Swimming sinks against D-I Yale

In their only home meet of the season, the Johns Hopkins men's and women's swim teams went head-to-head against some Ivy League competition, taking on Yale University.

The meet last Tuesday afternoon marked just the second meeting ever between Hopkins and Division I Yale. Last year, in a stunning athletic event, the Hopkins men's team narrowly defeated the Bulldogs (136-126). This time, Yale avenged their embarrassing loss against the men, defeating both Hopkins teams. The Bulldogs won 181-81 over the men and went 189-72 against the women.

"We had fun against Yale," said head coach George Kennedy. "They beat us, but it was great to compete against Ivy League competition. Yale was much better than we were last Tuesday. Their freshman class was fantastic."

Hopkins won five of the 28 events at the meet, with Yale taking the other 23. Freshman Kristin Cunningham was the only Hopkins swimmer to win multiple events. She took both the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 24.52 and the 100-yard freestyle in 53.51.

The other winner for the Lady Jays was sophomore Erica Pakkala who defeated the Bulldogs to take the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.48.

"The Yale meet marked the end of the hardest part of the first half of our season, so it was tough to get up and race when we were so tired," said senior co-captain Katie Herbst. "But the team came together well and we had some great in-season times. Overall, it was a positive experience as we head into our first championship meet this weekend. We're ready to rest and swim even faster."

Herbst placed second in the 1000-yard freestyle in a time of 10:38.11, just three seconds behind the winner.

On the men's side, senior co-captain Tyler Harris continued his strong tradition in the 100-yard breaststroke defeated the D-I swimmers to capture the event in just under a minute, finishing in 59.74. Freshman Colin Kleinguetl joined him in the winner's circle with a time of 9:47.42 in the 1000-yard freestyle.

In the relays, the Hopkins women placed second behind Yale in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:51.92. Cunningham, Pakkala and juniors Allie Foster and Kelly Robinson led the Jays to their narrow silver medal finish. In the 400-yard freestyle relay the ladies again took second place with a time of 3:43.21. This time, Cunningham and Foster were joined by senior Kalei Walker and freshman Jackie Rooney.

This weekend, both the men and the women will travel to Oxford, Ohio for the Miami Invitation. Each year, many Hopkins swimmers qualify for NCAA championships at this meet. Last year, a total of 20 swimmers eventually qualified for the championships, 12 men and eight women.

Last year, the Hopkins men's squad finished fifth out of seven teams, and the women's team placed seventh out of nine. The Blue Jay men's team has finished in the top five for the last six years while the women have placed in the top ten a total of seven times in the past eight years.

"Our team should be well-prepared for the Miami Invitational," said Kennedy. "That is what we have been focusing on since September."

After this, the team gets its first break from competition as they do not compete until mid-January when they travel to the University of North Carolina to swim against more Division I competition.