The Lady Bulldogs blew the Southern Connecticut State University Owls out of the water this past Friday with their first meet of the season in the Yale home pool with a staggering score of 207-77. Yale took 11 out of the 14 events in this short order meet. The full results to the meet can be found here.
Starting off the meet was the Yale 200 medley relays that was dominated by underclassmen. The relay of Kina Zhou, Ali Pickeral-Stephens, Sydney Hirischi and Olivia Jameson took first and beat the previous years’ relay winner of this meet by over three seconds with a 1:47.13. Yale has recruited an extremely strong freshman class and it shows in this powerhouse relay. Yale took second aslo with Michelle Chintanaphol, Elizabeth Larsen, Kasey Mann and Mackenzie Franklin with a 1:50.42 which also beat the previous years’ first place win. SCSU scored third with a 1:55.76 with the relay of Rachel Smolensky, Elizabeth Hess, Katie Krajcik, and Christina Lavery.
In the 1000 freestyle, Yale’s distance superstar Eva Fabian didn’t make an apperance but Yale didn’t skip a beat without her and took first and second place with Elizabeth Larsen with just over the 11 minute mark at an 11:00.14 and Gabrielle Bunney with an 11:09.44. SCSU came in third with Amber Bjerke with an 11:37.62.
Once again in the 200 freestyle, the Yale underclassman made a huge impact as sophomore Emma Smith and freshman Elizabeth Fosburgh came in first and second with respective times of 1:55.96 and 1:57.41. Sophomore Emily Gudbranson for SCSU came up just short with a third place finish of 1:58.21.
Kina Zhou made another statement in her sprint backstroke ability in the 100 backstroke by being the only swimmer to break the minute mark with a 59.18. Second place also went to Yale by fellow classmate Anna Wujciak in a 1:01.13. Junior Rachel Smolensky swam a 1:03.60 to take third place for SCSU.
In the 100 breaststroke, Ali Pickeral-Stephens came through again with her breaststroke speed for Yale with a time of 1:08.21 and teammate Courtney Randolph followed up right behind her with a 1:09.08. Elizabeth Hess of SCSU was just out touched by Randolph with a 1:09.26.
Isla Hutchinson-Maddox blew the competition out of the water with her win by over 5 seconds over teammate Eva Fabian. Hutchinson-Maddox left her mark with a 2:03.06 which beat the previous years’ win by 5 seconds as Fabian came in with a 2:08.02 which beat her previous years’ time by .82.
The 50 free was a back and forth fight between Yale and SCSU as Yale took first, third and fifth place and SCSU took second and fourth. Olivia Jameson won by over half a second with a 24.32 and Anna Pleban came in second with a 25 flat. Ali Pickeral-Stephens swam a 25.88 which was good for third place for the Bulldogs.
Olivia Jameson didn’t slow down with two freestyle sprint events back to back. She took first once again and smoked the field by almost three seconds with a 52.88. Teammate and senior Allison West took second for Yale with a 55.80. If first and second weren’t good enough, third place also went to Yale with Gabrielle Bunney with a 57.70.
The 200 back showed some new faces for Yale but, as you guessed it, the underclassmen dominated the field. Emma Smith and Casey Lincoln took first and second respectively as Smith cleared the pool with a 4 second lead for first with a 2:08.95 over Lincoln’s 2:12.78. Christin Katrenya took third for SCSU with a 2:24.69.
Sydney Hirschi came back for the 200 breaststroke and took first by five seconds with a 2:26.80 over Emily Gudbranson, who swam a 2:31.86. Yale took third as well with Kasey Mann who was three seconds behind Gudbranson with a 2:34.43.
Yale’s underclassman roll didn’t stop when it came to the 500 freestyle with Eva Fabian in first place with a 5:02.22, Courtney Randolph took second with a 5:08.46 and Mackenzie Franklin in third with a 5:13.28.
SCSU made a huge impact in the 100 butterfly as they took first, second, and third with junior Courtney Silva in first in a 1:03.88. Second place went to Rachel Smolensky in a 1:08.18 and right behind her freshman Katie Krajcik with a 1:09.26. Though the disqualification of three Yale swimmers allowed this first, second, and third place to occur for SCSU the numbers still stand. If there was no disqualification or exhibition swims in that event, first, second, and third would have gone to Anna Wujciak, Kina Zhou and Elizabeth Fosurgh who all broke the minute mark with respective times of 57.60, 57.83 and 59.81.
The same situation occurred in the 200 IM as Christina Lavery, Katie Krajcik and Elizabeth Hess score for SCSU in first, second, and third with the respective times of 2:22.97, 2:26.02, and 2:33.63. By a numbers standpoint, Yale would have taken first and second with Sydney Hirschi and Elizabeth Larsen who put up strong times with a 2:08.17 and 2:17.69.
To wrap up the meet, SCSU’s 200 freestyle relay of Anna Pleban, Amber Bjerke, Christine Katrenya and Hannah Olson took first with a 1:45.54. Without disqualification the Yale relay of Anna Wujciak, Mackenzie Franklin, Emily Gudbranson and Rebecca Delafuente would be first with a 1:39.35.
As for the last three events, who knows why the Yale swimmer’s times weren’t counted, but we can confidently say that Yale has done a phenomenal job for recruiting this season as their freshman class is pulling their weight and then some. With an impressive young team on Yale’s side, there will be some stellar swims in the future and hopefully a slew of relays to take to NCAA’s in March.
