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(03/03/03 10:00am)
Heading into Saturday's game against Notre Dame, Penn men's lacrosse coach Brian Voelker refused to look at tape from last season, instead choosing his debut lineup based on fall and winter training.
Unfortunately for Voelker, his chosen lineup for the No. 23 Quakers opened the season with a 15-4 loss to No. 17 Notre Dame. With the loss, Penn failed to repeat last year's upset victory over the Fightin' Irish in Philadelphia.
Leading 5-4 at halftime, the Irish surged out of the gates in the second half, outscoring the Red and Blue 9-1 in the second half.
"We played really hard in the first half but [Notre Dame] came out in the second half like a different team," Penn freshman attackman James Riordan said.
The Irish were led by junior attackman Matt Howell, who scored three goals and collected two assists. Howell, last week's Great Western Lacrosse League Player of the Week, scored two of his three goals in the first four minutes of the game.
Notre Dame freshman midfielder Matt Karweck also contributed three goals.
The Irish opened the third quarter with four unanswered goals before Penn junior Will Phillips scored to cut the lead to 9-5 with two minutes, two seconds left.
Notre Dame went on to score five more unanswered, including back-to-back goals by attackman Pat Walsh to finish out the quarter. The Irish (2-0) went on to shut out Penn in the fourth quarter.
"We had a more balanced offensive effort in the first half," Riordan said. "But in the third and fourth quarter it fell apart."
Riordan led the Quakers (0-1) with two goals and one assist in his collegiate debut. Junior Will Phillips also notched two goals for the Quakers, while freshman Luke Dixson added the fifth.
The Irish jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Howell's first goal of the game. Phillips' first goal came with 7:23 remaining, closing Notre Dame's lead to 2-1.
The Irish extended their lead to 3-1 with 6:38 to play when Karweck scored his first goal off an assist from Walsh.
The Quakers tied the game at 3-3 in the second quarter after back-to back goals by Riordan and Dixson.
Notre Dame junior attackman Dan Berger's sole goal of the game came with 59 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Irish a 5-4 edge before the second half onslaught.
Penn senior Mark Gannon played the entire 60 minutes for Penn in his debut in goal, turning aside seven shots. Junior goalkeeper Stewart Crosland recorded 10 saves in 58 minutes for the Irish.
The Quakers' one tangible advantage -- experience -- never materialized, as the Notre Dame freshmen combined for 11 of the team's 22 total points.
"Their rookies played a very good game," Riordan said. "Scoring half your team's total points in your home opener deserves a lot of credit."
Some Penn players felt that more than the improved Notre Dame team was responsible for the loss.
"We have been running in cold Philadelphia weather since January, and the field at Notre Dame felt like 90 degrees," Dixson said. "Also, we played with a green ball, something I never did in high school."
(02/28/03 10:00am)
A year ago at Franklin Field, Sonny Sarker's game-winning goal with 4:30 left in regulation got the career of first-year coach Matt Hogan off to a strong start, giving the then-unranked Penn men's lacrosse team a 7-6 upset win over No. 11 Notre Dame.
Now, one year and one coach removed from the upset victory, the Quakers will attempt to repeat last year's performance on the road.
The No. 23 Quakers will open their 2003 campaign tomorrow against the No. 17 Fightin' Irish (1-0) at the Loftus Center in South Bend, Ind.
"We're all focusing on the Notre Dame game since it is the first one of the season," Penn senior co-captain Evan Weinberg said. "It would give the team a lot of momentum to start the year off with a win."
The Notre Dame game will also mark the coaching debut of Brian Voelker, Penn's third head coach in the last three years. While Voelker has coached at some of the premier teams in the nation, including Johns Hopkins and Princeton, he maintains that this year the Ivy League is stronger than it has ever been.
"We must take each game at a time, starting with Notre Dame," Voelker said. "Being part of such a strong conference means that each non-conference game counts more."
Last year's upset victory over the Irish has been considered a turning point in Penn lacrosse, as the Quakers went on to record their first nine-win season since 1989.
The Irish, on the other hand, went on to take second in the Great Western Lacrosse League losing the bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Which means that this year, the Irish will be seeking revenge.
Notre Dame "will definitely have last year on their minds, especially now that they're in front of their home crowd," Weinberg said. "Their loss to us last year didn't help their chances to get an at large bid into the tournament."
While tomorrow's game will have no bearing on either team's conference record, the Quakers recognize that another win over the Irish would be a huge boost to their program.
"When you have already beaten a team last year, its very important to do so again," sophomore goalie Loren Flaum said. "You want to prove that it didn't happen by chance."
But no one said it's going to be easy.
The Quakers will have to contend with Notre Dame's junior attackmen Matt Howell and Dan Berger. Howell, who was named Great Western Lacrosse League Player of the Week for last week, recorded a career high five assists in Notre Dame's 10-9 opening win over No.16 Penn State.
Despite Howell's presence, Penn will be focusing mainly on Berger, who scored a career-high four goals against the Quakers last year.
The Quakers will also have to play without last year's star goalie Ryan Kelly, who recorded 15 saves against the Irish last year. Kelly recently left the team because of personal reasons. Seniors Jim Tyrell and Mark Gannon as well as sophomores Loren Flaum and Denis Cole could all receive playing time in the net.
