Light Blue opens New Year with dominant win

After a six-week break from competition, the Columbia men’s swimming and diving team returned to the pool this past Sunday in a dual meet against the Bucknell Bison. The men emerged victorious, winning all but two events and trouncing the Bison 158-83 in their first meet of 2010.
The Lions took the lead from the get-go, winning the 400 medley relay in 3:27.40 with a team comprised of sophomores Johnny Bailey and Bruno Esquen and seniors Eric Tang and co-captain Darren Pagan.
Freshman Sean Mackenzie took first in the 1000 freestyle in 9:37.83 while teammates Chester Dols and Alex Smith closed out third and fourth respectively in 9:50.04 and 9:57.73. The trio teamed up again in the 500 freestyle with Mackenzie winning in 4:41.06. Dols (4:49.10) and Smith (4:49.27) grabbed third and fourth.
Bucknell may have gotten the best of the Light Blue in the 200 freestyle but freshmen Patrick Dougherty, Joe Beutler, and Mitch Phillips ensured the Lions didn’t come up empty-handed. The three brought in a combined six points with third through fifth place finishes respectively.
Back on top again, Columbia junior Adam Powell dominated the 50-yard freestyle in 20.46 seconds, beating the Bison’s top dog by nearly a full second. Powell also scored first-place points in the 100 freestyle with a 46.31 second time.
The 200 individual medley was taken by Pagan in 1:54.52. A few seconds later, sophomore Erik Mai touched the wall in third in 1:57.71.
Next up, freshman Jason Collazo grabbed nine points for the Lions in the one-meter dive, winning with 266.25 points.
Collazo pulled off another win in the three-meter diving competition with 280.65 points. He was joined by teammates Michaelangelo Borghi and David Levkoff who finished third and fourth with 234.52 and 220.72 points respectively.
Sophomore Bruno Esquen and senior Nick Barron teamed up in the 200 butterfly to take first and second place, Esquen in 1:55.61 and Barron in 1:57.23.
Bucknell won its last event of the day in the 200 backstroke, with two swimmers touching the wall before Columbia’s Pagan finished in 1:54.66.
The Lions rebounded in the 200 breaststroke with a sweep of the first four places. Tang and senior Ross Ramone were the first two to the wall in 2:08.05 and 2:08.15, followed by Mai in 2:11.35 and sophomore John-Howard Sidman in fourth in 2:13.26.
Columbia closed out the meet on a high note with the combined efforts of Esquen, Dougherty, Powell, and senior Jordan Kobb. The group won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:25.78 followed by the B-team in third in 1:29.14.
The Lions bring the competition back to Morningside Heights on Saturday when they take on Ivy adversary Cornell at their homecoming meet in Uris Pool.