The men went up against Yale Friday night expecting stiff competition, and that is exactly what they got.
After a quick start, the Big Green ended up falling 172.5-70.5. The loss dropped the men's record to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the Ivy League.
"Regardless of the outcome, the meet was still a great effort from our team with many season best times," co-Captain Grier Laughlin '96 said. "Things are coming together well for Easterns."
The 400 yard medley relay team of Grier Laughlin '96, Ben Lannon '96, Geoff Walford '99 and Jon Kenyon '97 opened the meet with a strong performance. After the first three legs, the Big Green were down about one body length with anchor Kenyon preparing for the freestyle leg. Kenyon exploded, swimming a season best 46.50 and blowing past Yale on the final length to win in 3:33.93. The team left Dartmouth with an 11-6 lead.
But hopes were not as high for the 1,000 yard freestyle. The Big Green were led by Michael Hooper '99 and Jon Hurst '98. Yale's swimmer broke out for an early lead. Despite swimming third for most of the race, Hooper came roaring back over the last 300 yards to pick up three body lengths. The race came down to a spirit over the last 50 yards, with Hooper winning in 9:52.60, less than two-tenths of a second in front of Yale's swimmer The Big Green were still in the lead, 21-15 .
But the excitement quickly ended as Yale won the 200 yard freestyle, with Dartmouth's Doug Doucet '98 finishing in a tie for second place.
The Bulldogs then won the 50 yard freestyle as Yale's swimmer touched out Kenyon. Yale swept the 200 yard Individual medley, leaving the Big Green behind 59.5 to 33.5.
The story in the one meter diving competition was much the same as Toby Hays '99 failed to win for only the second time this season. Hays scored 271.80 points and was defeated by Yale's Tom Stebbins. On the three meter board, Hays finished third with 290.7 points.
The Big Green opened the second half of the meet, again led by Hooper in the 200 yard butterfly. Again Hooper fell behind early, swimming in third place for most of the first 100 yards, but came sprinting back in the half of the race. Unfortunately, Hooper's surge was not enough to win, as he finished second in 1:55.02, just off his season best.
In the 100 yard freestyle, Jon Kenyon was again touched out as two Yale swimmers finished less than two-tenths of a second ahead. The 200 yard backstroke was another extremely close race. Unfortunately, the Big Green were touched out for the third consecutive race, as Grier Laughlin came in second in 1:55.07.
The meet ended with the 400 yard freestyle relay. The race went just as the meet had. The two teams with neck and neck going into the final leg as Jeff Jorgensen '97 squared off with Yale's Chris Song. But the Big Green were touched out one final time, finishing in 3:20.04, two hundredths of a second behind Yale.
The Big Green's next meets are this Saturday and Sunday at the Karl B. Michael Pool where they will face Cornell at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday and Harvard at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday.