The one advantage the Quakers will definitely have is experience. The Irish return only five seniors this year, with most of their positions occupied by freshmen and sophomores.
"They're a pretty young team this year," Flaum said. "If it comes down to crunch time like it did last year, our veterans can use this to our advantage."
(02/27/03 10:00am)
The 2003 season will be a season of firsts for the Penn men's lacrosse team.
It will be a chance for the team to record back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 13 years.
It will be the first time in two years the team will not have Ryan Kelly, last year's Most Outstanding Player, supporting the squad in goal.
And it will all be done under the helm of first-year coach and former professional lacrosse player, Brian Voelker.
"I'm really excited to become part of this program and Ivy league lacrosse in general," Voelker said. "In my view the Ivy League is the best conference every year in Division I."
Most recently Voelker guided the Baltimore Bayhawks to the inaugural championship game of the Major Lacrosse League, serving as both head coach and general manager.
Voelker also spent nine seasons as a player and coach at Johns Hopkins University, one of the premier teams in the nation. He earned his first and only NCAA Championship ring while serving as defensive coordinator for the Princeton Tigers in 1992 under lacrosse legend Bill Tierney. He also played defense and was captain of the Philadelphia Wings 1998 championship team in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League.
"While I'm known as a mostly defense-oriented coach, our team is going to be balanced on both sides of the ball," Voelker said.
The defense shouldn't be much of a problem, as the Quakers finished last year with the nation's sixth-ranked unit, and the second stingiest 'D' in the Ivies.
The strong defensive commitment was a key attribute to last year's Penn squad, and allowed the Quakers to enter the national coaches' and media polls last season, finishing in the top-20.
But graduation definitely took its toll.
The Quakers lost seven players from the class of 2002, including three of the top four scorers. Among the top players lost were defenseman and first team All-Ivy Scott Marimow, leading scorer attackman Scott Solow and midfielder Mike Iannacone.
"It's always hard when you lose such a unit of offensive scoring," Voelker said. "But we have some very solid offensive players coming in to balance our team."
Second-team All-Ivy Alex Kopicki scored a career high 20 points last year and netted nine goals. The midfielder was also selected by Inside Lacrosse/ Face Off Magazine as a preseason All-America-candidate for the second time in his career.
"[Alex] is the hitch to our wagon this year," Voelker said. "He's a great two-way midfielder and we're counting on him to help lead the younger players into their roles at all positions."
Joining Kopicki at midfield will be senior Jake Martin and junior Will Phillips. Both veterans have demonstrated their ability to shoot well on the run, giving the Red and Blue some much needed offensive support.
The attackmen are the youngest position on the Quakers lineup, consisting mostly of freshman and sophomores. Freshman Chase McGowan had a dynamic fall tournament and is expected to contribute to the Quakers' scoring. He will join junior Bob Graustein, who scored four goals last season, as well as sophomores Greg Voigt and Zandy Reich.
Defense is expected to be the least of the Quakers' worries, as two starters return from last season. Senior Stephen Brown and junior Patrick Connelly recorded the most minutes out of any returning player besides Kopicki last year, and were the backbone of the nation's sixth-ranked defense. Senior Evan Weinberg rounds out the solid unit.
"While we are generally known for defensive strength, there has been no strong emphasis on either side," Weinberg said. "We want to concentrate on all aspects of the game against some of the nation's top teams."
While the team remains strong at defense, they will have to play without last year's starting goalie Ryan Kelly. Kelly recorded career bests in goals against average (7.84) and save percentage (.605) before leaving the team this year. Vying for the spot are four players who saw less than 30 minutes of combined action last season.
"Losing Ryan hurts us a lot, he was a big success last year," Voelker said.
The Quakers are currently No. 23 in the preseason coaches poll and No. 18 in the national media poll. While national powerhouses Princeton and Cornell surpass Penn in almost every category, they are also expected to receive tough competition from Ivy rivals Yale, Harvard and Brown this year. Last year, the Elis broke the Tigers' 37-game Ivy winning streak.
"We're a very different team from last year, but if we stay healthy and play at a Division I level we can challenge most of these teams," Voelker said.
(02/25/03 10:00am)
When people think of the events at a college swimming meet, common races such as the freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and medley relay come to mind.
However, there are two events that are quite different from the rest -- the one meter and three meter diving.
"Diving is very important because it makes up two events at every meet," Penn swimming coach Mike Schnur said. "Those can add up to a lot of points that play a critical role in the final score."
The Penn diving program is a key component to the overall success of the swim team but has struggled in the last few years due to a lack of stable coaching.
All of that changed last year, however, when Anitra Kass was hired as the varsity diving coach and Facilities Coordinator for Penn recreation.
"Penn was a perfect fit for me since I had an interest in coaching and an interest in facilities management in a campus recreation setting," Kass said.
Kass, a native of New Jersey, first started diving when she was seven years old. She was a four year varsity letter-winner in diving at James Madison University and coached in summer diving leagues for seven years.
"The summer leagues allowed me to coach athletes with broad ranges of abilities, from novices to junior national qualifiers," Kass said.
The transfer from a school in the Colonial Athletic Conference to an Ivy League institution could be overwhelming for some, but after Anitra read up on Penn swimming history, visions of grandeur abounded.
