At the conclusion of seven events in the two-day double dual meet among Ivy League rivals Harvard, Yale and Princeton (“HYP”), the Bulldogs had an eight-point lead over Princeton and were 12 points ahead of Harvard, while Princeton was up 14 points over the Crimson.
Princeton scored the first victory with a narrow win in the 200 medley relay from Sada Stewart (26.19), Olivia Chan (28.93), Nikki Larson (24.53), and Maddy Veith (22.80); the quartet combined for 1:42.45, a mere .22 ahead of Harvard’s Danielle Lee, Geordie Enoch, Sonia Wang, and Victoria Chan. Yale’s Heidi VanderWel, Ali Stephens-Pickeral, Amy Zhao, and Kina Zhou placed third with 1:42.94.
Yale dominated the 1000 free with Cailley Silbert (9:55.50), Eva Fabian (9:56.63), and Danielle Liu (10:06.05) going 1-2-4. Princeton’s Mary Kate Davis was third overall with 10:03.19, while teammate Rebecca Fleming scored with 10:10.22. The Crimson’s top finishers were Sherry Liu (10:06.61) and Willa Wang (10:07.52).
Princeton freshman Elaina Gu pulled off an upset in the 200 free, winning the event out of the penultimate heat with 1:49.23, .03 in front of Yale’s Zhou (1:49.26) and Harvard’s Daniela Johnson (1:49.79). Harvard took the 100 back thanks to Lee’s 54.68; Bella Hindley (54.92) and VanderWel (54.96) placed second and third. Princeton’s top scorer was Kathleen Mulligan (56.22).
A pair of Tiger freshmen led the way in the 100 breast: Janet Zhao (1:03.08) and Kate Didion (1:03.26) went 1-2, while junior teammate Chan (1:04.22) was fourth overall. Katie Evans of Harvard went 1:04.11 for third, and Yale’s Paulina Kaminski added points to the Bulldogs’ tally with 1:05.29. Wang notched a victory for the Crimson in the 200 fly with 1:58.49. Princeton’s Isabel Reis (2:00.23) was runner-up; Sydney Hirschi led Yale’s contingent with 2:01.71.
Hindley earned the final win of the session for the Bulldogs with a 22.92 in the 50 free. She was followed by Princeton’s Veith (23.43) and Mulligan (23.57). Harvard’s Chan (23.64) was fourth overall.
Yale’s Lilybet MacRae won 3-meter diving with 292.55 points. Jing Leung and Katie Russ of Harvard were second and third, with 277.55 and 269.10 points, respectively. Colleen McHugh was Princeton’s top scorer at fifth overall with 261.80 points.
Scores after Session One:
Princeton 82 – 68 Harvard
Yale 79 – Princeton 71
Yale 81 – 69 Harvard
Such a great meet and incredible history!
Hindley’s No.2 all-time on Yale’s 50-100 free lists (22.58/49.26) @ last month’s Hall of Fame Invitational in Austin and holds Bulldog records in the 200 free (1:46.62) and 100 back (54.07) from the Nike Cup @ North Carolina prior to Thanksgiving.
Look for her to go faster @ the Ivy League Championships next month.
Harvard’s Lee is Ivy League record-holder in the 100 back (52.82 from the championships two years ago) and the 200 1:54.63 from the Longhorn Invitational in December of 2K14),
And…she has a 4.0+ GPA as a nuclear physics major, holds down three parttime jobs and counsels wayward teens @ the local Y (just kidding!)