Crimson Wins Six Events,
Sets Two Pool Records in Day Two of EISL Championship
Courtesy: Harvard Athletic Communications
Release: 03/07/2008
Courtesy: DSPics.com
Jordan Diekema
helped the Crimson set a new pool record in the 200 medley relay.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The
22nd-ranked Harvard men's swimming and diving team captured six
events and set two pool records in the second day of competition at the
2008 EISL Championship,
held at Blodgett Pool.
Harvard
(9-0, 8-0 EISL, 7-0 Ivy League) scored 554 points Friday to increase
its lead to 1039-801.5 over second-place Princteon. Yale is in third
with 623 points, while Navy is in fourth with 607.5.
For
the second consecutive day, the Crimson set a pool record in its first
event, setting a new mark for the fourth time in this year's
tournament. Freshman Jordan
Diekema, senior Geoff
Rathgeber, junior Bill
Jones and senior Pat
Quinn
had a collective time of 1:27.88, an NCAA "B" qualifying cut, to win
the 200 medley relay. This same quartet established a new Blodgett
Pool, meet and EISL record in the 400 medley relay Thursday (3:13.34).
The previous pool mark in the 200 medley relay was 1:28.48, set by
Harvard swimmers in 2005.
Rathgeber
captured his second individual championship of the weekend, as he took
home the 400 IM in an NCAA "A" qualifying time of 3:47.83. With that
mark, Rathgeber won the race by more than five seconds. On Thursday,
Rathgeber hit the NCAA "A" cut in the 200 IM (1:45.62). Freshman Douwe
Yntema was sixth in Friday's 400 IM in 3:57.13, while senior Michael
Bowen was 10th (3:58.73).
Bill
Jones
set the fifth new record at Blodgett Pool during this year's tournament
with a quick 47.29 in the 100 butterfly, giving the junior an NCAA "B"
time. His twin brother, Dan
Jones, was fifth in 48.67.
In the 1000 freestyle,
Harvard went 1-1-3, as junior Eric
Lynch and senior Sam
Wollner tied for the title after both swimmers touched the wall in
9:02.83. Sophomore Alex
Meyer placed third, finishing the race in 9:06.89. Freshman Blake
Lewkowitz (9:13.93) and sophomore, Mason
Brunnick
(9:16.85) were seventh and ninth, respectively, as the Crimson earned
140 team points in this event. In Thursday's 500 freestyle, Wollner and Lynch finished 1-2, as Wollner swam the course in
4:22.13, while Lynch was right behind in 4:22.17
In his first EISL
Championship, Crimson freshman Justin
Davidson claimed the 100 breaststroke after a meet-best time of
56.29. Classmate Will
Heyburn finished 10th in 57.14.
In
the final event Friday, Harvard won its sixth event of the second day
of swimming and its 10th of the tournament with a victory in the 800
freestyle relay. Wollner, Brunnick, Bill
Jones and junior David
Guernsey won the event in an NCAA "B" time of 6:32.33.
Harvard had three 10 top
finishers in the 100 backstroke, led by Diekema who was second in
49.12. Quinn (49.61) and Derick
Chui (50.66) were fourth and ninth, respectively.
Guerney placed third in the
200 freestyle, touching the wall in an NCAA "B" qualifying time of
1:36.94. Sophomore Jordan
Waterman was 11th (1:41.22.)
In the 3-mtr diving
consolation round, Lucas Sanders scored a 307.60, while freshman Zac
Ranta earned 283.95
Harvard
entered Friday with an 83-point lead over Princeton (485-402) and
extended its advantage to XX-XX with the victories in the second day of
the competition.
The EISL Championship
concludes Saturday with the preliminaries at 11 a.m. and the finals at
6 p.m