"Mike [Schnur] has worked hard to bring this team into the upper sector of the Ivy League," she said. "And I was thrilled to become a part of it."
Taking over the Quakers' diving program, Kass knew that there was a lot of work to be done. While the Penn swimming team had been on the rise the last few years, the diving program had not yet been firmly established.
"In the past it's been difficult to convince high caliber, multiple divers to come onto a team where you weren't sure who the coach will be next year," Kass said.
The lack of stable coaching translated into a lack of stable recruiting, which in turn resulted in a fewer divers on the men's roster. While this means that Penn sends only two divers instead of the standard three in dual-meets, Kass does not view this as a complete disadvantage.
"Coming in, I was expecting to work with a smaller squad," the new diving coach said. "I view it as an advantage since it gives me an opportunity to work with the kids on a more individual basis and give them more attention."
Kass also asserts that her small team made for a smoother transition to the Penn diving program, than would have occurred with a larger group.
Since the last few Penn diving coaches only worked part time, Kass' full investment in the program is a marked change from previous years.
And an increase in time investment means an increase in expectations.
"I view this as an opportunity to change the culture that I'm in," Kass said. "I do a lot of things that previous coaches haven't done before, and I expect more things in return."
Nevertheless, both Kass and Schnur are working hard to expand the diving program and add more divers to the men's roster.
"When you have more athletes on a team, it encourages competition and gets everyone performing at the highest level," Schnur said.
Currently, the Penn men's diving team consists of freshman Tyler Markman and sophomore Guillermo Marx.
Markman, hailing from West Newton, Mass., was a three-time Massachusetts state finalist. He has swept both the one-meter and three-meter events on two separate occasions on the season.
"Occasionally I see it as a disadvantage," Markman said of Penn's two-diver lineup. "But it just means that each time we go up there we try to have our best individual performance of the year."
Guillermo is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina. After injuring his foot by slipping off the three meter board during the Notre Dame meet, he came back two days later and recorded his lifetime best score on the one meter against Brown.
"Both Tyler and Guillermo have been really self-motivated, most times I've had to kick them out of practice when time is up," Kass said.
The recruiting process has already gone well for Schnur and Kass, who have received one commitment from an early decision acceptee to join the team. Several other recruits have applied regular decision to Penn and are now awaiting word.
"Mike has helped a lot with the recruiting process, using his experience to locate a number of top student-athletes," Kass said. "What has already been done with our freshman swimming class can now be done with our divers."
So what does the new leader of the Penn diving program look for in a perfect dive?
"A lot of people tend to look at just the entry," she said. "Obviously you want no splash, but I think what's really important are the basic board mechanics and a pretty position in the air."
One tangible sign of the improvement of the Penn men's diving team is the entry of both divers in the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League championships, which will take place from March 6-8 at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in Uniondale, N.Y.
"Both Tyler and Guillermo are really excited," Kass said. "It will allow them to compete against some of the best divers in the nation as well give them experience for the long term."
(02/13/03 10:00am)
As the Penn women's fencing team huddled in a pregame cheer in the corner of Weightman Gymnasium, the Princeton women's fencing team stared at them.
"We don't need a pregame cheer, we can walk onto their court and beat them," Princeton freshman epee Kira Hohensee said.
Last night, they were right.
Of three Penn-Princeton matchups in two days, the Tigers recorded their one victory against the Quakers in women's fencing.
The quicker Princeton squad defeated the No. 10 Quakers (13-1, 2-1 Ivy),17-12. The Tigers prevailed in all three weapons. Penn fell, 6-3, in both sabre and foil, while losing by its closest margin in epee, 5-4.
"Our sabre team only recorded three points, and we needed to get into the seven or eight range to have a chance," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said.
Senior Kimberly Linton led the Quakers, who finished with a 2-1 record at epee. Senior Christina Verigan also had a solid meet by posting a 2-1 record at sabre.
While Penn's top seniors were able to win most of their bouts, they received little support from the rest of the lineup, which combined for only six victories.
The surprise of the night came from freshman Christina Kaneshige in foil. With the rest of the team falling to Princeton's nationally recognized foil team, Kaneshige was able to record a 2-1 mark in three close bouts.
"Princeton's foil was very strong, but Christina was able to have a solid performance that she can take into future meets," Micahnik said.
After the meet was over, Penn's captain, Linton, presented an official antique trophy to Princeton captain Melinda Rostal. The trophy was created on the 50th anniversary of the exchange of Mettlach Stein -- the trophy given annually to the winner of the Penn-Princeton matchup on the men's side -- and is given to the winner of the women's meet.
While the men were able to receive the mug, giving up the trophy was bittersweet for Linton.
"I was proud that we had a solid showing against such a good team," Linton said, referring to Princeton's No. 5 national ranking at the beginning of the season. "But at the same time I wish we could have brought the trophy home."
The loss will probably place the Quakers out of contention for the Ivy League title this year. With only two more Ivy meets remaining, the Quakers have to hope for Princeton and Harvard to lose their next two meets.
Despite its elimination from the Ivy League pedestal, the Red and Blue will not let the loss taint what has been an outstanding season.
"We have some holes to fill, but overall our girls are improving and learning to use defeats as a tool to get better," Micahnik said. "We give Princeton credit for being the better team and will move on."
