The Big Green split victories with University of Connecticut over the weekend, with Dartmouth men winning 177-123 and the women falling to UConn, 166-134. James Verhagen won two and Taylor Yamahata won three for the home team, while Chinyere Pigot, Laura Hyland, Christopher Girg, and John Brice were all multiple event winners for the Huskies.
Women’s Meet
It looked like a good sign for things to come when Dartmouth eked out a win in the 200 medley relay with Yamahata, Madeleine Dunn, Emily Holt, and Charlotte Kamai in 1:48.08 over UConn’s Jaimie Lynn Brookover, Laura Ruttan, Tara O’Prey, and Pigot (1:48.08).
Freshman Annclaire MacArt, who has had a terrific year so far, followed up with a 10:35.49 win in the 1000 free, leading a 1-2-3 Big Green sweep. She almost pulled off back-to-back wins but lost a nailbiter to UConn senior Katy Munzenmaier in the 200 free. Munzenmaier outsplit MacArt by nearly a second over the last 50 and wound up with the touch, 1:52.22 to 1:52.97.
Freshman Yamahata won the first of her three titles with a 57.81 in the 100 back over teammate and school record-holder, Kendese Nangle (58.70). UConn’s Brookover was third in 59.23.
The Huskies answered with four events in a row. Laura Hyland led a sweep of the 100 breast in 1:07.45 over Ruttan (1:08.07) and freshman Sammi Bassman (1:08.16). Sophie Nothnagle crushed the field in the 200 fly with 2:05.38. Pigot then came on with a double in the sprint frees. She was the only sub-24 in the 50 with 23.90; Nangle went 24.41 and Kamai, 24.55. Pigot then held Kamai off for a 52.11 to 52.34 win in the 100 free.
Yamahata clocked a 2:04.58 in the 200 back to win by two body lengths. Brookover touched out Dartmouth’s Lindsay Tyler, 2:09.00 to 2:09.04, at the very last moment. The next three events went the Huskies’ way, beginning with another breaststroke sweep which Hyland won in 2:23.80. Ruttan and Bassman were second and third, again. Munzenmaier pulled off another come-from-behind, last-minute surge to edge MacArt in the 500 free, 5:01.43 to 5:01.73. And in the 100 fly, O’Prey touched out Dartmouth’s Katie Altmayer, 58.68 to 58.80.
Yamahata finished strong for the Big Green with a 2:09.66 victory in the 200 IM. Dartmouth also won the 400 free relay with 3:32.63 to UConn’s 3:43.30. In a meet where every point counts, the Huskies got a huge boost from their divers: Alexandra Butera led teammates Michelle Kalupski and Monica Marcello in a sweep of 1-meter diving, while Taryn Urbanus finished ahead of Butera and Kalupski in the 3-meter event.
Final Scores
University of Connecticut 166 – 134 Dartmouth College
Men’s Meet
The Big Green opened the score of the men’s meet with a 1:31.93 win in the 200 medley relay from Verhagen, Aaron Athanas, David Harmon and Ian Woon. Dartmouth’s “B” team finished in 1:36.47; UConn’s “B” team went 1:38.13 for third.
Michael Lennon (9:50.61) and Sawyer Franz (9:52.70) of UConn paced the 1000 free. Dartmouth freshman Misha Tovmashenko nearly negative-split the 200 free, winning in 1:41.60 over classmate Tony Shen (1:41.82) and UConn’s Girg (1:42.75).
Girg later won the 200 fly in 1:53.13 over Dartmouth school-record-holder Harmon (1:54.02) and UConn’s Ryan Walsh (1:56.85). Girg’s second title came in the 500 free, where he cruised in with 4:40.47 ahead of Dartmouth’s Logan Briggs (4:44.14) and 1000-winner Lennon (4:47.19). Harmon, meanwhile, put up a strong 100 fly, winning in 50.52. Walsh touched second in 52.00, just .27 ahead of Verhagen.
Verhagen won both backstroke events. His strong back-half led to a 50.50-50.89 victory over UConn’s Jeff Magin in the 100; Athanas was third in 51.28. The trio finished in the same order for the 200 back: Verhagen (1:51.81), Magin (1:53.36), and Athanas (1:54.79).
Athanas traded his two bronze-medal finishes in backstroke for a gold in the 200 IM. He was all alone when he came in to the wall at 1:54.55. Dartmouth freshman Henry Senkfor was second in 1:58.21, while UConn freshman Brandon Cole touched out Briggs for third, 1:59.14 to 1:59.45.
The Big Green and the Huskies split the two breast events and the sprint frees, making for a very close meet. UConn junior Greg Baliko won the 100 breast in 59.12 over Dartmouth senior Jay Schulte (59.73), but Schulte emerged victorious in the 200 with 2:08.81. UConn sophomore James Donlevy tied the pool record with his winning 20.35 in the 50 free. Dartmouth senior Woon placed second in the 50, .11 in front of UConn senior Felix Samuels. In the 100, Woon took it out in 22.0, about 7/10 faster than the rest of the field. He barely hung on for the win, though, as Big Green freshman Micha Tovmashenko closed in and touched only .05 back, 46.72 to 46.77. Samuels again placed third with, 47.00. Donlevy (47.10) and Shen (47.35) were right behind.
UConn’s Brice claimed titles in both the 1-meter (313.95 points) and 3-meter (343.88 points) events. Dartmouth senior Ryan Shelley was second on the 1-meter board while teammate Taylor Clough was runner-up in 3-meter. Dartmouth junior Brett Gillis placed third both times. The Big Green finished off the meet with a 3:05.98 to 3:06.88 victory in the 400 free relay. The Dartmouth quartet consisted of Woon, Daniel Whitcomb, Tovmashenko, and Shen. Donlevy, Magin, Kevin Konarski , and Samuels swam for UConn.
Final Scores
Dartmouth College 177 – 123 University of Connecticut
