Men's Swimming Finishes Fifth at Big Al Invitational

After easily defeating Fordham more than two weeks ago, the Columbia men's swimming and diving team got a taste of higher competition in a meet in which each event featured 50 or more swimmers. The Lions returned home last night after three days at the Princeton Big Al Invitational. The Lions fell behind early and couldn't gain ground, finishing the meet in fifth place. Penn State built a commanding lead from the onset and came away with the victory, followed by Princeton and Brown.

Competition began on Friday with the 200-yard freestyle relay. Columbia's team of junior Hyun Lee, sophomore Darren Pagan, junior Steve Ko, and freshman Adam Clayton Powell came in fourth, finishing just 0.53 seconds from second place. After the first day of preliminaries, only one Lion made it to the finals, as Pagan placed seventh in the 200-yard individual medley.

Saturday was more successful for Columbia. The day opened much like the previous day, with the team of Powell, junior Zach Glassman, Ko, and Pagan finishing fourth in the 200-yard medley relay. Junior Cedric Cheung-Lau had one of the better individual swims of the day, placing second in the 400-yard individual medley. Pagan made the finals as well, placing eighth in the same event. The Lions also displayed depth in the 100-yard butterfly, with Lee placing third—just 0.23 seconds from the winner's pace—and Ko finishing sixth. The night ended with another fourth place finish for a Light Blue relay team, this time in the 800-yard freestyle relay.

The final day of competition was another day in a consistent season for Lee. The South Korea native placed seventh in the 100-yard freestyle, an event in which Penn State placed in six of the top eight spots. Lee also took fourth in both the 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard freestyle relay with the team of Lee, junior John Dragelin, Ko, and Pagan. Sophomore Ross Ramone had the best swim of his season, placing fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke.

The story of the weekend was Penn State, who dominated the competition. After winning four of the six contested events on Friday, the Nittany Lions proceeded to take first in five of eight events the following day. The team's depth was on full display in the 200-yard freestyle, sweeping the top three and taking six of eight places.

Princeton's second-place finish was highlighted by an Olympic berth. Junior Doug Lennox earned a spot on the Puerto Rican Olympic squad after a strong finish in the 100-yard butterfly. The Tigers pick up a dual-meet win over both the Lions and the Bears, who finished the meet in third place. Columbia will see Princeton again in February.