The competition will only get stiffer for the Quakers as they travel to Columbia next weekend for a five-team meet. Besides facing Ivy rivals Cornell and Columbia, the Quakers will fence against nationally ranked Penn State as well.
"Our girls have faced some of the better teams in the Ivy League so they should be ready," Micahnik said. "We want to concentrate most on Columbia and Cornell to improve our Ivy standings as much as possible."
The team will then have a weekend break before competing in the Intercollegiate Fencing Association championships in March.
(02/13/03 10:00am)
As the Penn men's swimming team completed its practice yesterday, a group of swimmers paused to take a look at some of Harvard's statistics.
"They have never finished below .500, ever," freshman Michael Anderson noted. "Surely they must have some great swimmers who we're not expected to beat."
Harvard (6-1, 4-1 Ivy), who was ranked No. 21 in the nation at the end of January, will visit the Quakers this Saturday for what will be the last dual meet of the season for both teams.
While the Quakers (7-4, 1-4 Ivy) hope to finish an already strong season on a positive note, they realize that they will not be able to compete with the strength and depth of Harvard.
"They don't have any bad swimmers at Harvard," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. "They finished 15th in the rankings last year and are legitimately one of the best teams in the country."
The Harvard meet, which falls around the same time every year, is usually the last chance for the Quakers to improve their times to qualify for the end of year championships.
Fortunately for Penn, none of the swimmers will need to use it.
"We're blessed that every swimmer has already qualified for either the ECACs or Easterns," Schnur said.
Those who have begun tapering for the Eastern College Athletic Conference championships in two weeks will be slightly more rested than the rest of the team. The Quakers, however, do not feel that it will be much of a factor.
"There's no one who will be resting just for the Harvard meet," senior co-captain Kevin Pope said. "We're going to race our main guys who won't start resting for the Easterns till after the meet is over."
The Quakers are expected to gain some added momentum due to the Senior Day festivities that will occur during the meet. Penn seniors Spencer Driscoll, Chris Miller, Kevin Pope and Nate Pinney will be honored before the meet and will race the medley relay together one final time.
The Red and Blue will also have to face a much stronger bottom half of the Crimson lineup, who will be shaved and tapered for their final meet of the season.
"Since Harvard doesn't go to ECACs they will have their 'B' team rested and shaved for their final meet," Schnur said. "Unfortunately most of their 'B' guys are as good as the best swimmers we've got."
Despite the improbable chance of victory, Schnur plans to race his best swimmers in each event in an effort to see how far the Quakers are from Harvard's top times.
"Usually we do a lot of off events, screw around, because we know we're not going to win," Schnur said. "This year we're not going to do that."
Swimming the top men in each event will also have a profound impact on the championships at the end of the month.
"If our guys are going to swim fast at Easterns, these are the same guys they're going to have to beat," Schnur said. "If we're afraid of Harvard now, then three weeks from now, we're toast."
(02/10/03 10:00am)
After the Penn wrestling team's dominating 37-9 victory over No. 23 Hofstra yesterday, Tom Ryan attempted to justify his team's surprisingly poor performance.
"Penn was definitely a quality team to beat," the Hofstra coach said. "But when half of your team has ringworm, it's hard to do."
Hofstra was one of the four teams bested by the No. 19 Quakers (7-2, 3-1 Ivy) this weekend. Along with Hofstra, the Red and Blue defeated Brown, Rider and Harvard.
"Our goal this week was to be dominant in each of these meets," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "And this weekend, we had more of a team effort, all 10 guys performing well together."
Penn's supposedly toughest bout of the weekend failed to materialize when Hofstra forfeited four of its first five matches due to medical conditions.
"It's like handing someone a gun, knife, boxing gloves and a flame-thrower and saying, 'Hey, try to hurt me,'" Ryan said.
The most important match of the meet involved 19th-ranked freshman Matt Herrington against Hofstra's 15th-ranked Ralph Everett at 174 pounds. Herrington earned his first victory over a top-15 opponent with a 5-2 decision.
"This was a big match for me since I stuck to my techniques and gave the ranking officials something to think about next time around," Herrington said.
Yesterday's Hofstra meet was the second of three dual meets for the Quakers, who had already competed against the Crimson on Saturday.
"We scheduled the three dual meets in a row after Harvard for a reason," Reina said. "We wanted to give our guys practice for the constant weighing in and wrestling that occurs at the championships at the end of the season."
Paul Velekei's pin over Harvard's P.J. Jones at 197 pounds broke a 6-6 tie. Velekei had secured a 9-1 lead over Jones before earning the fall in the third period of the match.
The Quakers rode Velekei's momentum for the next three matches, including a comeback win by freshman Matt Eveleth.
Trailing 4-2 in the final period, Eveleth gained an escape and scored the winning takedown with 13 seconds remaining against Harvard's Max Meltzer at 133 pounds. The Quakers went on to win, 25-11.
The marquee matchup of the Crimson meet, featuring Penn senior captain Jody Giuricich against his high school rival and No. 4 Jesse Jantzen, never took place. Giuricich's knee injury kept him out of the entire weekend and postponed his rival match until at least the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships.
