Penn downs Hopkins

Quakers' Brown winsQuakers' Brown winsshowdown in 200 fly It might have been freezing outside Saturday, but the heat was on in Sheerr Pool. The Penn men's swimming team torched Johns Hopkins, 178-117, winning almost every swimming event and both diving events. Since the men's and women's meets were held simultaneously, both coaches elected to use the women's format. For the men, that meant three extra races -- the 100-yard breaststroke, the 100 butterfly and the 100 butterfly. The relays were shortened to 200 yards instead of 400 yards, and the 1,000 freestyle was replaced by the 400 individual medley. One of the most anticipated matchups of the meet pitted Penn captain Jeff Brown against Johns Hopkins star sophomore Matt Johnson. Last year, Johnson won the 100 butterfly at the NCAA Division III Championships. Johnson led for the first 175 yards before Brown blew past him. "I knew he was good in the 100 fly, but I suspected he didn't have the same talent in the 200," Brown said. "I held back and let him control the race, hoping he wouldn't have enough left at the end." Johnson had another crack at the Penn butterfly specialists later in the meet. Johnson's specialty, the 100 butterfly, is rarely raced in men's dual meets, but Saturday was an exception. Penn coach Kathy Lawlor Gilbert entered freshman Ryan Kafer, who has owned every freestyle race he has entered this year, in the 100 butterfly. Kafer, who had already claimed both the 50 and 200 freestyle, evidently had enough gas left to defeat the NCAA champion by .03 seconds. "That race had two guys who are clearly at the top of the class in the country in the 100 fly," Brown said. "You don't often see that in Ivy League competition." The Quakers (5-3) have dominated the freestyle and the butterfly this season. Penn has been weaker in the stroke events, so normally the addition of extra stroke races would have been a disadvantage. But although Johns Hopkins (7-2) is a Division III powerhouse, the Blue Jays are not as strong as most of the teams the Quakers usually face. "This meet was an opportunity for the stroke people to get practice swimming the sprint races," Brown said. "They'll have to swim those at Easterns in four weeks. You can swim the 100-yard races over and over in practice, but you lose the competitive feel for the races if you're not in a meet situation." Penn divers also had a successful meet. Senior Josh Schultz won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events, while sophomore C.J. Sipowicz took third place in both events. Freshman Matt Gries placed second in the 3-meter event. Gries, a former gymnast, has been diving for just three months. "One of the first things I did when I came to Penn was look up the diving department," Gries said. "Then I sprained my ankle and ddn't get really started until November and then I had to play catchup. I've been inconsistent this season, but I'm not expecting too much out of myself yet." Gries was not the only gymnast-turned-diver at Sheerr Pool. Fellow freshman Jessica Ngo is in the same situation, and for the first time, both freshmen competed side by side, since the men's and women's diving events were held simultaneously. "Usually the guys are in the stands cheering for the girls and the girls are in the stands cheering for us," Brown said. "But Saturday we did cheers together."