NCAA Division III Championships: Kenyon Wins Again

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, March 21. THE Kenyon domination of NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving continued as the men won their 30th straight title and the women clinched their 23rd championship in 26 years.

The men won by more than 200 points with a tally of 604 points, while Emory took second with 402 points. Denison (308.5), St. Olaf (252) and Amherst (196) completed the top five.

The Kenyon women had a bit tougher time, but still won comfortably with 560 points. Emory finished second as well with 466.5 points. Denison (413), Williams (334.5) and Amherst (201.5) earned third through fifth in the women's title race.

Emory's Liz Horvat began the final night of swimming with a division-record time of 16:30.17 in the women's 1650-yard free. The swim broke the 16:40.16 set by Middlebury's Heidi George back in 1996 – the final women's Division III record standing from before the turn of the century. Denison's Hilary Callen (16:48.10) and CMS's Whitney Dawson (16:58.48) completed the top three.

Kenyon's Elliot Rushton's division record of 15:15.64 from 2005 held up in the men's 1650-yard free with Kenyon's Kegan Borland winning in 15:19.98. Amherst's Ryan Lichtenfels finished second in 15:23.15, while Emory's Paul Weinstein wound up third in 15:27.89.

Amhert's Kendra Stern set the division record in the women's 100 free with a 49.37. The swim cleared the 49.46 set by Carleton's Marie Marsman back in 2005. Emory's Ruth Westby placed second in 49.74, while Denison's Kristen Hohl touched third in 49.85.

Grove City's Caleb Courage set the men's 100 free division record in prelims with a 43.60 before winning in 43.62. His prelim swim erased the 43.65 set by Kenyon's Jim Born back in 1985 – the oldest division record on the books. Denison's John Geissinger touched second in 43.81 with Kenyon's Zachary Turk taking third in 44.18.

Kenyon's Carolyn Barer won the women's 200 back in 2:00.15, while Williams' Amanda Nicholson (2:00.61) and Emory's Tess Pasternak (2:00.69) completed the close swim in second and third.

After Johns Hopkins' John Thomas broke the division record with a 1:47.07 during prelims to wipe out the 1:47.21 set by Kenyon's Leandro Monteiro in 2002, he returned at night to clinch the men's 200 back title in 1:46.71. St. Thomas' Peter Mullee placed a close second in 1:46.85, while Kenyon's Michael Mpitsos took third in 1:47.92.

Kenyon's Alisa Vereshchagin won the women's 200 breast in 2:14.71, while CMS's Annie Perizzolo finished second in 2:16.19. Springfield's Moira Price placed third in 2:17.82.

St. Olaf's Nelson Westby followed in the men's 200 breast with a 1:59.26, while Washington's Alex Beyer (1:59.95) and Staten Island's Pavel Buyanov (1:59.99) rounded out the top three.

Merchant Marine's Nicholas Halbach won the men's three-meter title with 536.35 points, while UW Oshkosh's Jacob Chadderdon (524.20) and Amherst's Kai Robinson (516.10) finished second and third.

Denison's Olivia Zaleski, Annamarie Novinger, Kate Rich and Kristen Hohl finished the evening with a division-record time of 3:21.97 to win the women's 400 free relay. Meanwhile, Kenyon's Zachary Turk, Matthew Harris, Blair Withington and David Somers grabbed the men's 400 free relay with a division-record time of 2:56.22. The swim beat the 2:57.98 set by Kenyon back in 1998.

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