PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, February 22. DESPITE a disqualification in the final 400 freestyle relay, the Harvard women’s swimming and diving team hung on to win the women’s Ivy League Championships Saturday night, outscoring rival Princeton by just 25 points, 1409 to 1384. Yale took third with 1163.5 points. Three pool records fell on the final night of competition, to Danielle Lee in the 200 back (1:55.70), Lisa Boyce in the 100 free (48.92) and Princeton in the 400 free relay (3:19.68).
Ivy League Press Release
For the second time in three years, Harvard claimed the Ivy League Women’s Swimming Championship title, scoring 1,409 points to outdistance Princeton.
The Crimson were 25 points ahead of the Tigers, who finished with 1,384. Harvard was disqualified in the 400 freestyle relay, which narrowed the final margin after the outcome had been clinched. Yale was third, followed by Columbia, Penn, Brown, Cornell and Dartmouth.
The final 25-point margin was the closest 1-2 finish since 2004 when Princeton defeated Harvard by a mere 15-1/2 points. In addition, Yale’s 1,163 points were the most by a third-place team since 2010 when places 1-2-3 were separated by just 115 points and third-most by a third-place finisher in League history.
The Crimson grabbed the lead midway through Friday night’s action and groomed that lead on Saturday night. Harvard Danielle Lee grabbed her second title of the weekend on Saturday, winning the 200 back to make the Crimson’s lead 80 points. From there, the lead continued to grow.
Princeton’s Lisa Boyce won her second individual title of the weekend when she won the 100 freestyle. But Harvard’s other swimmers were still earning points and the lead grew to 108.
When Princeton had three in the 200 butterfly final, it was now or never time for the Tigers. But Yale’s Sydney Hirschi stole the show, winning the title in 1:57.33. Princeton received second and fourth place finishes from Nikki Larson and Beverly Nguyen to cut into the margin and keep slim title hopes alive with two events remaining.
In the three-meter diving, however, Harvard’s Brittany Wang, Elina Leiviska and Schuyler Moore finished third, fourth and fifth to give the Crimson enough points to put the title out of reach before the 400 freestyle relay. Princeton’s Caitlin Chambers won the the three-meter diving with a score of 312.85, sixth-best in Ivy League history.
Eva Fabian of Yale won the 1,650 to begin the night as the Bulldogs finished first, second and fourth to quickly solidify their third-place standing. Brown’s Briana Borgolini won the 200 breaststroke, the first title of the weekend for the home team. Borgolini touched the wall in 2:14.55.
Boyce and Fabian shared High Point Swimmer of the Meet Award honors with 92 points each. Boyce won the Career High Point Award, finishing her illustrious career with 371 individual points, including nine individual event titles. Freshman Lilybeth MacRae of Yale won the Rick Gilbert High Point Diver of the Meet Award after winning the one-meter and finishing second in the three-meter competition. Rachel Zambrowicz of Princeton won the Career High Point Diver Award.
TEAM SCORING
1. Harvard 1409
2. Princeton 1384
3. Yale 1163
4. Columbia 945
5. Penn 882
6. Brown 792.5
7. Cornell 662
8. Dartmouth 535
Results For: Women’s Ivy League Championships, Day Three