Columbia
HARVARD
Men's Swimming & Diving Holds on, But Can?t Beat Harvard, 167-133
11/20/2009 8:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
NEW YORK - The Columbia men's swimming & diving team had a strong meet against Ivy powerhouse Harvard, but couldn't finish with the win, falling 167-133. Harvard improved to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League with the win, while Columbia stands at 1-2 overall, 1-2 in the League.
The meet opened with 3-meter diving, and Harvard placed first and third in the event, opened with 12 points. Columbia's Jason Collazo finished in second place with 303.60 points, while fellow first-year Michaelangelo Borghi came in fourth, with 286.96 points, and junior David Levkoff rounded out the top scorers, finishing fifth with 282.23 points.
In the next event, the 200 medley relay, the Lions took first and third, beginning to edge the Crimson in points. The squad of Patrick Dougherty, Ross Ramone, Nick Barron and Joseph Jeffers came in third in 1:35.10, while the foursome of Johnny Bailey, Eric Tang, Bruno Esquen and Adam Powell took first place with a time of 1:34.27.
After Chester Dols, Sean Mackenzie and Alex Smith when 2-3-4 in the 100 free, Columbia had a slight edge over Harvard point-wise, leading the meet 29-26. In what would be the theme for the most of the meet, Harvard regained the lead after the next event, the 200 free. Harvard used a first place finish along with third and fifth to go ahead with 39 points. Columbia added to its own point total with Darren Pagan's second place finish (1:44.46), and first-year Joseph Beutler coming in fourth (1:45.74) to put the Lions at 35.
First-year Patrick Dougherty had a huge win in the 100 back, winning in 53:05, while sophomore Johnny Bailey came in third, at 53:74. Those two places, along with Nate Mormann's fifth place mark, put Columbia back in the driver's seat, 48-45. Though Harvard took first in the 100 breast, a second place swim by Eric Tang (who finished in 59.09), along with a third place mark from Ross Ramone, and a fourth-place finish by first-year Eric Mai kept Columbia on top 57-55 after six events.
The 200 fly saw Harvard sweep 1-2-3, and despite Adam Powell's first-place finish in the 50 free, with a time of 20.34, the Crimson went 2-3-4, pulling ahead in the points standings, 78-72, heading into the halfway mark.
One of the most exciting competitions of the night came in the 1-meter boards, as mere tenths of a point made up the difference in the end. First-year Jason Collazo ended up with the win, scoring 301.73 points on his dives. A Harvard diver was right behind him, with 301.35 points. With the 300+ point total, both athletes qualified for the NCAA Diving Zones, making Collazo the first Columbia athlete of the season to qualify for postseason competition. Mere tenths of a point also separated the difference between third and fourth place. Harvard's Zac Ranta snuck away with third, as he scored 274.95 points, but right behind him was Columbia's Michaelangelo Borghi, who scored 274.80 points, losing by just .15 points.
The 100 free saw Powell take first again, to improve to 6-0 in sprint events on the year, as he finished in 45.35. Though Harvard won the 200 back, senior Darren Pagan finished second in 1:53.46, followed by Dougherty, who finished third in 1:54.51, and after 11 events, the score was Harvard 107, Columbia 100.
The lead was enough however, and after Harvard took first in the 200 breast and first and second in the 500 free, the meet was seemingly out of Columbia's reach. Up 132-113 heading into the 100 fly, Harvard's Nicolas Tan edged sophomore Bruno Esquen by one hundredth of a second, 50.64 to 50.65, and a Crimson 1-2 finish in the 200 IM made it official, as Harvard took the 161-122 lead heading into the last event of the night.
Columbia had a strong finish to the meet however, as its lone relay squad of Mitchell Phillips, Patrick Dougherty, Joseph Jeffers and Adam Powell took first easily, winning the event in 3:07.43. But in the end, it was Harvard who would come away victorious, as they edged the Lions 167-133.
Up next, the Lions have a mere 15 hours of rest, as they will get right back into Uris Pool to host Army, Saturday, November 21 at 12 p.m.
Players Mentioned
