The men’s swimming and diving team defeated Brown at Teagle Pool on Saturday, 128-113, in the process ensuring a winning record in the EISL for the third season in a row. The team has not accomplished a three-year streak with matched success since 1990 to 1992. The Red posted a 7-4 overall record this year, including 5-4 in conference.
“We feel really great that we were able to pull out a win, which means it will be the third year in a row we will have a winning season in the conference,” said senior co-captain Danny Royce. “It is something we are really proud of.”
Brown fought Cornell to the bitter end, as the Red was barely able to hold off the Bears. Brown was ahead going into the 10th meet, but yet another EISL rival was unable to prevent freshman Mike Smit from capturing a first-place finish. Smit won the 10th meet, the 500-yard freestyle, by almost five seconds to put the Red back in front for good. Smit added another victory in the 200-yard freestyle, giving him nine first-place finishes in the last six meets.
After Smit put Cornell ahead, the meet was clinched in fitting fashion by Royce, in what was his last regular season race as a member of the Red. Royce was able to win the 200-yard backstroke to make the final medley a mere formality.
“Royce came up really big for us,” said senior co-captain Jeremy Sample.
The Red also received three other first-place finishes, including one by Sample in the 50-yard freestyle. Freshmen Luke Baer and Kevin Fraley won the 3-meter dive and the 1000-yard freestyle respectively.
“Everyone swam really well,” said Sample. “The team is pretty confident right now going into the championships.”
Women’s Team
While the men’s team was putting together an impressive performance against the Bears, the women’s team was doing just the same. Unfortunately for Cornell, its efforts were not enough to defeat the Bulls of Buffalo, as the Red fell by a score of 183-117. The Bulls improved their record to 8-4 on the season, dropping the Red to 3-8. However, although Cornell fell by a 66-point margin, the meet remained very competitive throughout.
“The meet went well,” said senior co-captain Jayme Majek. “Although we weren’t able to win, several of our swimmers had lifetime individual best times.”
The Red was able to capture six first-place finishes on Saturday, four coming from sophomore Jessica Brookman. Brookman had a career day, finishing first in the 200-yard medley relay, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, and 100-yard butterfly.
Sophomore Kristin Rayhack added a victory in the 3-meter dive and junior Alyson Melin won the 200-yard individual medley.
Although the Red fell to 3-8 on the season, the team is confident, heading into the Ivy League Championships on Feb. 26. Going into the meet against the Bulls, the Cornell swimmers were looking at the match as more of tune-up for the Ivy’s rather than as a primary focus.
“We could have been more focused on the meet,” said Majek. “We might have done better if we had done so, but I think we did the best thing we could have done, considering we have the Ivy’s coming up. The meet was an overall success since we had lifetime best times occur at this point in the season.”
Archived article by Bryan Pepper