Crimson leave Quakers in their wake

Going into the meet, the Penn men's swimming team knew about Harvard's status as one of the top teams in the Ivy League and even the country. Quickly learning that Harvard lived up to its billing, Penn used Saturday's season finale as a learning experience in the Crimson's 220-80 shellacking. "We know that these are the guys that we are going to have to deal with at Eastern Finals, so it was good to see how close our guys are," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. The Quakers entered the meet after two consecutive wins, looking to hand Harvard an upset at Sheerr Pool and head in to the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming Championships on a win streak. Though a win did not look promising, the meet represented a chance to honor the team's four seniors. "It was good to see all of the parents in the stands supporting the seniors in their last meet here," Schnur said. Although generally outclassed by Crimson reserves, the Quakers eked out four second-place finishes on the day. Junior Shaun Lehrer took second in the 1650 freestyle, senior Chris Miller in the 100 breaststroke and junior Andrew Trout in the 50 freestyle.

Freshman phenom Pat Maloney continued his impressive first year debut, finishing second in the 400 individual medley and first in his specialty event, the 200 butterfly. Maloney explains that his comeback win against Harvard's Ryan Smith can be attributed to his pacing during the race. "I knew he went out a little too fast at the beginning and that he might fall apart at the end,"Maloney said. "He is a great swimmer and I'm just glad I was patient." While Maloney's foe in the 200 fly was an Eastern finalist last year, Harvard rested the majority of their top swimmers. Crimson co-captain Dan Shevchick has the 11th best 200 backstroke time in the country. Fortunately for Penn, this weekend he swam the 100 breast, placing fourth out of five swimmers. "If their 'B' guys are as good or better than out 'A' guys, then I guess they can do that,"Schnur said. With Harvard convincingly in front, the Quakers used the exhibition-like meet to have some fun. Freshman Casey O'Mera was called upon to swim the 500 free, an event that he hasn't swum since he was 14. Completing the race almost a minute behind everyone else, Casey's lone last laps were met with the loudest applause of the day. "I just tried not to get lapped," O'Mera said. "Coach is sick; he likes to see us suffer." Meanwhile, seniors Chris Miller and Nate Pinney -- a breaststroke specialist and distance freestyler, respectively -- stepped outside their traditional events to compete in their annual 100 back race. Miller won the competition this year, but failed to break his goal of under two minutes.

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