Lions Cruise Past Penn in Season Opener, 195-105

Friday, November 8

New York, N.Y.

5:00 P.M.

Columbia University

195

105

Penn

Photo by: Mike McLaughlin

Lions Cruise Past Penn in Season Opener, 195-105

11/8/2019 10:27:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Results (PDF)

Columbia won 12 of 16 events overall, while first-years accounted for seven individual wins

NEW YORK — Kicking off the 2019-20 campaign on a high note, the Columbia women's swimming and diving team earned a convincing 195-105 triumph over the visiting Penn Quakers inside Percy Uris Natatorium on Friday night.

Winning 12 of 16 events overall in the meet, Columbia had seven different individual event winners while also claiming top honors in both relays. With some fresh faces in the pool for the first time, the first-years showed out in a big way, winning seven of the Lions' 10 titles.

"This Columbia team has been can-do from day one," said Columbia head coach Diana Caskey after the meet. "They are process-oriented and supportive of each other. It was great to see them race today!"

First-year diver Livy Poulin started things off by winning the 3-meter springboard event, posting a winning score of 267.30, just ahead of second-place finisher and teammate Briget Rosendahl (267.15). Rosendahl went on to win the 1-meter board with a score of 270.00, leading a 1-2-3 Columbia finish in front of Poulin (269.25) and sophomore Michelle Lee (163.10).

"A very encouraging start to the season," said diving coach Scott Donie. "Two NCAA Zone scores, and trust me there is more to come from this group. We will keep working hard and I believe we will get even better."

Opening up the swimming events, Columbia's 200-yard medley relay squad of Julia Samson, Helen Wojdylo, Jessica Peng and Clare Larsen combined for a winning time of 1:44.66, with the Lions team of Jing Tan, Olivia Jubin, Emily Wang and Jessica He finishing second at 1:45.68.

Jubin registered Columbia's first individual swimming victory of the night in her collegiate debut, clocking a 1:51.26 in the 200 freestyle before also winning the 500 free with a time of 4:58.71. Fellow first-year Karen Liu also won a pair of races, taking first in both the 200 butterfly (2:02.03) and 200 individual medley (2:03.34).

Senior captain Wojdylo unsurprisingly swept the breaststroke races, first taking the 100 breast at 1:03.64 before claiming the 200 breast with an dual-meet-best time of 2:19.85.

Junior He led the pack in the 50 free, going 23.74 ahead of teammate Claire Lin who placed second in 24.32. He went on to place second in the 100 free (52.34), only behind first-year Lion Tina Le with a time of 52.22.

Capping off the night, Columbia's quartet of Le, Jubin, Peng and senior Audrey Richter raced to a winning mark of 1:36.40 in the 200 free relay.

The Lions continue Ivy action next Friday, Nov. 15, bringing in the Yale Bulldogs for a 5 p.m. meeting at Uris Natatorium.

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.