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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Swimming doubles up on Maine

The Big Green bounced back from its Ivy League struggles with a victory over the University of Maine last Saturday.
The Big Green bounced back from its Ivy League struggles with a victory over the University of Maine last Saturday.

The men's squad (2-9, 0-6 EISL) swam well as a team and also saw standout individual performances. The women (4-8, 0-6 Ivy) also produced a number of solid performances that carried the team to their victory over the Black Bears.

Head coach Jim Wilson was satisfied with both teams' efforts against Maine, but was somewhat disappointed by a slow start from the women's squad.

"The men did well against Maine," Wilson said. "The women came out a little flat and turned things around half-way and did fine."

Men's co-captain Joe Braunreuther '08 agreed with Wilson's assessment of the meet.

"The team swam very well with a number of season-best times," Braunreuther said. "Our team was strong throughout the meet and our lineup held up well against Maine in almost every race. We managed to come close to doubling their score as a result."

The men dominated the meet, winning 14 out of the 16 events. In each of the events that Dartmouth won, the Big Green also took second place.

Kevin Ellis '09 won three individual events in addition to anchoring a winning relay. Ellis took first in the 1000-yard freestyle, the 500-yard freestyle, the 200-yard individual medley and the 800-yard freestyle relay.

In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Ellis caught up with the Dartmouth B team and the Maine A team after trailing by almost half a pool-length at the start of his leg of the relay.

Wilson was pleased with Ellis' results from the Maine meet.

"[Ellis] swam really well for us," Wilson said. "He had a really impressive day and I was happy with his performances."

Gordon Russell '08 also posted a strong showing, winning the 100-yard backstroke and contributing to the two winning medley relays.

Drew Wenzel '08 also won several events for the Big Green, taking first place in the 50-yard freestyle race and the 100-yard breaststroke. In addition, he won the 400-yard medley race with Russell, Marco Chu '11 and Alex Fidel '09.

Wilson was particularly pleased with the progress the freshmen have made this season.

"Some of the freshmen are really starting to swim well for us," he said.

For the men's diving team, co-captain Andrew Berry '08 had some of his best dives of the season, winning both diving events. Berry earned a score of 338.02 in the one-meter dive and a score of 346.85 in the three-meter dive.

Berry is on The Dartmouth staff.

Wilson expressed happiness with Berry's performance.

"[Berry] is diving really well for us right now," Wilson said. "His dives [in the Maine meet] were huge for us."

On the women's side, Heather Jankins '09 led the Big Green, with wins in four events. Jankins won the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 50-yard freestyle and the 400-yard medley relay along with team of Carolyn Rippe '10, Liz Mancuso '08 and Maddie Steiner '11.

Steiner and Mancuso also had individual wins in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly, respectively.

The Big Green saw another performance from Megan Crapster '08 who swam a season-best time in the 200-yard medley, giving the Big Green some crucial points.

The big surprise of the women's meet was the superb performances posted by its backstroking core. Lindsay Wahl '11 came in first in the 200-yard backstroke, a race Wilson expected his team to lose.

"The backstrokers really stepped up," Wilson said. "They won races we didn't think they'd win."

For the women's diving team, Julianne Mifflin '08 won the one-meter and three-meter dives with scores of 288.08 and 269.47, respectively. Mifflin's strong performance at the meet qualified her for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships.

The teams look forward to finishing the regular season on a high note. The women face off against Northeastern this Saturday, and both teams will face Columbia (4-4, 1-4 Ivy)on Feb. 16.

Braunreuther is optimistic about the upcoming meet against the Lions where the teams hope to see their first conference wins.

"It will be a tough meet, but we will be able to keep pace with them," Braunreuther said.

Looking ahead to the conference championships, Wilson said that he has high hopes for the women in the Ivy League championships, though he says it may be a few years before the men can swim competitively in their league.

"With the women, our team goal is to finish at least seventh but possibly move up to fifth," Wilson said. "For the men, we're hoping to stay close to everyone while we're a year or so from moving up."