The Quakers jumped out to an auspicious beginning yesterday against Brown, as 20th-ranked freshman Matt Valenti scored his seventh pinfall of the season, over Lucas Magnani at 125 pounds. Seventeenth-ranked junior Doug McGraw earned a 13-0 major decision over Greg Pace at 141 pounds.
The Quakers won a total of six bouts in their 27-11 victory, including a 9-6 heavyweight victory by sixth-ranked sophomore Matt Feast.
"He's starting to wrestle at a really fast pace that by the Easterns and the NCAAs, there may not be a heavyweight in the country that can keep up with him," Reina said.
The final match yesterday against Rider was a chance for several Quaker wrestlers to complete a perfect 4-0 weekend.
Valenti, Eveleth, McGraw and Feast all finished 4-0 with victories over Rider in their respective weight classes. Velekei improved to 3-0 on the weekend with a 3-2 win over Rider's nationally-ranked Greg Sawyer.
"We were able to go right from one match to the next all the way through Rider without suffering a letdown," Penn senior Brett Vanderveer said. "That's very important for our confidence heading into the end of the season."
(02/03/03 10:00am)
It is no easy feat for a team to go through a long and arduous month of competition with as much success as the Penn men's swimming team -- winning six meets in the last three weeks.
The Quakers (7-4, 2-4 Ivy) had little trouble in their 140-101 victory over crosstown rival La Salle on Saturday at Kirk Pool.
"La Salle was not expected to give us much of a problem," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. "Their program has nowhere near the amount of depth that ours has."
The Explorers (3-6) were outmatched by Penn in virtually every race on paper and were by far the weakest team that Penn has faced all season in dual-meet competition.
The Quakers, however, had the extra challenge of swimming against La Salle on their Senior Day. Five La Salle seniors were honored, which gave the Explorers some added momentum before the meet.
"They seemed psyched up and ready to swim at the beginning," Penn freshman Jon Kaufman said. "Some of their guys definitely swam more impressively than we thought they would."
The Quakers once again jumped out to an early lead by placing first and second in the 200 medley relay. Penn has captured the first event in six of their last eight meets.
The Red and Blue never relinquished their lead as they went on to take either first or second place in 11 individual events.
Sophomore Brian Funk and freshman Pat Maloney finished first and second respectively in the 1000 freestyle. Funk completed the race in 9:53.82, six-hundreths of a second ahead of Maloney.
Junior Andrew Trout, absent from last week's meet against Rider due to illness, turned in a first place performance in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.65.
Trout also finished third in the 100 butterfly, behind freshman Evan Jellie and senior Nate Pinney, who took first in 52.48.
"I was really impressed by [Andrew's] determination," Pinney said. "Any of us could have won the 100 butterfly and he had just recovered from a sickness."
The Quakers also finished 1-2-3 in the 100 breaststroke, with freshman Jon Kaufman notching his first victory of the year in 59.45.
Also contributing were senior co-captain Spencer Driscoll and junior Eric Hirschhorn, who placed first and second respectively in the 200 individual medley.
"The La Salle meet was sort of used as a training meet to get a lot of guys who don't get much racing time a chance to swim," Driscoll said. "We did what we had to do to win but we knew it wouldn't be that difficult."
After early losses to Cornell, Columbia, and Princeton, the Quakers knew that January would be the month that would define their season. The meet against La Salle brought the month to a close -- with the Quakers having won seven of their eight meets.
"La Salle was the last stop of our long stretch of meets in January," Driscoll said. "Looking back, we definitely swam some good races and earned a lot of respect."
(01/30/03 10:00am)
Standing from the edge of Sheerr Pool midway through the Penn men's swim meet against Rider, freshman Michael Andersen could tell which team had the upper hand.
"On one side the swimmers are up and slapping hands and laughing," Anderson said. "On the other side, they are sitting like stones."
The behavioral differences between the swimming teams were the result of the Quakers (6-4, 2-4 Ivy) dominant 146-90 victory over Rider last night.
At no point during the meet did the Broncs (6-4) come close to defeating Penn. The Quakers took first in nine events despite the absence of several top swimmers from the day's roster.
"This was our toughest meet of the year, and we came in and got destroyed," Rider freshman Joe Giberti said. "We cannot match up well against a team like Penn."
The Quakers got off to an auspicious beginning when the veteran team of Kevin Pope, Chris Miller, Spencer Driscoll and Eric Hirschhorn took first in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:32.15. The team defeated a Rider squad that consisted of its top swimmers -- Sam Engle and Robert DeSandre -- by more than a second.
"Our guys took off from the first race and never let down," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. "It's really important to seize the early momentum by winning the first few races, and our team has done that really well the last few meets."
The Quakers went on to win three straight events, including a 1-2-3 finish in both the 50 and 200 freestyle. Freshman Matt Blaszko continued his dominance of distance races with a first-place finish in the 1650 freestyle in 16:23.98.
The biggest showdown of the night was in the 400 individual medley, as Rider sophomore sensation Engle squared off against Penn's Pat Maloney. Engle ended up defeating the Quakers' star freshman by a second.
"He was breathing down my back the whole time and really came on strong down the final stretch," Engle said. "He's a really great swimmer."
Maloney went on to place first in the 200 fly for the fourth time this season, with Penn's Brendan Lang and Brian Funk finishing second and third respectively. Engle also placed first in the 200 backstroke.
