NCAA Division III Preview: Kenyon, Denison, Emory and Johns Hopkins Compete This Weekend

PHOENIX, Arizona, January 17. KENYON, Denison, Emory and Johns Hopkins will all compete this weekend in an exciting weekend of Division III action. All four schools have been vying for the top ranking in Division III recently and will be among the top finishers at March’s NCAA Division III championships. Here’s a look at each of their meets this weekend.

Kenyon Winter Invite: Oakland, Cincinnati, Ashland, Ohio State

Beginning this afternoon, Oakland, Cincinnati, Ashland and Ohio State will travel to Gambier, Ohio for the five-team Kenyon Winter Invitational. This will be Kenyon’s first official meet since the Total Performance Sports Camps Invite in early December, and the Lords and Ladies will be looking to pick up where they left off last month. Harrison Curley broke the Kenyon school record in the 200 back at that meet with a 1:45.80, while brothers Trevor and Wes Manz also had standout swims for the Lords. Breaststroker Katie Kaestner has been having a huge season for the Kenyon Ladies and will have another chance to sweep the breaststroke events this weekend. Kenyon will face some stiff competition from Division I Oakland, Cincinnati and Ohio State, as well as Division II Ashland. Ashland is ranked 12^th on the men’s side and 17^th on the women’s by Collegeswimming.com.

Denison vs. Pittsburgh, James Madison

Denison will have its hands full with a duo of Division I teams this weekend as they travel to Pennsylvania to take on Pittsburgh and James Madison. Denison will also face Grove City tomorrow morning as half the squad will stay behind for a home meet. This will be the team’s second straight weekend of split meets, as the Big Red fell to Eastern Michigan and beat Wittenberg in split meets last weekend. On the men’s side, Damon Rosenburg, Spencer Fronk and Connor Dignan will be counted on for big points, along with Campbell Costley, Carolyn Kane and Michelle Howell on the women’s side.

St. Mary’s vs. Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins started this season relatively quietly, but the Blue Jays have been turning heads lately with some of the fastest times in the nation. Johns Hopkins will compete in back-to-back meets this weekend, beginning with St. Mary’s tonight and Stevens Tech tomorrow. A handful of Blue Jays have already posted multiple NCAA provisional times this season and will be looking to upgrade to automatic cuts in the coming weeks. Taylor Kitayama, Sarah Rinsma, Kylie Ternes, Ana Bogdanovski and Sammi Fox each have three or more NCAA provisional times already for the women; Kitayama holds the fastest time in the nation in the 100 back (54.56), 200 back (1:58.53) and 200 IM (2:04.33), while Bogdanovski is tops in the 100 and 200 free (50.24 and 1:49.09). Shirley Chan has also posted the top time in the 100 fly at 55.94. Blue Jays Joseph Acquaviva and Muhammad Hudhud have four NCAA B cuts to their credit, while Evan Holder, Anthony Lordi and Will Kimball each have three. The Blue Jays have incredible depth across all of the events and will certainly be in consideration for a higher ranking with another solid weekend.

Georgia Tech vs. Emory

Emory, the four-time defending NCAA champs on the women’s side, will host Georgia Tech on Saturday morning on Senior Day. The Eagles are coming off a split against Division II Florida Southern last weekend, where the women came out victorious and the men came up just short of the win. McKenna Newsum-Schoenberg and Annelise Kowalsky should continue their strong performances for the women as both swimmers recorded multiple victories last weekend against the Moccasins. On the men’s side, Andrew Wilson swept the men’s breaststroke events with an NCAA B cut in the 100. Georgia Tech will be looking for its first win since Dec. 21, when they swept Florida Atlantic. Both Georgia Tech squads fell to Louisville on Jan. 4.

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