Nostalgia, not Harvard, rules at Scheer

Harvard may have dominated the pool this past Saturday, with a 189-104 victory, but it was Penn's seniors who had the crowd on their side as they competed in their final career home meet.

Before the meet began, Coach Mike Schnur introduced his four senior swimmers - Alex Keeney, Chris Weitekamp and co-captains Devon Carr and Pat Gallagher - to a crowd filled with family members and friends.

"Devon and Pat are two of the best swimmers we've had," Schnur said later. "They represent everything we want about Penn swimming."

On Senior Day, Schnur let the four decide the races in which they would participate.

Alex Keeney wanted his last race at Sheerr Pool to be the 100 fly. He finished in second place, with a time that was just one-tenth short of his personal best.

Chris Weitekamp has historically competed in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 back, but on Saturday, he chose to swim the 200 IM. He came in second.

Pat Gallagher, whom Schnur calls a "very versatile swimmer," picked the 50 and 500 free. He won both events, and they were Penn's only two individual victories for the day.

Devon Carr, who swims shorter distances, wanted to finish his career with the 500 free. He finished three seconds behind fellow captain Gallagher.

But neither the seniors nor the rest of the Quakers could stop Harvard.

With the win, the Crimson finished the season with a perfect record and a sixth straight Ivy title.

"We had a lot of good, competitive races," said Schnur. "There have been some years where Harvard just demolished us, but it wasn't the case this year."

While Penn grabbed the top spot in just three of 16 races, many of the Red and Blue men finished right behind Crimson swimmers to capture second place.

Most impressive was the 100 free, in which Penn swimmers took second, third and fourth.

The Quakers also won the final event of the day, the 200 free relay.

Fittingly enough, captains Carr and Gallagher led off the race for the winning team.

"It's hard to believe it's already been four years," Gallagher said.

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