M. Swimming cruises to three straight wins

"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.

After the Navy meet, the Quakers revamped their lineup and streamrolled over Brown (1-3, 1-2 Ivy) 172-71 on Sunday. The Quakers' team of Moyer, Miller, Nate Pinney and Tom Hayden shocked Brown's squad and its junior sensation Jefferson Moors with a comeback win in the 400 medley relay. Moors was then ousted in the 1000 free by Blaszko, who came within a tenth of his best time with 3:26.84. The Quakers went on to win nine individual events, including freshman Tyler Markman's victories in the one meter and three meter diving events. While this is the first time under Schnur that the swimming team hosted three meets in a row, it may not be the last. "These intense weekends are important," Penn assistant coach and 2001 Penn graduate Cathy Holland said. "Because they stimulate the swimmers for the championships at the end of the year when our guys will have to be ready to go for three straight days."

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