In a much anticipated rival matchup, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer teams faced off at the Haldeman Pool on Saturday, Feb 6th. Of the many great sport rivalries, non are more proximal than the PP-CMS dynamic, where athletes of both teams share their college classes, dining halls, and campus grounds. Adding to the fire, neither team sends the majority of its swimmers to mid-season taper meets, so this dual meet often serves up many of the seed times going into the SCIAC championships.
They say that competition brings out the best, and Saturday was no exception. All four squads had by far their strongest showings of the season, and this meet was the fastest SCIAC dual meet in history. This year, the CMS Athenas suffered their first SCIAC loss since 2003, and by a sly 6 points. On the men’s side, CMS retained its winning streak against the Hens (and other SCIAC competition), but by a narrower margin than in previous years. Final scores were 152:146 on the women’s side and 174:124 for the men.
For full results, click here
Men’s Meet:
The meet started off with a bang. The Sagehen team of Samuel To, Teddy Koerner, Daniel Villars, and Phillip Clayman clocked in at 1:32.90, just faster than the 1:32.98 anchored by CMS sophomore Noah Deer. Along with Joey Hinton who anchored the 3rd place CMS relay, both Deer and Clayman anchored in 20-points.
PP followed up with a win in the 1000 freestyle by freshman Jack Swanson in 9:52.56, the fastest time in SCIAC this year. Aaron Lutzker and Jacob Eynon of CMS finished second and third.
The 200 freestyle featured a fantastic race between CMS Senior Alex Poltash and PP Sophomore Mark Hallman. Like last year’s dual meet, Poltash was able to clinch the win, this time 1:41.80 to 1:48.89. Both are best ever in season swims, and are the top two in the conference. In a breakout swim, Philip Clayman of PP took third in 1:43.21, ranking 3rd in SCIAC.
Matt Williams of CMS was dominant in the 100 back, and his a 49.82 currently ranks 10th nationally, and is the top SCIAC time this season. Samuel To from PP took second in 51.45, and John Jeang of CMS took 3rd in 54.04.
In what was a breakout meet for him, PP freshman Teddy Koerner went a career best time in the 100 breast to take the win in 57.59, just missing the B cut by .04. He was followed by a pair of CMS freshman: Welty (57.83) and Lutzker (58.20).
In his first event of the day, CMS senior Matt Valentine lit the pool on fire in the 200 butterfly. His time of 1:51.50 is by far the fastest time in the SCIAC this season, and is one of the fastest untapered 200 fly times in Division 3 this year. This was the best in season-swim of his career at CMS. Finishing second was John Everett of CMS in 1:54.83, and third was Alexander Landau of PP in 1:58.41 -both season best times.
The 50 freestyle was an absolute battle. In a knockout swim, PP senior Philip Clayman went a career PR of 21.12 to take the win over reigning SCIAC champ Alex Poltash (21.25), Adrian Hui of PP (21.32) and Deer (21.33).
After the diving break, The Stag sprinters came back with a vengeance. CMS senior Joe Hinton blasted away his fastest ever in-season swim to take the 100 freestyle in 46.96. He was closely followed by Deer, his teammate, in 47.05. Hallman was third in 47.16.
Williams returned to take the 200 backstroke in SCIAC-leading fashion with a 1:52.31. Erik Garcia (PP) took second in 1:55.00, and Jeang snagged third place for the Stags with 1:56.11.
Amidst a trio of strong freshman breaststrokers, it was Aaron Lutzker of CMS who surged to a lead in the final 30 yards to take the victory in 2:05.59. Koerner, winner of the 100 breast, took second in 2:06.23, which was also a PR for him. CMS freshman Tyler Welty took third in 2:06.45, beating his previous season best by three seconds.
In what was by far his best 500 freestyle of the season, CMS’ Jackson Crewe lead the way from start to finish to take the event in 4:44.97. He was two seconds ahead of Hallman (4:46.97), who was fresh off the 100 freestyle only 10 minutes earlier. Spencer Satz of PP took third in 4:48.92.
The 100 fly proved to be much more of a nail biter than the 200 was earlier. In a finish reminiscent of Cavic-Phelps in ’08, it was PP’s Samuel To who got to the wall first in 50.88, edging out Valentine by .01. For both swimmers, these are their fastest ever dual meet swims in this event. Daniel Villars (PP) was third in 52.20, a season best time.
The 200 IM was a strong showing for the stags, with Lutzker and Crewe taking the top two spots with 1:56.99 and 1:57.16, respectively. Garcia took third in 1:58.24, his fastest time this year.
The CMS men controlled the 400 free relay from start to finish, propelled by Alex Poltash’s blistering 46.13 leadoff leg, which puts him atop the SCIAC rankings. Other members for the Stags were: Williams (46.07), Deer (46.04), and Hinton (46.63). Their relay time of 3:04.87 is by far the fastest in SCIAC this year, and the second fastest in D3 since the new year began (behind Kenyon). The PP team of Clayman (46.58), To (46.15), Hui (47.69), and Hallman (46.91) took second in 3:07.33, and PP also took 3rd. Clayman’s leadoff time was a PR and ranks him second in SCIAC this year.
