Penn v. Columbia
- Saturday, November 9, 2019
- New York, N.Y.
- Results
Courtesy: Columbia Athletics
NEW YORK — Senior Nian-Guo Liu reset his own Percy Uris Natatorium record in the 200-yard freestyle and the Columbia men’s swimming and diving team won its second dual meet in as many days, downing the Penn Quakers, 179-121, in the Ivy League and home opener.
“It was a good day for the Lions,” said Columbia head coach Jim Bolster. “Any time you beat an Ivy opponent is great. Penn has some talents in a couple different areas that we don’t, but we were able to maximize our talent in the other events which more than made up for their strength in the distance events. I thought the guys swam well. Where we need everybody to step up, they did.
“We weren’t maybe as sharp in some events as we were last night with certain individuals, but the first meet of the year is always a good psych meet for everybody and it’s hard to come back and swim fast the next day, but I thought they responded well to that challenge.”
“Solid performances from all the divers today,” added diving coach Scott Donie. “There are a few things that we need to work on, and that’s what we plan to do.”
The Lions nabbed wins in eight individual events, plus claiming top honors in both relays. Across eight individual wins, Columbia showed its depth with eight different winners in each of those events.
In the opening 200-yard medley relay, Columbia used the quartet of senior Cole Stevens, Liu, sophomore Jonas Kistorp and junior Albert Gwo to post a winning time of 1:29.80, improving on Friday’s time of 1:30.68 against Army.
The Quakers showed their strength in the distance events early, posting a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 1,000 free, but Liu responded in a big way by setting the pool record in the 200 free, going 1:36.95 ahead of first-year Thomas Shepanzyk who placed second (1:40.79).
Columbia staked its claim in the backstroke events, posting 1-2-3-4 finishes in both. Stevens led the Lions in the 100 back (50.06), while junior transfer Baptiste Leger came into the wall first in the 200 back (1:48.42). Columbia also swept the butterfly races as rookie Ray Yang won the 200 fly in 1:49.75, while Kistorp triumphed in the 100 fly (49.32).
Yang wasn’t the only freshman to post an individual win on the day, as diver Ben Blizard got his first collegiate victory in the 1-meter (290.55) and Eugene Li brought home a top finish in the 100 free, leading a 1-2-3 finish for Columbia ahead of Shepanzyk and senior Kevin Dang.
Rounding out the individual winners was junior Gwo, who won the 50 free for the second day in a row, although improving upon the previous day’s time at 20.05 compared to Friday’s 20.36.
The Lions tied the bow on top, wrapping up the meet with a 400 free relay victory from Liu, Dang, Li and Ji Ho Hyun, clocking in at 3:04.65.
Returning home next weekend, Columbia welcomes Yale to Uris Natatorium on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. ET.
NEW YORK — Kicking off the 2019-20 campaign on a high note, the Columbia women’s swimming and diving team earned a convincing 195-105 triumph over the visiting Penn Quakers inside Percy Uris Natatorium on Friday night.
Winning 12 of 16 events overall in the meet, Columbia had seven different individual event winners while also claiming top honors in both relays. With some fresh faces in the pool for the first time, the first-years showed out in a big way, winning seven of the Lions’ 10 titles.
“This Columbia team has been can-do from day one,” said Columbia head coach Diana Caskey after the meet. “They are process-oriented and supportive of each other. It was great to see them race today!”
First-year diver Livy Poulin started things off by winning the 3-meter springboard event, posting a winning score of 267.30, just ahead of second-place finisher and teammate Briget Rosendahl (267.15). Rosendahl went on to win the 1-meter board with a score of 270.00, leading a 1-2-3 Columbia finish in front of Poulin (269.25) and sophomore Michelle Lee (163.10).
“A very encouraging start to the season,” said diving coach Scott Donie. “Two NCAA Zone scores, and trust me there is more to come from this group. We will keep working hard and I believe we will get even better.”