"We were able to allow Engle to win his two races, but Rider wasn't equipped to challenge us anywhere else at the meet," Schnur said.
Also contributing for the Red and Blue were Andersen, who finished first in the 500 freestyle, and junior Matt Hand, who placed first in the 100 freestyle. Junior Shaun Lehrer also contributed with a first- place finish in the 200 freestyle and second in the 100.
Penn freshman Tyler Markman swept both the one meter and three meter diving events for the second time this season.
"I had some really good dives today on both boards," Markman said.
Once again, the Quakers were able to rely on their young depth to carry them through the meet. Of the eight individual events won by the Quakers, five were won by freshmen.
"It's always nice for freshmen to win in front of your home crowd when you have everyone cheering for you," freshman Arthur Woodbury said.
The Quakers expect to receive more strong finishes from their freshman class when they travel to La Salle on Saturday. The Explorers are a much weaker program, which will allow Schnur to use swimmers who normally don't get much racing time.
(01/29/03 10:00am)
The Penn men's swimming team will continue its dual meet competition with two non-conference meets in the next four days.
First up for the Quakers (5-4, 2-4 Ivy League) are the Rider Broncs, who will visit Sheerr Pool today at 5:30 p.m.
Rider (5-4, 2-1 MAAC) will be the second scholarship team the Quakers face in dual-meet competition this year. While the Broncs do not pose as much of a threat as Notre Dame did two weeks ago, Penn is still not taking them lightly.
"We're scouting Rider, and we realize that they have some really strong swimmers," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. "They have four guys who are as good as we have or close to it."
Two of the swimmers Schnur is referring to are sophomores Sam Engle and Robert DeSandre.
Engle, a letter-winner from Manheim, Pa., recorded his best time in the 200 backstroke in 1:47.50 -- two and a half seconds under Penn's school record. DeSandre is expected to challenge Penn's freshman sensation Pat Maloney in the butterfly.
The Broncs are also led by three-time letter-winners Jon O'Reilly and Cliff Young. Both seniors are expected to challenge the Quakers in the breaststroke and individual medley.
"The talent of their scholarship players presents some tough matchups and are going to make for some really good races," Schnur said.
While the Broncs are currently riding a two-meet winning streak, Rider lost to Ivy teams Columbia and Princeton -- teams that also beat the Quakers -- in a seventh-place finish at the Princeton Invitational in December.
Rider's strength at the top of each event resembles that of Brown, who boasted junior sensation Jefferson Moors but had little overall team depth.
Instead of avoiding Moors, the Quakers challenged him in every race and ended up defeating him in the 400 medley relay and the 1000 freestyle.
The Quakers will employ a similar strategy against Rider tonight.
"We won't just concentrate on the races that [Rider's] top swimmers aren't racing in," junior Matt Hand said. "We will take them on from the beginning."
Despite Rider's individual talent, the Quakers are expecting their depth to be the deciding factor in the meet. The Broncs do not possess nearly as talented a freshman class as Penn does.
"We'll probably be able to beat Rider because our depth is too good for them," Schnur said. "They have one guy per event who is real good while we have three."
After Rider, the Red and Blue will host a much weaker La Salle program on Saturday. The Quakers hope that they can use both of these non-conference meets to work on times for the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League championships in March.
(01/28/03 10:00am)
All great things must come to an end.
So did the Penn men's swimming team's four-meet win streak, which was snapped last Saturday at a double dual meet in Hanover, N.H.
After an eight-hour bus ride, the Quakers (5-4, 2-4 Ivy) defeated a weaker Dartmouth squad, 171-127, but lost to Yale, 170-124, at the Karl Michael Pool.
"We went in there and did what we were supposed to do and beat Dartmouth," Penn junior Matt Hand said. "Unfortunately we didn't swim well enough to challenge Yale."
Dartmouth (2-5, 0-4 Ivy) jumped out to an early lead when its team of Michael Hipps, Thomas Sanford, Matt Sueoka and Ryan Goldhahn set a pool record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:34.34.
The Quakers were able to rally back, however, scoring first or second-place finishes in eight individual events.
Junior Andrew Trout led the Red and Blue with first-place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Trout took the 50 free in 21.31 seconds and the 100 free in 47.10 seconds, both times narrowly beating Goldhahn.
"Andrew was our best swimmer of the day," Penn coach Mike Schnur said.
The Quakers also performed well in the 100 breaststroke, with senior Chris Miller and freshman Jon Kaufman taking second and third, respectively. Freshman Pat Maloney continued his success in the 200 butterfly with a second place finish in 1:52.80.
In diving, freshman Tyler Markman took second in the one meter and third in the three meter dive.
The team did not take its victory over Dartmouth for granted, considering the added momentum the Big Green had with their team's recent reinstatement. Dartmouth's swimmers also benefited from a longer rest period, since most of them will not be heading to the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League championships in March.
"Last year against Dartmouth, we were awful and lucky to win," Schnur said. "This year, we swam with a lot more heart and toughness and handled them pretty easily by the middle of the meet."
Despite their victory over Dartmouth, the Quakers could not topple the undefeated Elis (8-0, 5-0), who took first in a meet-leading eight events.
Juniors Alex Nash and Jimmy Veazey each placed first in two events for the Elis. Yale's swimmers also dominated the distance races -- the 200, 500 and 1000 freestyle.
