NEW YORK — After winning 11-of-16 events overall, the Columbia women's swimming and diving team handed the visiting Princeton Tigers their first dual loss of the season, earning a 160-140 victory at Percy Uris Natatorium on Friday evening.
 
The triumph marked Columbia's first over the Tigers since the 2013-14 season, and just the third win in the all-time series between the two programs.
 
"The team energy has just been incredible this entire year," said senior captain Jessica Antiles. "We've been working so hard. Our coaches have been giving us brutal sets and every single day at practice we've just been working so hard. I think it's because of that why all our hard work has paid off."
 
Columbia used eight-straight event victories to open the meet to take a substantial lead over Princeton, but the Tigers eventually responded with four-straight wins of their own to make it a tight race in the end.
 
First-year Briget Rosendahl got things moving on the right foot, claiming the 3-meter title with a score of 305.33.
 
"Great performances by all the divers tonight," said head diving coach Scott Donie. "Briget's 3-meter performance ranks among the best in Columbia history, just three points from our varsity record. It takes a complete team effort to beat a team like Princeton."
 
The Lions lengthened their lead with first and third-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay. Columbia's 'A' team of junior Julia Samson, Antiles, sophomore Emily Wang and senior Mary Ashby combined for the victory with a time of 1:44.42.
 
Junior Clare MacNamara helped Columbia hold its lead with a win in the 1,000 freestyle at 10:30.48, but the Tigers were still keeping it close by finishing second, third and fourth in the event.
 
A 1-2 finish from sophomore Jessica He and Antiles helped widen Columbia's edge at the time. He took the event title with a time of 1:51.97, while Antiles followed in 1:53.42.
 
In the 100 backstroke, Samson and first-year Kasey Karkoska took the top two spots, respectively, to help the Lions nearly double Princeton's team total, 60-33.
 
Junior Helen Wojdylo continued from her strong performances a week ago at the Rutgers Invite, finishing first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.60. First-year Yani Le was third in the race at 1:06.29.
 
Princeton looked to be on the verge of winning its first event as Cathy Teng led at the final turn of the 200 butterfly, but first-year Mary Pruden turned on the jets in the last 50 yards to take the crown at 2:04.40.
 
Continuing to expand the lead, first-year Clare Larsen led Columbia in a 1-2-3 sweep of the 50 free. Larsen earned the top spot with a time of 24.35, followed by Ashby (24.43) and first-year Claire Lin (24.55).
 
At the halfway point in the meet, Columbia had taken all eight first-place finishes and held onto a 98-52 lead.
 
The Tigers finally earned their first event victory of the meet on the 1-meter springboard. Rosendahl was Columbia's top finisher in the event, taking fourth with a score of 258.45. Fellow first-year Michelle Lee was fifth in 246.75.
 
Princeton continued to close the gap with wins in the 100 free, 200 back and 200 breast, but the Lions held onto a 122-104 lead.
 
Larsen helped get Columbia moving back in the right direction, winning her second event of the night in the 500 free with a time of 4:59.68, but Princeton answered back with a victory in the 100 fly to make it 138-126, Lions.
 
In the final individual event of the night, Antiles took over the lead with a strong breaststroke leg to win the 200 IM in 2:03.61. Pruden placed fourth in the event in 2:07.31 to give the Lions 12 points in the race.
 
Simply needing to place third in the 200 free relay, the Lions delivered and more as Ashby, He, Larsen and Lin teamed up for a first-place time of 1:35.19.
 
Columbia will break from competition for more than a month, resuming competition on Jan. 12, 2019 at Cornell. The meet is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET in Ithaca, New York.
 
For the latest on the Columbia women's swimming and diving program, follow @CULadySwim on Twitter and Instagram, @ColumbiaDiving on Instagram and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.