"Statistically, during the course of the year we set 61 new top-10 times," head coach Jim Wilson said. "At this meet, over three days, out of 19 swimming records, we set 14 new school records, only missing on five events, and in these events we didn't miss by much."
Princeton took first-place honors with 1474.5 points, followed by Harvard University with 1374 points.Columbia University took third, Yale University finished fourth and Dartmouth took fifth.
"Overall, everyone had a phenomenal meet," co-captain Erin Henn '14 said. "We set almost every school record, some of which have been on the record board for a long time, and everyone that swam made it back to finals in multiple events."
Twenty Big Green women competed this weekend, with 17 swimmers and three divers. Ten on the squad are freshman and sophomores.
"A lot of [the Ivy League] teams are fueled by underclassmen," Christine Kerr '14 said. "They really drive our team forward. Freshmen are so excited that they always swim well, and it helps the older kids get a little more confidence to see the younger classes doing so well."
Dartmouth finished fifth at the championships last year, their first in the top five since 1981.
"We have done an exceptional job in making up a lot of ground on the League," Wilson said. "But it's two steps forward, one step back, since the League keeps getting faster too. We scored more points than last year but we're still just keeping our head above water."
In addition to scoring more points this year, the Big Green beat the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University, teams they fell to during the regular season.
"We had a bit of a rough season, losing to Penn and Brown who we beat in dual meets last year, so we were a little curious as to how that was going to play out, but at Ivies we beat both of them by a comfortable margin," Kerr said.
The Big Green set six new records on the first day of competition at Ivies, including the 200-yard freestyle relay. With a time of 1:32.48, Kendese Nangle '16, Mary Van Metre '14, Siobhan Hengemuhle '15, and Charlotte Kama'i '16 took sixth place to open the scoring events.
Danielle Kerr '14 set her first school record of the meet in the prelims for the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:50.59, before she went on to take eighth place in the A-finals of that event later in the day.
Another Big Green record fell in the 200-yard individual medley finals, with Rebecca Butler '16 completing the C-final in 2:05.13, taking 18th place and easily breaking the previously held record.
Dartmouth displayed their depth as a team in the 50-yard freestyle, with six Big Green swimmers earning points across the three finals. Leading the Big Green finishers, Nangle took sixth in the event, setting a new Dartmouth record in the process with her time of 22.94, the first Dartmouth woman to break the 23-second mark.
The Dartmouth team of Nangle, Kamai, Charlotte Williams '13 and Emily Holt '16 also set a new school record in the 400-yard medley relay with their time of 3:44.30.
Dartmouth entered Friday's events in fifth place, and again set six new school records. The foursome of Nangle, Williams, Holt, and Hengemuhle set a record in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 1:42.88 to start off the event finals. Kerr set her second school record of the weekend in the 1000-yard freestyle, taking sixth place as she crushed the previous school record by over four seconds. Butler set her second record of the weekend in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:22.68, as she led Dartmouth's finishers with her 12th-place showing. Another record fell in the 200-yard breaststroke, with Williams clocking in at 2:20.66 in her prelim race to set a new Dartmouth record.
Continuing her excellent performances from Friday, Nangle set a new Dartmouth record as she swam her way to a NCAA B-qualifying time in the 100-yard backstroke, taking sixth place in 54.88.
To conclude day two's events with Dartmouth still in fifth place, Samson, Kamai, Danielle Kerr and Sasha Alcon '15 set a new record in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:20.81.
Nangle continued her stellar performance with a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke on Saturday, breaking another Dartmouth record and posting another NCAA B-final time during her preliminary race.
The highlight of the diving events for the Big Green came in the 3-meter diving, with Katy Feng '14 taking first place and Erica Serpico '12 taking third.
"[Feng] had a little shaky start, but she came back and roared to a win," Wilson said. "She is our first Ivy champion since Erica [Serpico] won the one-meter [in 2010]. We don't get Ivy champions that often."
To finish out the meet, the quartet of Nangle, Van Metre, Hengemuhle and Kamai took third in the 400-yard freestyle in 3:21.14 relay to conclude the three-day meet and set a final Dartmouth record.
Now the focus in the pool shifts to the men, as they head into their final week preparing for the Men's Ivy League Championships at Brown University Mar. 7 to 9.