"Their distance guys were a little too tough for us," Schnur said. "We're relying on freshmen while Yale relies on juniors and seniors, and there's a difference there."
Nevertheless, the Quakers feel that they could have given Yale more of a challenge if they had swum better.
"If we had swam near or at the level we swam last weekend against Notre Dame and Brown, then we would have beaten [Yale]," freshman Neville Mitchell said. "They're not out of our league by a long shot."
One reason for the loss was the absence of several top swimmers due to sickness. Juniors Eric Hirschhorn and Shaun Lehrer, freshman Evan Jellie and Chad Moyer and sophomore Brian Funk all stayed home after turning in first and second-place finishes during the Quakers' three consecutive victories two weekends ago.
The Quakers also did not rest for last Saturday's meet as they did the prior weekend. The team returned to its most intense practices so its times later in the year will peak during the championship meet.
"We're not the healthiest squad in the world right now," Schnur said. "But to have rested another week with all those sick guys wouldn't have made any sense."
The Red and Blue return to action tomorrow when they host Rider at Sheerr Pool.
(01/23/03 10:00am)
In the week of Dec. 6, the Penn men's swimming team lost its third meet of the season against Columbia. Protesters staged a sit-in at Dartmouth's administration building in an effort to urge officials to consider options other than cutting the swimming teams, and Yale's swimming team wrapped up its third consecutive victory and hosted the Nutmeg Invitational.
One and a half months later, the entire Ivy League has changed.
The revamped Quakers (4-3, 1-3 Ivy) will take on a recently reinstated Dartmouth team and Yale in a double-dual meet on Jan. 25 at the Karl Michael Pool in Hanover, N.H.
"Our guys are really excited about this meet and the chance to show how much we've improved since the beginning of the year," coach Mike Schnur said.
Last weekend, the Quakers claimed three victories in three days over Notre Dame, Navy and Brown.
While the Quakers have already improved from the team that posted three straight losses to Cornell, Princeton and Columbia earlier in the season, the swimmers are anxious to ride their momentum from last weekend and focus it on Dartmouth and Yale.
"Our wins, especially against Navy and Brown, show that we can be a huge force in our league," co-captain Spencer Driscoll said.
While Dartmouth is a much weaker team than Yale, the Quakers realize that both teams pose significant threats to their four-meet winning streak.
Dartmouth (2-3, 0-2 Ivy) was the center of national attention when the University announced on Nov. 25 that both its men's and women's swimming programs would be eliminated at the end of this season as part of a campus-wide budget reduction.
Despite immediate public outcries, Dartmouth proceeded to carry out its plans to eliminate the teams until a series of discussions between university officials and team supporters produced an agreement. The agreement called for the program to be fully reinstated based on a $2 million fundraising effort by a group of students, parents and alumni.
After receiving the good news, the Big Green men proceeded to break 14 pool records in a 188-88 blowout at Division III Middlebury, followed by a first place finish in the University of Rhode Island Invitational.
"Dartmouth's program was brought back from the dead," Schnur said. "We are going to have to expect their guys to be giving all they've got for the rest of the season."
There is also speculation among Penn swimmers that the Big Green might not attend the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships.
"If [Dartmouth] doesn't attend the EISLs, then they will be working extra hard against individual opponents at the tri-meet Saturday," junior Brendan Lang said.
But while the Quakers' times are significantly better than Dartmouth's, Penn will also try to end its seven-year losing streak against Yale (6-0, 2-0 Ivy) this weekend.
Yale is coming off a 14-1 record last year in which it finished second only to Harvard in the Ivy League. Yale also became the only NCAA program to record its 1000th all-time dual meet victory in a dramatic 177-176 comeback win over Princeton last year. In the last four years, the Elis are 44-7 in dual meets.
While the Elis already are the more impressive team on paper, they could receive extra motivation this weekend from the tragic car accident last Friday that left four Yale athletes dead and canceled all varsity sports events on Jan. 17, including two swimming meets.
Nevertheless, the Quakers still feel they will have a chance to surprise the Elis this weekend.
"Last year when we swam against Yale we felt intimidated," Lang said. "Now that we are already battle-tested from last weekend, we feel we can give them a tough challenge this year."
Penn's last victory over Yale came in a double-dual meet at Sheerr Pool in 1995 -- the Quakers defeated the Elis, 132-111, while losing to Cornell, 128-115.
But this year could be the year.
"Our performance last weekend is a great indication of how well our team can challenge powerhouse teams such as Yale," co-captain Kevin Pope said after his team's victory over Brown on Sunday.
(01/20/03 10:00am)
"We came to make a statement this weekend," Penn men's swimming co-captain Spencer Driscoll said yesterday after the Quakers defeated Brown for their third straight win in three days. "And we definitely succeeded."
Driscoll appraised what was undoubtedly the Quakers' most intense weekend of dual-meets of the season.
After winning its first meet against Army last Saturday, Penn hosted back-to-back-to-back meets against Notre Dame, Navy and Brown this weekend.
And the Quakers (4-3, 1-3 Ivy) won all three.
"This was definitely one of the best team performances I've ever witnessed in my career at Penn," senior co-captain Kevin Pope said.
