Courtesy: Beverly SchaeferFour victories during the final session helped the four-time Ivy League champion Princeton men's swimming and diving team to an impressive wire-to-wire victory at the 2012 Brown Invitational.
Princeton won the three-day event with 1,008 points, while Dartmouth (772) held off Army (735) for second place in the event. The Tigers will hope for similar success when the Ivy League Championships make their debut at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center March 7-9.
The weekend also serves as the dual meets for Princeton against both Brown and Dartmouth, and the Tigers won both to get out to a 4-0 start for the season. The Tigers topped Dartmouth 197-103, and they topped Brown 215-84.
Reigning Ivy League mile champion Paul Nolle won the event Sunday, but he was pushed by freshman teammate Zach Ridout throughout the event. Nolle won in 15:28.03, while Ridout placed second in 15:29.09.
Freshman En-Wei Hu-Van Wright continued the strong start to his Princeton career with a victory in the 200 back in 1:45.52, making it the third-fastest time in school history. Teammate Conner Jager finished third in 1:49.00, while the duo of Adam Lebovitz (1:50.26) and Kaspar Raigla (1:52.13) finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
A pair of Tiger underclassmen put on a show in the 100 free final, and it was freshman Jeremy Wong who pulled off the narrowest of wins over sophomore Harrison Wagner. Wong moved into the Princeton Top 10 with his winning time of 44.16, while Wagner took second in 44.19.
Princeton took three of the top four spots in the 200 breast, though Dartmouth standout Nejc Zupan stole the show with a winning time of 1:53.87. Tiger freshman Byron Sanborn finished second in 2:00.03, while junior Daniel Hasler took third in 2:02.30. Freshman Teo D'Alessandro rounded out the top-four trio with a fourth-place time of 2:02.50.
Princeton had two more in the top four of the 200 fly, with freshman Marco Bove leading the way with a third-place finish in 1:48.21. Oliver Bennett took fourth in 1:48.30.
The Tigers closed the weekend with a dominant performance in the 400 free relay. The quartet of D'Alessandro, Wagner, Wong and Hu-Van Wright — three freshmen and one sophomore — won the event in 2:57.16, more than four seconds faster than any team in the field.
Princeton will return to DeNunzio Pool Jan. 5 for an afternoon showdown with Patriot League power Navy. Last year, the Tigers won a thriller over the Midshipmen by five points; two seasons ago, Navy handed Princeton its only dual loss at DeNunzio Pool since it opened in 1990.
