2019 NCAA DIII Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2018 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships

Photo Courtesy: Ryan Coleman

The third day of the 2019 NCAA DIII Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center will feature three individual swimming events and the 800 Freestyle Relay.

After securing an NCAA title and record in the 200 IM, NYU’s Honore Collins comes into day three as the top seed in the 200 Fly (2:01.80).

Photo Courtesy: Denison Athletics Communications

Denison swimmers Robert Williams and Katherine Kustritz hold top seeds in the 200 Fly (1:46.65) and 100 Breast (59.84), respectively.

The top of the men’s breaststroke belongs to UW Eau Claire junior Colling Miller in 53.62, while the backstroke is led by Kenyon’s Crile Hart (54.53) and WPI’s John Bauer (47.64).

Today’s relay will play a big role in the overall team scores. The Kenyon Ladies hold the top seed on the women’s side and the Denison men do likewise. Emory, Kenyon and Denison are currently dominating the team race for both men and women:

Women’s Rankings – Through Event 19

Emory – 254
Kenyon – 230
Denison – 223
Williams – 181
NYU – 119
Pomona-Pitzer – 93
Chicago – 87
W & L – 86.5
Johns Hopkins – 74
Bowdoin – 67

Men’s Rankings – Through Event 20

Denison – 305.5
Kenyon – 272
Emory – 259.5
Johns Hopkins – 169
MIT – 109
Wash U. MO – 108
Tufts – 92
Williams – 74
Amherst – 72
Calvin – 71

Women’s 200 Fly

Bowdoin senior Sterling Dixon will look to add on to her already successful meet after claiming the top seed in the 200 fly. Dixon has already posted top-eight finishes in the 200 IM and 200 Free this week before cruising in at a 2:02.47. The swim is a big improvement from her swim in this event in 2018 where she took twenty-ninth place in the preliminaries.

Williams sophomore Molly Craig dropped a best time to move from the fourteenth to second seed in this event (2:02.69). The swim is not a total surprise after her sixth-place finish in this event last year.Tuft’s Amy Socha rounded out the top three women in 2:03.02.

Chicago’s Hannah Eastman (2:03.28) put up a big best time to lead a tight battle within the top eight finishers. She was followed by Denison’s Zoe Whelan (2:03.32), NYU’s Honore Collins (2:03.43), MIT’s Hannah Mahaffey (2:03.59) and Emory’s Maria Magdalena Turcanu (2:03.85). Mahaffey’s swim was also a personal best by almost a full second.

Emory also placed two swimmers in the consolation final with efforts from Clio Hancock (2:04.53) and Alexandra Dixon (2:04.59).

d3200flyw

Men’s 200 Fly

The Denison men made a statement in the 200 Fly prelims by earning three spots in the top eight. As predicted, junior Robert Williams posted the top time of 1:47.47. Freshman teammates Noah Houskeeper (1:47.72) and Richard Kurlich (1:48.33) earned the third and fifth seeds, respectively.

Wash U. MO’s Brandon Lum was right on his season-best at 1:47.56 for second, with Williams junior Lucca Delcompare not far off in 1:48.10 for fourth. Lum was the National Champion in this event in 2017 before earning runner-up honors in 2018. Williams was third in last year’s event at 1:46.67.

MIT’s Bouke Edskes (1:48.37), Johns Hopkins’ Jeffrey Vitek (1:48.40) and CLU’s Andreas Nybo/Beau Tipton (1:48.49) took sixth through eighth. The men will likely swim off for a spot in the A final.

d3200flym

Women’s 100 Back

Kenyon’s Crile Hart also maintained her top seed, coming in at 55.16. She will look to defend her natioal title in this event as she is the reigning National Champion. Teammate Micah Otazu (55.40) dropped nearly a full second to jump from the sixteenth seed to third. Sedera Zbranak of RIT split the Ladies in 55.38.

NYU placed another swim in the top heat after senior May Li swam a 55.58 for fourth. Pomona Pitzer senior duo Angela Ling (55.63) and Sarah Jin (55.63) tied for fifth in 55.63. The pair was fifth and sixth in 2018’s final. They were followed by Wesleyan’s Caroline Murphy (55.68) and Emory’s Caroline Olson (55.70).