The one person who didn't seem surprised with Penn's performance over the weekend was head coach Mike Schnur.
Schnur gives credit to the team's work ethic during winter training and practice for the victories.
"I expected the team to win all three because I knew how focused our guys were over the weekend," Schnur said. "We've been pointing toward this weekend since September, and I knew our guys would show up and be ready to swim."
The Quakers opened up the weekend with a stunning 181-116 blowout of Notre Dame (5-5) Friday night.
The Fighting Irish were never in the meet, as the Quakers placed first in 12 of 16 events.
"We were blitzed, we were lying on the ground like a dog, dead," Notre Dame coach Tim Welsh said Friday following his team's loss.
The Quakers' team of Chad Moyer, Chris Miller, Evan Jellie and Andrew Trout took first in the 200 medley relay in 1:34.22. Penn also placed first, second and third in the 1000 freestyle with freshman Matt Blaszko taking first.
After Notre Dame won the 100 free, the Quakers swung the momentum in their favor with a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 backstroke.
"After the last race, we didn't want them to win two in a row, so I had to do something about that," Neville Mitchell said right after his first-place finish in the 200 back in 1:53.33.
Penn continued its winning ways on Saturday with a 138-104 win over Navy (6-4).
While the Navy meet was the closest out of the three, most of Penn's top swimmers used the day to rest.
"The Navy match was sort of a breach between Notre Dame and Brown," Schnur said. "We used the meet to let a lot of guys who are normally not our No. 1 guys to get the opportunity to swim."
The Quakers placed 1-2-3 in four different events, including the 1000 free, 200 individual medley, 200 fly and 500 free. Sophomore Edward Anderton won the 200 fly while freshman Pat Maloney placed first in the 200 individual medley.
"Last year, we had a real upsetting loss to Navy and our win shows we can be really competitive in our own league," sophomore Nate Bagnaschi said.
(01/15/03 10:00am)
Despite Penn senior Runa Reta's victory over Amina Helal of Trinity on Sunday -- the No. 1 player in the nation -- the Penn women's squash team (4-2, 2-1 Ivy) was far from satisfied with the 7-2 loss overall, despite Trinity's No. 1 ranking in the team polls.
The Quakers will travel to the Mayser Center to take on Franklin and Marshall in Lancaster, Pa., tomorrow to make amends for the loss.
"All of our players were disappointed after the Trinity match," junior co-captain Dafna Wegner said.
Today's Franklin and Marshall match, which was originally scheduled as the season opener on Nov. 20, was postponed at the last minute and rescheduled for today.
After Sunday's grueling match against Trinity, the Quakers will face a much easier opponent in Franklin and Marshall. The Diplomats remain winless in the 2002-2003 campaign at 0-5.
Since Franklin and Marshall is less talented than most of Penn's Ivy League opponents, the Quakers will not be sending their top three players, All-Americans Reta, sophomore Linda McNair and Wegner.
"We previously decided in November not to play to give the younger players a chance," Wegner said. "Now we're sticking to our decision."
After graduating its only All-American last year --Anjali Ponni Rajkumar -- Franklin and Marshall has been struggling to compete with the nation's top teams. In fact, the Diplomats have not won a single game since their opening 6-3 loss to Haverford on Nov. 16, dropping five straight 9-0 decisions.
With the absence of Reta, McNair and Wegner, the Quakers will be looking to sophomore Rohini Gupta and freshman Lorin Riley for solid performances. Both tallied impressive victories against Amherst and Brown earlier in the season.
"We feel really confident that we should be able to win," Gupta said. "All of our players are really focused after the Trinity match."
The last time the Quakers competed without all of their players was in their opening match against Haverford on Nov. 23. Despite the absence of Reta and Wegner, the Quakers won, 9-0.
Last year, Penn easily handled Franklin and Marshall, 8-1.
The Quakers are currently ranked No. 6 in the nation by the College Squash Association, while Franklin and Marshall recently dropped from No. 23 to No. 27.
Despite a senior-laden team, the Diplomats failed to place any players in the top 10 of the College Squash Association's 2002-2003 preseason rankings.
Despite that disparity, the Quakers are not looking past F&M.;
"They are ranked pretty far below us so we are expecting a win," McNair said. "But we won't take anything for granted."
(12/12/02 10:00am)
NEW YORK -- When the Penn men's swimming team entered the underground "bomb shelter" also known as Uris Pool last Friday -- as Penn coach Mike Schnur referred to Columbia's home pool -- it knew it was in for a competitive meet against its arch rival, the Lions.
(11/26/02 10:00am)
Heading into their opening dual meet for the 2002-2003 season, the Penn men's swimming team expected to face a stronger, more determined Cornell squad than usual, as the Big Red dedicated the meet to sophomore Scott Paavola, who died last month.
(11/21/02 10:00am)
The season-opening tri-meet could not be more challenging for the young Penn men's swimming team.
(11/13/02 10:00am)
The Penn men's lightweight crew team went into the fall season hoping to improve on the dismal results of its previous spring season.
(11/07/02 10:00am)
As the fall season winds down, most freshmen crew teams are still living in the shadow of the varsity teams that oversee them.
(11/06/02 10:00am)
While the 2001-2002 season was marked as a rebuilding year for Penn women's squash, the Quakers look promising heading into this season.
