Columbia
CORNELL
Men's Swimming & Diving Drops 152-148 Heartbreaker to Cornell
1/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
NEW YORK - In a meet that had the two teams battling for a close lead and came down to the last relay of the night, Cornell beat Columbia men's swimming diving by a sliver, 152-148 in Uris Pool. In front of a homecoming crowd that was standing room only, the Lions fought hard, but fell to 4-3 overall, and 1-3 in the Ivy League.
The meet started with the right tone, as first-year Jason Collazo opened the day with a win in the 3m diving competition, scoring 305.48 points, and giving the Lions an early lead. With the swimming portion of the meet starting, Columbia kept the ball rolling, as Johnny Bailey, Eric Tang, Bruno Esquen and Adam Powell brought in another win in the 200 medley relay, with a final time of 1:32.80.
First-year Sean MacKenzie had a dominant win in the next event, the 1000 free, as he beat the field by two seconds. MacKenzie came in at 9:50.58, followed by teammates Chester Dols and Alex Smith, who came in second (9:52.58) and third (10:02.79) respectively. In the 100 back, sophomore Johnny Bailey had a great come-from-behind effort, surging in the last 50 yards to finish second, in 52.04. Bailey hit the wall just ahead of teammate Patrick Dougherty, who took third in 52.13. Senior Eric Tang had a strong swim in the 100 breast, as he came in second with at time of 58.07. Esquen and sophomore Robert Eyckmans also brought in valuable points for the Lions, as they came in second and third in the 200 fly, in 1:54.62 and 1:55.82. Junior Adam Powell closed the first half of the meet out with a win, as he took first in the 50 free with a time of 20.51. Powell has yet to lose the event this season.
In the second half of the meet, Columbia divers came up big once again. Collazo took first place for the second time that day, with 279.60 points. Classmate Michaelangelo Borghi came in second with 270.30 points, while junior David Levkoff earned points for the team in fourth place, with 260.85 points. As the second half of the swimming events began, Powell earned another win for the Lions, taking the 100 free in 45.56.
The 200 back saw Cornell take first place, but Dougherty finished a close second in 1:54.09, just ahead of senior captain Darren Pagan, who came in at 1:54.28. The second distance event of the night, the 500 free, proved to be one of the more exciting races of the night, as Cornell's Dean Holcomb and Sean MacKenzie battled for first place throughout the 20 laps. In the end, Holcomb edged MacKenzie, who finished second in 4:39.94. Teammate Dols came in third, in 4:47.48, while Smith took fourth in 4:50.35.
Though Columbia held a slight lead heading into the last three events of the night, the Lions needed to take first in either the 100 fly or the 200 IM in order to put themselves in position to win the meet. IN the 100 fly, sophomore Bruno Esquen put forth a valiant effort, but he was bested by Cornell's James Keady, taking second in 51.10. And in the 200 IM, Cornell's Michael Cai and Chris Keady went 1-2, putting the Big Red up 146-137. With the 400 free relay left in the meet, Columbia needed to take all three of the top spots to earn the win.
Columbia's Dougherty, Mitchell Phillips, Esquen and Powell managed to win the event with a time of 3:06.88, earning 11 crucial points for the Lions, but Cornell took second and third place, solidifying the win, 152-148.
Up next, the men's swimming & diving team heads north to Dartmouth, Mass., where they will take on Ivy rival Brown at a neutral site, Friday, January 29 at 4 p.m.
Players Mentioned