Kenyon also earned two ‘B’ final swims out of senior Caitlin Foley (56.37) and sophomore Kaitlyn Griffith (56.46).

d3100backw

Men’s 100 Back

For the third event in a row, the top seed maintained their reign on the event, this time with WPI’s John Bauer (47.67). Eight different schools will be featured in the championship final. Chicago will be represented by junior Albert Litschgi after his best time of 47.71. Kenyon’s David Fitch (48.18) will be the lone Lord in the top eight.

Johns Hopkins’ Emile Kuyl (48.21) and Calvin’s Benjamin Holstege (48.37) will earn valuable points for their team after placing fourth and fifth. Wash U. MO’s Peyton Wilson (48.41), Denison’s Liam Picozzi (48.58) and Wheaton’s Jacob Cost (48.70) will also race in the final. Picozzi is the only freshman among the top eight.

Of note, last year’s National Champion – Sage Ono of Emory – finished in the fifteenth spot. Top-seeded Bauer, however, did not qualify for this event last year after earning All-American honors in 2017.

d3100backm

Women’s 100 Breast

Denison and Kenyon both earned two spots in the championship final of the 100 Breast. The Big Red women were led by Katherine Kustritz (1:00.19) and Katherine Mesaros (1:01.25). They were split by veteran Samantha Senczyszyn (1:01.11) of UW Eau Claire. Senczyszyn is the NCAA Champion from 2016 and 2017, while Kustritz took the crown in 2018.

Kenyon’s Makena Markert (1:02.44) and Andrea Perttula (1:03.11) were fifth and eighth. Also earning top-eight seeds were SCU freshman Jordyn Wentzel (1:01.62), Emory senior Ashley Daniels (1:02.46) and Williams junior Caroline White (1:02.71).

d3100breastw

Men’s 100 Breast

UW Eau Claire’s Collin Miller took the top seed in the men’s race at 54.22. He will look to earn his first All-America honor in this event after placing ninth as a freshman and being disqualified in the A final in 2018. Pomona-Pitzer’s Lukas Menkhoff was just behind in 54.28. USMM’s Nolan Monahan dropped half a second to earn the third seed in 54.45.

Denison’s Tiernan Foster-Smith will swim his final individual 100 Breast of his career as the fourth seed in 54.53. UMW’s Jeffrey Leckrone will do the same in fifth at 54.66. CGA’s Chasse Sodemann (54.92) and Chicago’s Lance Culijat tied for sixth in 54.92, while GAC’s Tanner Sonnek rounded out the top eight with a 54.99.

d3100breastm

Women’s 800 Free Relay

With one heat remaining, Amherst holds the best chance at earning a spot in the top eight after winning the preliminary heats in 7:29.65. Natalie Rumpelt put up a quick 1:49.85 anchor leg to give them the edge over Wash U. MO’s squad of Catherine Cowin, Mollie Seidner, Lauren Sapp and Eleanor Pollitt (7:31.70). Birmingham SO has the third time at 7:32.86 after Rebecca Erwin out-split the field in 1:47.61.

Also earning official spots in the top sixteen are: St. Kate’s (7:33.42), MIT (7:34.21), Claremont Mudd-Scripps (7:35.15), Johns Hopkins (7:35.48) and Bates (7:36.99). Another notable split came with effort from St. Kate’s Jordyn Wentzel (1:48.26).

Men’s 800 Free Relay

In similar fashion, the men from Pomona-Pitzer put up the top time of the morning coming in at 6:40.64. They were led by George Abele’s anchor leg of 1:38.02. Chicago (6:41.68) and Gustavus (6:43.69) also had splits under the 1:40 barrier in Taye Baldinazzo (1:39.81) and Matthew Allison (1:39.60).

Also earning official spots in the top sixteen are: Carnegie Mellon (6:43.81), Tufts (6:45.36), Bowdoin (6:47.99), Calvin (6:48.10) and F & M (6:50.59).

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use