No third place (yet), but don't blame Coenen

PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 15 - It might only be Day One of the 2007 Ivy League Women's Swimming Championship, but Penn has already made history.

"We had a finalist in every event, and that's the first time that's happened in school history," coach Mike Schnur said. "If we do that in every [remaining] event I'll be more than thrilled."

Completing the first day of the three-day meet at DeNuzio Pool on Princeton's campus, the Quakers currently find themselves in fourth place with 284 points, behind the Tigers (497), Harvard (358) and Yale (356.5). These teams finished in the same order during the regular season.

In addition to having five finalists in all of the four individual events, the team also broke three school records.

In the 400 medley relay, the Quakers shattered two marks. The group broke the school record by almost two seconds, and within the relay, freshman Sara Coenen broke her own 100-yard backstroke school record in that leg of the race.

Coenen also broke her 200-yard individual medley time, another school record.

"I actually didn't think of breaking the records," Coenen said. "I was just trying to race the people next to me, since I have to swim against them tomorrow. Hopefully my legs aren't too tired tomorrow and I can go a little bit faster."

Going into the meet, the Quakers' goal was to finish third, which would be their highest finish ever. Although they're currently about 75 points from the goal, they remain optimistic, as not all of their swimmers competed today.

"Today we didn't really have many swims," Schnur said. "We have 17 swimmers here, and only 10 of them swam today. So all we wanted to do today was hang around and then make our move tomorrow."

"We still definitely have a great shot at third place," senior tri-captain Alison Bretherick said. "We're not out of third by that much, and we've got a bunch more of races tomorrow that people are really strong in, so I think we're going to do even better in the next few days."

The championship meet gives the team a whole new experience. Unlike the low-key atmosphere of a regular season dual-meet at Sheerr Pool, at this meet all eight schools have their own cheering section, filled with loud parents and supporters. In addition to the added spectators, the DeNuzio Pool's jumbotron added another element to the meet.

Another difference was the intensity of the competition.

"It's a really high level of competition this year," Coenen said. "I'm really surprised. The 500 [yard freestyle] was really fast as well as the 200 IM. I guess it's a good thing that the Ivy League is getting a higher level of athletes."

The winner of the 500 yard freestyle, Princeton freshman Alicia Aemisegger, broke an Ivy League Championship Meet record. And Penn's Cammie Villarreal, who finished seventh overall in the event, was one tenth of a second off from the school record.

If the Quakers can continue the success they had here last night, Yale's lock third place won't be the only mark in jeopardy.

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