Opening up the swimming events, Columbia’s 200-yard medley relay squad of Julia Samson, Helen Wojdylo, Jessica Peng and Clare Larsen combined for a winning time of 1:44.66, with the Lions team of Jing Tan, Olivia Jubin, Emily Wang and Jessica He finishing second at 1:45.68.
Jubin registered Columbia’s first individual swimming victory of the night in her collegiate debut, clocking a 1:51.26 in the 200 freestyle before also winning the 500 free with a time of 4:58.71. Fellow first-year Karen Liu also won a pair of races, taking first in both the 200 butterfly (2:02.03) and 200 individual medley (2:03.34).
Senior captain Wojdylo unsurprisingly swept the breaststroke races, first taking the 100 breast at 1:03.64 before claiming the 200 breast with an dual-meet-best time of 2:19.85.
Junior He led the pack in the 50 free, going 23.74 ahead of teammate Claire Lin who placed second in 24.32. He went on to place second in the 100 free (52.34), only behind first-year Lion Tina Le with a time of 52.22.
Capping off the night, Columbia’s quartet of Le, Jubin, Peng and senior Audrey Richter raced to a winning mark of 1:36.40 in the 200 free relay.
The Lions continue Ivy action next Friday, Nov. 15, bringing in the Yale Bulldogs for a 5 p.m. meeting at Uris Natatorium.
Courtesy: Penn Athletics
PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men’s swimming team opened its season Saturday afternoon in New York City and were edged by Columbia, 179-121.
A number of Quakers started the season with top times and scores. John-Michael Diveris started the meet in flying fashion, topping all divers in the 3-meter with a score of 330.00. Diveris finished second in the 1-meter dive with a score of 282.00.
Penn’s distance swimmers showed their depth in the 1,000 free, with each of the top four finishers representing the Red and Blue. CJ Hinckley (9:23.35) and William Kamps (9:25.44) finished first and second, respectively. The two times were career bests for the sophomore pair. Matthew Haigh (9:35.66) finished third in the event while Will Thomas clocked in at 9:39.27 to finish fourth.
After a breakthrough sophomore season, Boris Yang continued to stay hot in the water. Yang picked up a pair of first-place finishes, winning the 100 breast (56.70) and the 200 breast (2:02.82).
Freshmen Jason Schreiber and Matthew Bonnell rounded out Penn’s first-place finishers with a win in their first meet for the Quakers. In an event previously dominated by former Penn swimmer Mark Andrew, Schreiber clocked in at 1:53.09 to take first in the 200 IM. Schreiber also finished second in the 200 breast (2:02.91).
Bonnell led a 1-2-3 finish for the Quakers in the 500 free, touching the wall at 4:31.78. Kamps (4:36.57) and Haigh (4:42.54) rounded out the top three.
UP NEXT
Penn opens its home schedule with a pair of dual meets at Sheerr Pool next weekend. The Quakers will start on Friday against Villanova at 5 p.m. before continuing the Ivy League slate with a meet against Brown on Saturday at noon.
NEW YORK – The University of Pennsylvania women’s swimming and diving program was edged in its first meet of the season, dropping a dual meet to Columbia, 195-105.
The Quakers started hot, with a 1-2-3 finish in the 1,000 free. Grace Giddings led the charge with a first-place finish and a career-best, 10:17.33 finish. Two-time 2019 Ivy League champion Catherine Buroker finished second with a time of 10:21.19 while Kaitlin Stearns took third, touching the wall just milliseconds after Buroker; clocking in at 10:21.80.
Hannah Kannan stood out for the Quakers on the season debut. The sophomore won three events on the night, touching the wall first in the 100 breast (55.81), 200 breast (2:02.51), and 100 fly (56.35).
Fellow sophomore Tara Larusso took a pair of top-three finishes on the night. Larusso finished second in the 200 back (2:02.90) and third in the 100 back (58.07).
UP NEXT
The Quakers are back in action next weekend with their home-opening meet against Villanova on Friday at 5 p.m.
