0n the final weekend of competition before the championship meets, the men’s swimming and diving team split a tri-meet, defeating Dartmouth 193-105, and falling to Harvard 186-110. The women’s team lost to upstate rival Buffalo in a competitive meet.
Done
The men finished the regular season an impressive 7-4, with a much-improved league record of 5-4 in the EISL, compared to last year’s mark of 2-7.
The hero for the Red in Hanover was freshman phenom Danny Diette. After having a great season, he capped off his rookie year with a tremendous swim against league champion Harvard. He dominated the backstroke events, taking both of Cornell’s individual victories. He won the 100 back (52.59), the 200 back (1:52.18), and placed second in the 200 IM (1:57.71), trailing Harvard’s Alexander Siroky by less than a second.
Danny Boy
“[Danny] stood out again,” coach Joe Lucia said of his rookie’s continued excellence.
The Red’s only other win was in the final event, the 200 freestyle relay, with the team of juniors Danny Royce, Julian King, Jeremy Sample, and Bill Dillon finishing in 1:26.63.
Sophomore John Dyste swam two great races in the breaststroke events, twice being touched out.
He earned second-place in the 100 (59.04) and 200 breast (2:07.94).
Senior John Kenny put in a great performance in the 1650 freestyle race, earning second place with a time of 16:19.84.
Rookie diver Tony Schultz put points on the board, placing second in the three-meter event (247.80) and third in the one-meter (239.40).
Overall, the men met their goals going into the weekend.
“The results were what we expected,” Lucia said. “We knew we had the upper hand on Dartmouth and that Harvard had the upper hand on us.”
Despite losing to Harvard, Lucia was pleased with his team’s performance.
“We really swam solid. [Harvard] is the best team, and we had some really good races.”
The women’s team faced a competitive University of Buffalo in its meet.
The Red lost 197.50-102.50 to the Bulls. Cornell was trying to avenge last year’s home loss to Buffalo, which broke a 17-year Red winning streak. The women finished the regular season with a 3-7 record, 1-6 in the Ivy League.
Moral Victory
Despite the loss, the team put up good swims. Freshman Elissa Kline posted two of Cornell’s three wins, in the 100 freestyle (54.25) and the 200 IM (2:12.16).
She also placed second in the 200 free (1:55.36).
Senior co-captain Shayne Geneva earned the other Red victory with a great swim in the 100 breast (1:08.19), as well as a second-place finish in the 200 breast (2:24.27), where she was out-touched by .07 seconds.
Rookie Sydney Freas posted two second place finishes in the 100 butterfly (1:01.12) and 50 free (25.28), missing the first by .08 seconds.
Three seniors posted solid times, senior co-captain Lauren Marino placed third in the 500 freestyle (5:16.46), Whitney Yates scored second in the 200 back (2:10.79), and Kari Tornabene finished third in the 100 back (1:10.32).
Seeing Double
Freshman diver Kara Neal nabbed two third-place tallies on the boards in the one-meter event (226.85) and three-meter event (243.00).
Despite the individual success, coach Marre Neumer was disappointed with the team’s overall score.
“I wasn’t really pleased. We swam flat. We were emotionally saving ourselves for the Ivy Championships.”
Both squads will finish the season at Harvard in the final meets.
The women swim in two weeks at the Ivy Championships, and the men in three weeks at the EISL Championships.
Archived article by Cammy Kandiko