Quakers in it until last race with Brown

Sometimes it's better to lose and have it be close than to win and be bored -- as was the case on Saturday when the Penn men's swimming team fell to Brown, 123-115.

"No one is happy when we lose, but boy we all had a good time," Penn coach Mike Schnur said.

According to Schnur, Penn had every reason to be pleased with its performance this past weekend in a narrow loss to Brown.

"Although we certainly would've liked to have come out on top, it was the kind of day that makes swimming fun," he said.

Until the last three minutes of the meet, the scores of both teams were virtually interchangeable. Every event was extremely close, and the Quakers were actually one point ahead of the Bears, 111-110, until Brown pulled through in the final event of the day.

Schnur noted the exciting atmosphere of the meet.

"It was the first close meet we've had in a couple years," he said. "I really can't remember a meet that was this close. Everyone really enjoyed the competition."

The talents of Brown senior Jefferson Moors and sophomore Eric Brumberg proved too much to conquer -- particularly in the 400-yard freestyle relay, which secured the victory for the Bears in the final event of the day.

The Red and Blue fell just short when they could not compete with certain individuals on the opposition. Moors won the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke for the Bears, while Brumberg captured the 200-yard IM and the 500-yard freestyle.

"There was just no answer for those two," Schnur said.

The Quakers were fortunate to have a lot of depth in each race, which helped make the meet so close. Although they only captured four of the 11 races, consistent second, third and fourth place finishes kept the scores neck-and-neck.

One of the Quakers' three individual first place finishes came from senior Andrew Trout, who captured the 50 freestyle.

The Penn captain not only won the 50 yard freestyle, but also had a second place finish in the 100- yard freestyle.

Senior Shaun Lehrer won the 1000-yard freestyle, and sophomore Pat Maloney finished ahead of the field in the 200-yard butterfly.

Also, the Red and Blue demolished the Bears in the 200 -yard butterfly.

Maloney, senior Brendan Lang and freshmen Jason McGrath and Joe Griffith took the top four finishes, respectively. McGrath earned third place with a time of 1:54, his first time competing in the race all season.

Two other freshmen fared particularly well on the day. Teddy Rainaud finished third in the 200-yard backstroke, and Alex Silvester placed fourth in the 200- yard IM -- topping all of the Brown swimmers.

As the Quakers prepare to face Yale and Dartmouth this weekend, Schnur recognized that the rest of the season will be just as tense

"We'll have our hands full again," he said. "Next month, all the meets are going to be close."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.