Big Al Invitational
- December 6-8, 2024
- DeNunzio Pool — Princeton, NJ
- 25 Yards (SCY)
- Participating Teams: Columbia, George Washington, Princeton (host), University of Pennsylvania, West Virginia (diving only)
- Results: “2024 Princeton Big Al Invitational” on MeetMobile
- Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Finals Recap
The final day of racing saw Princeton’s men’s team extend their lead even further, securing a definitive victory over the competition to close out the meet. On the women’s side, the University of Pennsylvania pulled off a comeback that saw them overtake Princeton and win the invitational.
MEN’S MEET
The Tiger men won three events on Sunday night en route to securing their overall victory.
Princeton’s Mitchell Schott led the charge with two wins during the session, the first coming in the 200 butterfly. Schott blazed into the wall in a personal best time of 1:41.84, exactly 1.5 seconds ahead of the runner-up. His performance shaved just under half a second off of his previous lifetime best from mid-November and landed him an NCAA ‘B’ cut.
Schott was also a part of Princeton’s winning 400 free relay team. Joined by Tyler Hong, Brett Feyerick and Lucas Tudoras, Schott anchored the relay in a 100 free split of 42.26, helping the team to an overall time of 2:52.71.
Princeton won two more individual events during the session. Hong secured the victory in the 200 back with a personal best time of 1:41.57, which also marked a new program record and an NCAA ‘B’ cut.
George Callanan brought home a win for the Tigers in the platform diving event, scoring 356.90 points to top the podium by over 70 points.
Also turning in top performances on Sunday was University of Pennsylvania’s Matt Fallon, who posted two individual victories. He kicked things off by winning the 1650 freestyle, throwing down a new personal best time of 15:07.24 and racing into the wall over three seconds ahead of the runner-up, teammate James Curreri.
Fallon went on to claim the title in the 200 breast, posting a time of 1:51.56, just off the season best that he set earlier in the meet.
George Washington’s Elliott Irwin earned his second individual victory of the meet, posting a time of 43.26 in the 100 free to complete a sweep of the sprint freestyle events. Irwin also led off the team’s 400 free relay, helping George Washington to a runner-up finish in the race with an overall time of 2:53.56.
WOMEN’S MEET
The Pennsylvania Quakers continued their momentum from the previous day as they racked up the points to edge out Princeton, despite winning only one event Sunday night.
The team’s lone victory came courtesy of Anna Moehn in the 1650 freestyle. She kicked off the meet with a strong performance for Penn, prevailing in a personal best time of 16:04.71 and landing an NCAA ‘B’ cut.
Moehn led a 1-2 finish in the event, as teammate Sydney Bergstrom took 2nd in a 16:17.31, which also marked a lifetime best performance and NCAA ‘B’ cut.
Also turning in top performances for Penn were Kate Levensten and Joy Jiang, who were the runner-ups in the 200 back (1:56.59) and 200 fly (1:58.48), respectively.
Following the mile, Princeton prevailed in every other event on day 3, winning four individual events and the final relay.
Isabella Korbly claimed the title in the 200 back with a personal best time of 1:56.03, shaving over half a second off of her previous best from back in 2022.
The Tigers turned in a 1-2 finish in the 100 free, with Ela Noble topping the field in a season best time of 49.42. She was closely followed by Jenna Walters, who posted a lifetime best time of 49.59.
Princeton ended the meet on a high note with their victory in the 400 free relay, as the team of Sabrina Johnston, Noble, Walters and Heidi Smithwick threw down a time of 3:17.51 to secure the win by over 3.5 seconds.
George Washington turned in a runner-up performance in the relay, their highest of the session, thanks to the team of Chloe Hernandez, Marlee Rickert, Colleen Macwilliams and Ava Topolewski posting a time of 3:21.06.
FINAL SCORES
Men
- Princeton – 1090.5
- University of Pennsylvania – 842
- George Washington – 782
- Columbia – 714.5
Women
- University of Pennsylvania – 1072
- Princeton – 1004
- Columbia – 685.5
- George Washington – 606.5
UP NEXT
All four teams have just over a month off from racing before returning to competition again mid-January. Princeton will play host to Navy swimming and diving from Jan. 10-11, while Columbia will host Brown on Jan. 11. Meanwhile, George Washington travels to Pittsburgh on Jan. 11 to take on Pitt and West Virginia, and Penn will head to New Haven to face off against Yale and Dartmouth on Jan. 11.
Something is brewing in the air on the pool deck of denunzio and I can just smell it… Corporate VC firms are flying in from across the US to get in on the booming markets! And don’t even get me started on the IB firms, the likes of which will have a tremendous boost in ROI as a result of the financial operations of Princeton MSD. There’s even a non-trivial probability that the most promising startups in Silicon Valley are banging on the doors of denunzio to get in!!!!!! WATCH THIS SPACE ladies and gentlemen…. WATCH. THIS. SPACE
It seems these boys are more than ready to go into the investor world…wall street is licking their chops just seeing this. People just dont know how much of a gold mine the manila file folder market is…people just want to buy bonds….
I agree. I mean, just take Tyler Hong for example… the corporate world is practically chomping at the bit to take him under their wing. I can just see the big finance moguls smiling down on Princeton MSD and it warms my heart.