The crowd’s roar was deafening at Teagle Pool on Saturday, as the men’s meet came down to the final leg of the last event, the 400 free relay. Brown (1-7-0, 1-5-0 Ivy) pulled ahead at the end of the last race and held off the Red, winning the overall meet, 155-145. On the other end of the pool, the Cornell women’s team dominated the Bears (1-6-0, 0-5-0) from start to finish, snapping a 13-game Ivy League losing streak with a 169-131 victory.The men (1-7-0, 0-7-0) were behind on the first two legs of the 400 free when freshman Tim Satterthwaite pulled his team into a virtual tie setting up the ending drama. Sophomore Henry Scott, who had finished second in the 100 butterfly by breaking the 50 second barrier earlier in the meet, was the final swimmer of the day, but was unable to finish and lost the event 3:04.83 to 3:05.81.“The way it ended was one of the toughest losses I have seen,” said head coach Joe Lucia. “It just does not get any closer than that and there is really nothing more we could have done. Henry had a great meet and we had a feeling he could finish strong, but in the end we do not have any complaints.”Despite the tough loss on the men’s side, Lucia remained proud of his swimmers for their high level of energy and focus.“They have not let up all season,” Lucia said. “They are a tough group of kids, but we just did not take advantage of the chances we had.”The men started off the meet on a strong note, as the divers performed at a high level of competition. Sophomore Phillip Truong won both the 3M and 1M diving events, scoring a college-best 9.0 on the 3M. Junior divers James O’Neil and Jon Zollo gave strong performances as well. “The divers really stood out to me,” said senior Emily Dean. “The atmosphere in the beginning of the match surrounding the diving events was amazing.”The meet against Brown marked the last home meet for all of the seniors, as well as the last regular season meet before the Ivy League championships in March. “It was probably the most packed I have seen Teagle in my four years,” said senior Julian Chan. “It was really an amazing feeling and being on the road the whole season made me appreciate our home pool even more.”According to Dean, the crowd packed into the stands remained silent before each dive then burst out in an uproar after the divers splashed. The anticipation before each dive was immense, Chan said.The women’s team (2-6-0, 1-6-0) put Cornell on the board and kept the Red in the lead, winning both diving events, as well as eight other swimming events. Sophomore diver Manita Herlitz-Ferguson, sophomore Sarah Schlichte in the 1000 and 500 free, sophomore Kim Jerome in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, freshman Meredith Drummond in the 200 fly and 200 IM and senior Chiara Spinazzola in the 100 back and 100 fly won their races for the Red. The dynamic squad of junior Jessie Holley, senior Sadie Ellison, Dean and Spinazzola set the pool record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:45.22.“We knew this was going to be an even match,” Dean said. “But, it was probably the best we have swam all year.”The men also won the 200 medley relay with seniors Jake Sangren, Steven Kwartler and James Keady and junior Chris Myers. Additionally, Sangren notched a win in the 100 back and Myers claimed the 50 free. According to Lucia, Satterthwaite was an unsung hero of the meet, though he was among seven swimmers to not make the championship team. The freshman swam lights out, Lucia said, as the rookies brought the Red within seconds of winning.“It was a tough loss. But, I was extremely proud of how our team faced adversity and kept their composure against a challenging opponent,” Chan said.
Original Author: Scott Eckl