CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men's swimming and diving captured a trio of first place finishes on the third day of the 2020 Ivy League Championships on Friday evening. The Crimson carried its momentum from the second night into the third tallying 936 points.
First-year distance swimmer Cole Kuster began the evening for Harvard claiming first-place in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Kuster, who earned his second individual event champion honors, beat out Princeton's Dylan Porges by .44 seconds with a time of 8:57.24. It was much needed first-place points as the Crimson and Tigers went back-and-forth throughout the first three events of the night.
After Princeton re-gained the overall lead in the championship with a first-place finish in the 400 IM, sophomore Umitcan Gures shifted momentum back over to the Crimson. In the 100-yard butterfly, Gures broke a Blodgett pool and Harvard program record, clocking in with a time of 45.27.
Junior Corban Rawls followed up earning his first Ivy event title, edging out Columbia's Nianguo Liu in the 200-yard freestyle by .23 seconds. It marked the fourth consecutive year the Crimson captured the event.
In the 3-meter dive, senior Austin Fields placed second in the consolation finals posting a score of 328.20. Junior Alec DeCaprio placed fourth with a total of 313.95 points.
Harvard Highlights
• The Crimson had three swimmers compete in the championship finals of the 200-yard freestyle. In addition to Corban Rawls, who placed first, first-year Marcus Holmquist and junior Mahlon Reihman finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with NCAA B-cut times of 1:35.65 and 1:45.94.
• Sophomore Jacob Johnson posted a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, clocking in with an NCAA B-cut time of 46.58.
• Harvard's 400-yard medley relay squad of Will Grant, Charles Vaughan, Umitcan Gures, and Corban Rawls finished second behind Columbia with a time of 3:09.09.
• Junior Michael Zarian registered another NCAA B-cut time for the Crimson, placing second in the 400-yard IM, touching the wall in 3:46.77.
Next Up
Harvard returns for the final day of the 2020 Ivy League Championships tomorrow with the prelims beginning at 11 a.m.
