NCAA Division III Women’s Championships: Kenyon Takes Early Lead, Records Get Crushed

OXFORD, Ohio, March 13. THE women from Division III set the campus of Miami University on fire with some quick swims at the NCAA Women's Division III Championships during the first night off action in Oxford.

Team Scores
Kenyon took a giant step forward towards claiming its 22nd team title in the past 25 meets with a first-day total of 205 points. Amherst stood second with 122 points, while Denison held third with 114 points. Emory (72), Washington (71) and Williams (71) comprised the rest of the top five.

Individual Events
Kendra Stern, a freshman swimming for Amherst, obliterated the DIII record in the 500 freestyle as she dropped a time of 4:52.34 for her initial national title. That performance destroyed the previous standard of 4:55.11 set by Denison's Tamara Carty in 2002. A fellow freshman, Liz Horvat of Emory, nearly eclipsed the former standard as well with a second-place time of 4:55.25.

After demolishing her own record in the 200 IM during prelims with a 2:01.67, which far surpassed her time of 2:03.13 set last year, Washington and Jefferson's Kaitlyn Orstein nearly dipped under 2:00 for the first time in DIII history with a remarkable effort of 2:00.27. She had some company, however, as Amherst's Brittany Sasser also cleared Orstein's time from prelims with a second-place readout of 2:01.27.

The splash-and-dash 50 free feature a thrilling finish as nearly the entire field touched in the 23-second range. Emory's Ruth Westby hit the wall first in 23.40, with Kenyon's Elizabeth Carlton (23.43), SUNY-New Paltz's Michelle Coombs (23.50), Denison's Kristen Hohl (23.62), Kenyon's Jessica Wise (23.69), Denison's Olivia Zaleski (23.78) and Carthage's Amanda Croix (23.79) all clearing 24 seconds.

Kendall Sweet of Tufts emerged from a battle to lay claim to the one-meter diving title with 455.20 points. Lake Forest's Maggie Rezac pushed her the entire way with a second-place tally of 453.45.

Relays
Kenyon began the meet with a solid come-from-behind victory in the 200 freestyle relay thanks to a strong anchor leg of 23.18 turned in by Jessica Wise. Kenyon's team of Brittany Hurd, Elizabeth Carlton, Alyssa Toran and Wise trailed Denison, 1:10.28 to 1:10.37, heading into the final leg. Wise, however, helped Kenyon to a time off 1:33.55 for the title.

Denison's team of Olivia Zaleski, Kristen Hohl, Annamarie Novinger and Kate Rich, meanwhile, picked up second-place honors in 1:34.15

Amherst dominated the 400 medley relay from start-to-finish as the team of Brittany Sasser, Ellen Fitzgerald, Kendra Stern and Meaghan Stern stopped the clock in 3:46.87 for the win. Sasser's leadoff leg of 54.90 nearly netted her the DIII record in the 100 back, which she already owns with a 54.72 from last year.

Denison's Anna Comella, Ksenia Golovkina, Olivia Zaleski and Kristen Hohl wound up taking second with a time of 3:47.04.

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