PRINCETON, N.J. – Harvard Women's Swimming and Diving won five events on Friday at the Ivy League Championships at DeNunzio Pool. The Crimson is in second place with 873.50 points behind Princeton (964). Yale (669.50), Brown (661.50), Penn (623), Columbia (387), Dartmouth (345.50) and Cornell (298) round out the team standings heading into the final day of competition.
How It Happened
- Sydney Lu got the Crimson off to a fast start by winning the 100 fly in a personal-best 52.04. The NCAA B-standard time tightened her grip on the No. 2 time in Harvard history. The junior came into the meet with a personal-record time of 52.31.
- Mandy Brenner finished the A-final of the 100 fly in fifth place, completing the race in 53.22. Earlier in the day, the senior recorded the fifth-best time in program history during the preliminary heats (53.00). Kiley Wilhelm, meanwhile, won the C-final in 54.84.
- In the prelims of the 400 IM, Stephanie Iannaccone recorded an NCAA B-cut time of 4:16.50 and Payton Foster surpassed her season best by more than six seconds and secured a spot in the A-final with a time of 4:17.33. In the night session, Iannaccone came in seventh (4:19.04), while Foster recorded the eighth-best time in the field (4:20.39).
- Alexandra Bastone posted the best prelim time in the 200 free (1:46.80) and did it again when it mattered the most as the sophomore won the A-final in 1:46.33, which was an NCAA B-standard. Molly Hamlin, meanwhile, registered a season best (1:46.91) and came in third place.
- In the C-final of the 200 free, Kaylee McDonald made a late push and won the race in a season-best time, touching the pad in 1:48.10.
- Aleksandra Denisenko finished ahead of the pack with an NCAA B-standard time of 1:00.77 in the preliminary heats of the 100 breast and duplicated that effort in the A-final. The senior secured her second career Ivy title in the event by finishing in 1:00.21, which was a personal record, the second-best performance in school history and an NCAA B-standard. Gabriella Augustyn came in just a tad behind Denisenko, finishing in fourth with the fourth-fastest effort in Harvard history.
- Similar to Bastone (200 free) and Denisenko (100 breast), Anya Mostek notched the best 100-back prelim time in the morning session (52.39) and polished it off with a winning A-final time of 52.13. The junior's championship effort was a school, meet and conference record, and marked Mostek's third 100-back title in three seasons. Mostek is just the fifth Ivy swimmer to win the event three times. Prior to today, Yale's Bella Hindley owned the meet and Ivy record (52.14 in 2019).
- Hamlin turned in a strong performance in the A-final of the 100 back, finishing in a personal-best 53.34, which was good for seventh overall and fourth in program history. Blythe Wieclawek, meanwhile, turned in a season-best performance of 54.84 in the prelims and finished in seventh in the B-final (55.28).
- In the consolation of the three-meter diving event, Remi Edvalson was the Crimson's top performer, earning a score of 269.30 to come in third place. Samantha Holtz was seventh with a 244.00. Amy Wotovich (279.10), Ennika Carlson (291.85) and Elizabeth Miclau (308.30) will compete for the three-meter crown on Saturday.
- Harvard closed a successful third day with another victory, this time coming in the 400 medley relay. Mostek, Denisenko, Lu and Brenner captured their second straight Ivy championship in the event by finishing in 3:33.69, nearly two seconds better than runner-up Princeton (3:35.64). The quartet's performance ranks third all-time in Crimson history.
Up Next
Harvard returns to DeNunzio Pool for the final day of the Ivy League Championships on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET for the preliminary heats. The finals are slated for 6 p.m. ET. Both sessions will air live on ESPN+.
