[HMSD] 2 Big Weekends at Blodgett

**2 Big weekends for Men's Swimming and Diving *_/*CRIMSON VS BROWN*/_ Mark Knepley <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/knepley_mark00.html> contributed to four wins to lead Harvard to a 194-104 win Jan. 27 against Brown and earning Knepley selection as the ECAC Swimmer of the Week. It was the third straight week of competition that a Crimson swimmer has captured the honor. Knepley won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:42.02 and the 100 free in 46.43 and helped Harvard win the 200 medley and 200 free relays. Fellow senior Danil Rybalko <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/rybalko_danil00.html> won both diving events and was named the ECAC Diver of the Week for his second straight week of action. He put up 347.88 points in the one-meter and 383.85 in the three-meter. David Cromwell <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/cromwell_david00.html>, Geoff Rathgeber <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/rathgeber_geoff00.html> and Eric Lynch <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/lynch_eric00.html> won two events apiece against the Bears, and Sam Wollner <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/wollner_sam00.html> and Nick Cirella <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/cirella_nick00.html> each won once. <http://www.swimindex.com/meets/2006/hyp-men/%22> _/*H-Y-P*/_ *Day 1-*Harvard won eight of 10 events and hit three NCAA "B" cuts to build a 99-87 lead on Princeton and a 131-55 lead against Yale after the first day of the HYP meet at Blodgett Pool.* *The Crimson got off to a good start, with the team of David Cromwell <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/cromwell_david00.html>, Geoff Rathgeber <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/rathgeber_geoff00.html>, Pat Quinn <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/quinn_pat00.html> and Mark Knepley <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/knepley_mark00.html> winning the 200-yard freestyle relay in a time of 1:20.93, just 0.11 seconds off the NCAA "B" cut. Freshman David Guernsey <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/guernsey_david00.html> took the first individual event of the meet, winning the 200 free in 1:39.65, making the cut for U.S. Senior Nationals. Cromwell added an individual win in the 100 backstroke by 0.95 seconds in a provisional NCAA qualifying time of 47.90. Bill Cocks <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/cocks_bill00.html> made it four Harvard wins in four events and two straight victories by Crimson captains, taking the 100 breaststroke in 56.83. Princeton, which placed second and third in most of the early events, captured its first win in the 200 butterfly with Meir Hasbani touching first. Bill Jones <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/jones_bill00.html> qualified for U.S. Senior Nationals with a second-place time of 1:49.45. The Tigers also took the 50 free, as Pat Quinn <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/quinn_pat00.html> placed third in 20.80 to pace three Crimson swimmers in the top five. Rathgeber got Harvard back in the win column with an NCAA provisional time of 1:47.78 to take the 200 individual medley, but the Tigers gained valuable points by taking the second through sixth spots. Senior Danil Rybalko <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/rybalko_danil00.html>, who has been named ECAC Diver of the Week in each of Harvard's last two weeks of action took the one-meter with 332.90. Freshman Eric Lynch <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/lynch_eric00.html> followed with a win in the 1,650 free, making the "B" cut with a time of 15:28.00. Harvard finished the night the way it started it-with a relay win. Cromwell, Cocks, Jones and Guernsey teamed up to win the 400 medley relay in a Senior National qualifying time of 3:18.59. *Day 2-** * David Cromwell <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/cromwell_david00.html> set a new Blodgett Pool record in the 200-yard backstroke and was one of four Harvard swimmers to contribute to two wins as the Crimson took six of the nine events on the final day of the annual HYP meet to defeat Princeton, 193-160, and Yale, 248-105. Princeton beat Yale, 254-109, to earn a split. It was the Crimson's second straight sweep of the meet and gives Harvard the chance to clinch a share of the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League dual meet title. If Harvard (6-1, 5-1 EISL) defeats Penn (8-6, 2-5 EISL) next Saturday at home, a meet between Columbia (7-2, 5-1 EISL) and Princeton (5-3, 4-1 EISL) will decide who ties the Crimson for the dual championship."It was a great win," said Cromwell. "It's the first really big league meet for a lot of our guys, and little matters up until this point unless you perform here." "We're really happy, but in terms of the rest of the season, we have three and a half big weeks left that we're really excited about too," he added. Sophomores Geoff Rathgeber <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/rathgeber_geoff00.html> and Pat Quinn <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/quinn_pat00.html> and freshman Bill Jones <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/jones_bill00.html> each helped Harvard to two wins. Quinn added a crucial second-place finish, while Danil Rybalko <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/rybalko_danil00.html> and Eric Lynch <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/lynch_eric00.html> added their second individual wins of the weekend. "Our ability to win races made the difference," said Cromwell, co-captain of a team that claimed victory in 14 of the weekend's 19 events, but had to fight hard to hold off a deep Princeton team that consistently bunched its finishers right behind the Crimson winners to rack up points and stay close. "This meets all about the rivalry, and no matter what kind of layoff you've had or how hard you've been working, you have to swim fast." Cromwell's time of 1:44.93 in the 200 back earned him a coveted spot on the Blodgett Pool record board, topping Brown's Charles Barnes' 1999 time of 1:45.30. It came after the senior opened the day by swimming the first leg of the 200 medley relay. Rathgeber, Jones and Quinn finished out the race as Harvard won in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:29.00. Princeton's Meir Hasbani recorded his second win of the meet in the 400 individual medley, the second event of Saturday's session. Rathgeber placed second in a U.S. Senior Nationals qualifying time of 3:54.52. It was another race that Harvard didn't win that Cromwell called the meets pivotal event. Yale's Alex Righi won the 100 free, but Quinn placed second in 45.20 to edge Princeton's top swimmer and gain nine valuable points against the Tigers. Lynch and Rybalko completed their weekend sweeps of the distance and diving events, respectively. Lynch took the 500 free in 4:29.62, while Rybalko won the three-meter diving with 313.35 points. Sophomore Sam Wollner <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/wollner_sam00.html> was second to Lynch in the 500 free, and Jones placed second in the 100 fly. Rathgeber won the final individual event, the 200 breaststroke, in 2:02.89, hitting another Senior Nationals cut and giving Harvard some breathing room heading into the final relay, the 400 free. The Crimson team of Quinn, freshman David Guernsey <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/guernsey_david00.html>, Jones and senior Mark Knepley <http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/knepley_mark00.html> took care of business in that race in 3:01.82, a Nationals qualifying mark. Harvard now leads the all-time series with Princeton, 35-32, and has won 14 straight meets against Yale.* _/ Coming Attractions/_* The Crimson wraps up its dual meet schedule Feb. 11 when it hosts Penn at noon. ECAC Championships at the U of Pittsburgh Feb 24-26 EISL Championships at East Meadow Long Island March 2-4. NCAAs at Georgia Tech March 23-25