Princeton Freshmen Eleanor Sun, Dakota Tucker Set School Marks in Big Al Invitational Win
Princeton freshmen Eleanor Sun and Dakota Tucker set school records as the Tigers swept men’s and women’s titles at the Big Al Invitational this weekend.
The women’s team roared away from Penn State with 803.5 points to the Nittany Lions’ 594.5. George Washington was fourth at the 10-team event with 574 points, followed by Penn in 474.5 and North Carolina at 464.
On the men’s side, Princeton rode a strong 200 butterfly on the final day to tally 891.5 points and pull away from Penn State’s 817. Penn was third in 526.5, followed by Denver’s 465 and Columbia in 434.
- Big Al Invitational Day 1 Results
- Big Al Invitational Day 2 Results
- Big Al Invitational Day 3 Results
- Ivy League Swimming News
Sun won the 200 individual medley on Friday with a time of 1:56.26. That clipped 1.5 seconds off the record set four years ago by Christie Chong. Tucker was also under that record as the runner-up in 1:56.79.
The pair of rookies went 1-2 in the 400 IM on Saturday, Sun’s 4:06.07 setting the DeNunzio Pool record. It’s the second-fastest time in program history, with Tucker tucking into third at 4:07.63.
Tucker finished the meet Sunday by going 2:09.54 in the 200 breaststroke. That gouged two full seconds out of Margaux McDonald’s record from the spring.
Sun’s third swim got her third place in the 200 backstroke.
Princeton won four of five relays and missed the fifth by .09. It began with a tie in the 200 free relay, the Tigers’ foursome of Sabrina Johnston, Ela Noble, Heidi Smithwick and Veronique Rossouw going 1:30.58 to match UNC’s time. Delaney Carlton, Alexandra White, Michaela Chokureva and Elizabeth Sowards led the Tar Heels. The win in the 200 medley relay went to what was nominally the Tigers’ B team, of Alexa Pappas, Eliza Brown, Margaret Hayes and Noble. Nonetheless, they went 1:39.27 to relegate the A team (with Johnston and Smithwick) to second by .48 seconds.
Johnston, Ellie Marquardt, Sun and Smithwick edged Penn State by a half-second in the 800 free relay. Johnston, Noble, Rossouw and Marquardt dominated the 400 free relay to win in 3:17.76.
Princeton picked up plenty of wins along the way. Smithwick swept the butterfly events and tied for third in the 50 free. Marquardt was the runner-up in the 500 free, then won the 100 and 200 free. Noble was second in the 100. Brown was third in the 200 breast. McDonald finished second in the 200 back.
The other relay was the most ludicrous of the Big Al Invitational, with three top three teams separated by .11 seconds. George Washington built an early lead that it just barely hung onto in the final 50, the squad of Phoebe Wright, Ava DeAngelis, Moriah Freitas and Riley Kudlac going 3:38.80 to win. Princeton was second in 3:38.89, with Penn State at 3:38.91.
Wright won the 200 back, as GW swept that stroke, Barbara Schaal winning the 100 back. DeAngelis won the 100 breast and was fourth in the 200.
Penn’s Anna Kalandadze was the distance star. She won the 500 free, then led a 1-2-3 sweep of the mile in 15:54.93. Teammate Anna Moehn (fourth in the 500) and Sydney Bergstrom followed her. Joy Jiang and Vanessa Chong finished second and third, respectively, in the 200 fly for Penn.
The only other school with an individual winner was UNC. Carlton went 22.67 to capture the 50 free on the opening day, ahead of Penn State’s Cat Stanford. Michelle Morgan pulled off an impressive double by finished third in the 400 IM and fourth in the 200 free back-to-back on Saturday. She had been third in the 500 free on the opening day. Georgia Nel finished third in the 200 IM and second in the 200 free. Sowards took home second in the 100 fly and second in the 100 back in the same session Saturday.
Denver’s Jessica Maeda finished second in both breaststroke events. Eri Remington was third in the 50 and the 100 free.
Utah’s Holly Waxman won both diving events, with Buffalo’s Tori Franz second. Waxman scored 336.55 on 3-meter, edging Franz by less than two points.
On the men’s side of the Big Al Invitational, Princeton tending to score in big strikes. It put forth the top three finishers and four of the top five in the 200 IM on Friday, with Tyler Hong leading the way in 1:44.63. Max Kreidl and Noah Sech followed. Mitchell Schott (1:33.97) and Maximilian Hunger went 1-2 in the 200 free on Saturday.
But the win was sealed on Sunday with four of the top five and five of the top seven in the 200 fly. Arthur Balva led the way in 1:43.48. Third was Conor McKenna, who had been fourth in the 100 fly. Hong, fifth in the 100 fly, was fourth with Kreidl fifth.
The 200 free depth allowed the Tigers to deny Penn State a clean sweep in the relays by capturing the 800 free. Kreidl, Sech, Schott and Hunger went 6:25.30 to win the long relay by more than three seconds over the Nittany Lions.
John Ehlin won the 500 free and finished third in the mile for Princeton. Sech won the 400 IM. Schott was third in the 100 free.
Penn State had the top-line talent, as the four emphatic relay wins indicate. Cooper Morley and Victor Baganha were on all four, the Nittany Lions going 1:18.00 in the 200 free, 3:08.67 in the 400 medley, 1:25.52 in the 200 medley and 2:53.30 in the 400 free. Tylor Kim anchored the 400 medley and led off the 400 free. Mariano Lazzerini swam breaststroke on both medleys.
Lazzerini won both breaststroke events, outdueling Columbia’s Demirkan Demir in both. Baganha won the 50 free to open the meet in 19.26 then added the 100 fly and 100 free titles. Morley won the 100 back. Eduardo Cisternas rebounded from a runner-up result in the 500 free to claim the mile.
Denver’s Dylan Wright picked up the other win on the final day, going 1:41.80 to easily outdistance Penn’s Daniel Gallagher and Lachlan Byrne of PSU in the 200 back. Wright was third in the 500 free. Teammate Donat Fabian was the runner-up in the 50 free, as was Kieran Watson in the 1,650.
George Washington’s Djurdje Matic was all over the podium. He finished third in the 50 free, second in the 100 fly and second in the 100 free. Teammate Connor Rodgers was the runner-up in the 400 IM. Likewise for Cal State Bakersfield’s Vili Sivec, who finished second in the 200 fly and third in the 100 fly.
Elias Petersen of Utah won both diving events, scoring 337.30 on 1-meter and 393.30 on 3-meter. Penn State’s Kevin Sullivan was second on both, followed twice by Taso Callanan of Princeton.
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