Cornell Holds Off Columbia in the 800 Freestyle Relay

In what was easily the best race of the night, Cornell staved off a fantastic upset bid by Columbia University. Columbia gave everything they had in this race, and prior to the last exchange were actually leading.

Only a fantastic anchor leg by Mike Smit ('07) kept Columbia from staging a monumental upset. The team of Kevin Wakefield ('09), Hyun Lee ('09), John Dragelin ('09), and Tobin White ('07) battled the entire way, and by using exceptional speed and textbook turns, nearly stunned the crowd. To put it in perspective, and if you consider seeding times as valid measures of performance, then Columbia seemingly came out of nowhere to place 2nd.

But at the end of the day, it was Smit, combined with Wes Newman ('09), Dave McKechnie ('07) and Brad Gorter ('08) keeping Columbia and the rest of the teams at bay, to capture the full allotment of points.

We'll see you tomorrow!