In diving events, Victor Ginelli and Patrick Quarberg swept the diving events for CMS, with Ginelli taking the 3 meter, and Quarberg taking the 1 meter. Jeremy Goldberg of PP taking third on both boards.
The CMS senior men have now gone undefeated in conference dual meets since their arrival on campus in 2012.
Women’s Meet:
The Sagehen women took charge with a winning performance from the all-first-year 200 medley relay team of Angelia Ling, Erin Bigus, Sarah Jin, and Madison Kauahi who posted a time of 1:46.24. Ling, who is currently ranked first in D3 in the 100 backstroke, leapt out to a lead early on, and Kauahi’s 23.3 anchor put them squarely in first. CMS kept things interesting by taking up both 2nd (1:48.36) and 3rd (1:52.43).
The 1000 proved yet another victory for the Hens. PP Sophomore Kelsey Thomas lead the race from start to finish, taking it in 10:42.38, ahead of Lizzie Carrade of CMS in 10:45.40. Vee Vanderpoel of PP took third in 10:49.60.
CMS fought back hard in the 200 freestyle, taking both first and second. Junior Kelly Ngo and first year Emma Stacy went 1:56.54 and 1:57.82, respectively -both season bests. PP junior Cayla Nishizaki of PP took third in 1:58.82.
The PP first year combo of Angela Ling and Sarah Jin flexed their season-long dominance in this event, taking first (57.40) and second (58.13). In third was CMS sophomore Anastasia Ibrahim in 1:00.71, a season best time.
CMS continued to fight back, with Junior Emily McKinnon taking a solid win in the 100 breaststroke. McKinnon, and 200 specialist, used a remarkable back half to move from fourth at the 50 to first at the 100 by over a second. Bigus was second in 1:08.49, and CMS junior Kayla Flaten was third in 1:08.74. All three swims were season bests.
Perhaps inspired by her teammate, Stephanie Doi of CMS used her closing speed to clinch a win in the 200 butterfly over Kara Miller-Radest of PP and Naomi Ngo of CMS. Their times of 2:09.48, 2:09.65, and 2:09.67 rank first through third this year in SCIAC.
Feeling their lead starting to shrink, the PP hens gained a surge in the sprint freestyle events. In the 50, Kauahi blasted a 23.94 to take first, and Nishizaki claimed second in 24.81. Courtney Chan of CMS took third in 25.03.
After the diving break, Kauahi returned to take the 100 in 52.44, the fastest time in SCIAC this year and only .3 off the B cut. Ngo took second in 53.83, and Nishizaki was third in 54.14.
Ling doubled up on the backstroke events, leading a 1-2-3 sweep in the event for the hens. She lead in 2:08.59, and was followed by Lavinya Yap in 2:10.95, and Vanderpoel in 2:12.20. Ibrahim of CMS was fourth in 2:13.09. In an amazingly close meet, this was the only instance on either the men’s or women’s side that an event had the top three spots taken by a single team.
in the 200 breast, McKinnon used her closing speed yet again to seal a win over Erin Bigus, 2:25.70 to 2:27.59. McKinnon’s swim ranks her first in SCIAC, and both were season bests. Flaten was third in 2:28.71.
Continuing her distance streak, Thomas took the 500 in 5:14.62, using a quick last 100 to surge ahead of CMS sophomores Lauren Rosenberger (5:16.05) and Lizzie Carrade (5:18.54) in a very exciting race.
To follow up for CMS, Doi ripped a 57.81 in the 100 fly to take first in SCIAC-leading fashion. Sarah Jin of PP was second in 59.30 and Naomi Ngo was third in 59.32.
After a quick break between events, the 2IM served up some deja-vu: Once again it was Doi, Jin and Naomi Ngo who took first through third in the event. Apparently still fresh from the 100 fly only 15 minutes earlier, Doi used a strong breaststroke leg to hammer out a decisive win in the 2IM with a 2:10.28, bringing her third individual victory of the day in a season best time. Jin (2:13.23) and Ngo (2:13.93) both went season bests to take second and third.
Tensions were high heading into the final relay, with women’s scores sitting 11 points apart – enough that a 1-2 finish for the Athenas (or a PP DQ) could still claim victory.
The CMS ‘A’ team of Ngo (53.00), Chan (53.99), Stacy (53.99), and Riley Hoffman (53.44) took first in 3:33.94, a SCIAC leading time. They held off a blistering 51.09 closing split from Kauahi of PP, which took second in 3:34.31. The PP ladies also took third with 3:38.20, thus sealing their win for the day.
The CMS and PP squads will meet again on Feb 18th at the SCIAC championships.
Swimming news courtesy of CMS and PP.