).
Harvard’s Jacob Luna was a two-event winner, taking the 100 back in 52.41 and the 50 free in 21.57. Teammate Bobby Ross swept the diving events, earning 314.63 points on the 3-meter board and 331.95 on the 1-meter.
Other Harvard wins came from: Shane McNamara in the 1000 free (9:40.45); Aly Abdel Khalik, 500 free (4:39.38); Sava Turcanu, 200 free (1:41.24); and Evan Zheng, 100 free (47.09).
Bryant’s Colin Curtin had a nice swim in the 100 back, finishing a mere .10 behind Luna with a season-best time of 52.51. His teammate Tavish Boyle took fourth in both breaststrokes; Zachary Hannon was Bryant’s top finisher in both sprint freestyles; and diver Kevin Sullivan notched personal bests with scores of 214.65 (3 meter) and 206.25 (1 meter) in the diving events.
Harvard opens its Ivy League schedule next weekend with a tri-meet against Cornell and Dartmouth Ithaca, New York.
