Penn earns a split at home

W. Swimming beats Johns Hopkins but loses to Harvard, 133-91. This weekend was a busy one for the Penn women's swimming team. On Friday, the Quakers beat Johns Hopkins 139-90, but lost yesterday to Harvard 133-91. Despite having finished the dual-meet season without a single league win, Penn has managed to remain focused on the progress they're making this season. "The team has come together well at the end of the season, and as a result everyone is swimming better for it," Quakers sophomore Jenn Triolo said. The improvement was more evident at Friday's meet, where the Quakers won five of eight individual events and came in first in both relays. The relay team -- Michelle Amicone, Jamie Taylor, Triolo and Alycia Kaufman -- finished first with one of their best times ever, two minutes, 23.79 seconds. In addition, Triolo placed second in the 200-backstroke with a time of 2:52. Penn freshman Jen Walsh won both the 400-individual medley and the 200-butterfly, and her teammate Caroline Shipps won the 50-breaststroke and the 100-breaststroke. Sophomore Johanna Minich again had a strong performance, placing second in the one-meter dive and first in the three-meter. "Beating Rutgers was key," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "It reinforces our own confidence. Beating Hopkins is also a great sign of improvement, since last year it came down to the last relay and we tied them." Yesterday, however, the Crimson were able to snap the Quakers' winning streak of two with a score of 133-91. Both Penn and Harvard have had two meets within the last four days and were tired for the contest. The coaches, who are long-term friends, took this into consideration during the hour-long meet, an unusually short time. Both Lawlor-Gilbert and Harvard coach Maura Scalise were interested in doing what's best for the swimmers. Their goal was just to have them compete, not to push them to their physical limits. Minich placed second in both the one-meter and the three-meter dives. Penn's Kelly James won first place in the 500-freestyle, as did Heather Wilder in the 200-breaststroke. Wilder, Price and Jen Marzullo swept the 200-breaststroke, finishing first, second and third, respectively. "The women are tough and tenacious," Lawlor-Gilbert said. "Taylor, for example, swam the 200-yard butterfly, had a break for one event and then swam the 200-yard backstroke. They're upbeat, positive, enthusiastic and willing try stuff. That's why they're great to coach." Amicone, Bridget Adams, Triolo and Heather Rouse finished first in the 200-freestyle relay, and their Quakers teammates Christy Meyer, Lauren Hibbert, James and Gretchen Price came in three seconds behind them. "We're competing well -- the sophomores are really pulling it together," James said. "We're a lot stronger, and our times are consistently better than first semester. Although we may be second best, we're showing our depth by stepping up, getting in there and racing." With only one more meet left before Easterns, the Quakers can only hope that their upward trend continues and that it reaches a point at which they can challenge their former competitors at the Championships. But is three weekends enough time?

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