Feb. 24, 2006
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - Riding the strength of an outstanding morning session that saw Columbia place six individuals in championship finals, Columbia climbed from sixth to fourth in day two of the Ivy League Championships at Harvard.
The Lions' two-day total is 620.5 to trail Penn by 30 points for third. Princeton and Harvard are first and second, respectively, with 1047 and 947 points.
Columbia's 800-yard freestyle of junior Kathryn Taylor and first-years Hannah Galey, Casey Weddle and Lauren Fraley finished third in 7:32.97 to close a strong day. Weddle put distance on both Yale and Penn in the third leg and Fraley held off both opponents in the anchor spot.
Columbia was stacked in the 100 back, with five individuals qualifying for either the consolation or championship final. First-year Casey Weddle was fifth in 58.42 and junior Kelly McConnell was just behind her teammate in 58.50 for seventh place. In the consolation heat, first-years Bridgette McCabe, Charlotte Chiang and Lauren Fraley finished fifth, sixth and eighth.
Following the event, the Lions had pulled within 1.5 points of Yale and had opened a 42.5-point lead on Brown. The Lions trailed the Bulldogs by 32.5 and the Bears by 29.5 at the start of the day. Columbia has never finished higher than fifth at the Ivy League Championships.
Weddle and McConnell's finishes duplicated their efforts from the championship final in the 100 fly. Weddle surged from eighth place at the halfway mark to finish fifth in 56.73, while McConnell was clocked in 57.15 for seventh.
Amy Krakauer had the team's highest finish of the day. The sophomore breaststroker finished third in the 100-yard event in 1:04.16. Senior co-captain Susannah Knox was 13th in 1:06.61 and sophomore Lisa Rohrs was 21st.
The Lions got a big boost in the morning when junior Kathryn Taylor went 13 seconds faster than her seed time to finish sixth overall in the 1000 free in 10:15.65. Taylor's time was the third fastest of the morning and displaced five swimmers' times in the fast-seeded evening heat. Classmate Lauren Morford was 21st in 10:31.40.
While Columbia had no finalists in the 400 individual medley, first-year Rachel Coburn and sophomore Lisa Rohrs picked up 27 points by finishing fifth (4:32.72) and sixth (4:36.76), respectively, in the consolation heat for 13th and 14th overall. Sarah Fisher was 22nd.
The Lions crept past Yale following the 200 free, an event in which first-year Hannah Galey finished eighth in 1:52.85. Fraley won the bonus final (17th overall) and junior Kaki Dudley was 20th.
Columbia opened the evening session with a sixth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. McConnell, Knox, Bailey and McCue swam 1:46.71.
The meet concludes with seven events Saturday.
