The Dartmouth men were hoping for a win against Columbia this weekend, even though no one really expected it. After all, the team had not won a home meet in five years, but the persistence this year's team shined through as the Big Green upset the Lions 125-116, raising their record to 3-2 and 2-1 in the Ivy League.
"Despite a slow start we pulled together and fought it out," Tommy Slabuagh '96 said. "We got behind early, but we showed that we could persevere, and that was a lot of fun for me as I have never won an Ivy League home meet."
The first half of the meet began poorly, with Columbia's 200 medley relay sprinting past the Big Green, giving the Lions an early 13-4 lead. The Lions also grabbed first, third and fourth in the 1000 freestyle, increasing their lead to 27-9
After the Lions duplicated that finish in the 200 freestyle and swept the 100 Individual Medley, it appeared that Dartmouth would not have the depth to compete, as Columbia upped its lead to 65-28.
But the Big Green did not give up. The turnaround began on the diving boards. Led by Toby Hays '99, the Dartmouth divers took first, second and fourth on the one meter board.
As usual, Hays crushed the competition scoring 266.7 points. He was followed by Mark Devlin '98 with 230.85 and Jeremy Turk '97 with 175.275. The strong performance cut the lead to 25 points.
In response to the divers, the Big Green 200 Butterflyers took first, second and fourth as well. Michael Hooper '99 won the race in 1:56.47. But it was personal best swims like that of Geoffrey Walford '99 that made the difference for the Big Green. After coming back from a two length deficit in the last 15 yards, Walford finished second in the race, with a time of 1:58.86.
In the 100 freestyle, Jon Kenyon cut the Lions' lead from 14 to 11 with a first place finish in the time of 47.79.
The comeback continued, as co-Captain Grier Laughlin '96 won the 200 backstroke in 1:57.33. Eben Darling '99 and Slabaugh followed, finishing third and fifth respectively.
Even though the Big Green had cut the lead to four, the Lions roared back, taking first and second in the 500 freestyle and increasing their lead once again to 101-86.
But once again, the Dartmouth divers turned it on. Again, it was Hays, Devlin and Turk on the three meter. Again, it was first, second and fourth. The divers moved the team within three points, 104-101.
"It's great to be a part of this victory," Hays said. "With the depth of our diving team, and our consistent improvement, we should be able to keep scoring points for the team."
The 200 breaststrokers gave Dartmouth its first lead of the meet. Lannon won the event in 2:12.95, a season best.
The third and fifth place finishes by Eben Darling '99 and co-Captain David Kramer '96, respectively, made the difference for the Big Green as they regained the lead 114-110. In dramatic fashion, Darling's third place finish came in a time of 2:20.31, as he touched out Columbia's Todd Berget on the last stroke.
With the two teams separated only by four points, the meet deciding race came down to the 800 freestyle relay -- a race Dartmouth has been struggling in season long.
After falling behind in the first 100, Laughlin came back to give the Big Green a small early lead. The second Big Green swimmer, Doug Doucet '98, turned in a personal best with a split of 1:46 that gave Dartmouth a two body length lead.
As the third link in the team, Dartmouth's David Moore '99 took an early lead but ended with only a one second lead over the Lions.
But anchor Kenyon did not disappoint. Despite facing Columbia's Russ Perkins, the winner of the 200 freestyle, Kenyon refused to give up the yard and turned in a fast 1:44 giving the Big Green the win in the relay and overall.
Dartmouth's 5-3 record is the first winning record in January that the Big Green swimmers have posted in the 1990s.
The Big Green will look to continue the winning streak next weekend as the battle the Princeton Tigers at Princeton, NJ on Sunday.
