NCAA Division III Championships, Day 1 Finals: Denison Men, NYU Women Lead; 400 Medley Relay Records Fall
Night one of the NCAA Division III Championships in Indianapolis culminated with a bang as the Bates men and Kenyon women each put together national-record performances in the 400 medley relay. Before that, seven individual titles were handed out, with Denison and Kenyon each topping the podium on multiple occasions.
Denison, the defending champion on the men’s side, picked up victories from George Goins in the 500 freestyle and Nick Fogle in 3-meter diving, and the team has already garnered 118 points to build a lead over Emory (97) and Chicago (96). For the women, NYU is in front with 121 points, largely thanks to a victory from Kaley McIntyre in the 50 freestyle. Kenyon sits second (108.5) with Emory third (92.5).
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Men’s 500 Freestyle
Denison’s George Goins secured the first victory of the competition as he pulled away from the field in the 500 free. Goins trailed for the first half of the race as Chicago’s Alex Schwartz jumped out in front, but Goins slowly chipped into the advantage, flipping just one hundredth behind at the 250-yard mark. Then, Goins had to fight off a surge from Wash U’s Parker Chan on the back half.
Chan actually pulled into a slight lead with 50 yards remaining, but Chan restored the status quo with a finishing split of 22.33. That put him into the wall in 4:22.30, a full second ahead of the field. Chan placed second in 4:23.33 while Kenyon’s Teodor Jaworski placed third in 4:23.75. Schwartz fell off the pace but remained in fourth position (4:24.71).
Women’s 500 Freestyle
Kenyon’s Molly Haag was the dominant performer in the 500 free final, going wire-to-wire, out-splitting her rivals lap after lap and eventually winning by more than two seconds. Haag came in at 4:46.81, well clear of runnerup Emily Harris of Denison.
Harris touched in 4:48.82, and third went to NYU’s Llew Ladomirak in 4:49.53. There was a big gap back to the rest of the field, which was led by Quinn Brown in 4:51.36 to give Denison a strong 2-4 finish.
Men’s 200 IM
Breaststroke was the critical leg as Chicago’s Cooper Costello came through for the win in the 200 IM. Costello stayed within two tenths of the field through the first half of the race, and then he blasted through breaststroke in 30.47. That time was almost a half-second quicker than any of the other swimmers in the A-final, and Costello did enough on freestyle to hang on.
Costello finished in 1:45.13 to take the win, with Denison’s Jack Hill coming in second at 1:45.52. Hill was the early leader, and he closed well, but it was not enough to get the better of Hill. Conner Dean came in third at 1:45.98 while Wash U’s Marco Minai scorched a 24.35 freestyle leg to take fourth (1:46.18). Brayden Morford, the Carnegie Mellon swimmer who was the defending champion, ended up fifth (1:46.20).
Women’s 200 IM
Hope College’s Greta Gidley could not be stopped in the women’s medley. Just like Costello in the preceding men’s event, breaststroke made the difference. A 32.64 performance demolished everyone else in the field, with only one other competitor within two seconds, and Gidley carried that momentum into a huge freestyle leg of 28.82. Her final time was 1:59.20, two seconds clear of the rest of the field.
There was a tie for second place between Emory’s Sammi Thiele and Kenyon’s Kelsey Van Eldik, with both women going 2:01.25. Thiele was the early leader in the event before Gidley’s breaststroke heroics while Van Eldik moved through the field on the back half. This duo out-distanced the rest of the field, led by Pomona-Pitzer’s Bennett Jones (2:01.70).
Men’s 50 Freestyle
Kenyon’s Djordje Dragojlovic surged through the field to win the splash-and-dash by five hundredths. Dragojlovic put up a time of 19.42 to edge Bates’ Max Cory (19.42) by five hundredths.
Every swimmer in the championship final broke 20 in prelims and/or the final. Chicago’s John Butler was the best of the rest in 19.72, just ahead of Saint Vincent’s Jacob Dzurica (19.79).
Women’s 50 Freestyle
As with the men’s event, the women’s 50 free came down to five hundredths of a second. NYU’s Kaley McIntyre came out on top with a time of 22.45,with Swarthmore’s Genine Collins just behind in 22.50. McIntyre swam three tenths slower than she did in the 2025 final, but she still had enough to defend her title as a senior. The win marked the fifth individual Division III title in McIntyre’s career.
Emory’s Ava Kennedy placed third in 22.86, just ahead of Middlebury’s Anna McGrew (22.98). Six swimmers went sub-23 in the morning, but the race was slower in the evening, with only McIntyre and Collins improving upon their morning swims.
Men’s 3-Meter Diving
Denison already owned the lead in the men’s competition, and Nick Fogle extended that margin. The senior diver scored 530.35 points on 3-meter to edge out the 523.15 of Alfred State’s Conor Compton. Third went to Centre College’s Rowan Fitzsimmons (481.30).
Men’s 400 Medley Relay
Bates secured the win in the men’s 400 medley relay in comfortable fashion. The team of Timothy Johnson, Marrich Somridhivej, Nate Oppenheim and Max Cory combined to finish in 3:08.43, smashing the previous NCAA Division III record of 3:09.78 set by Kenyon two years ago. Bates had previously just missed the record in prelims. At night, Somridhivej came through with a brilliant 50.41 breaststroke split while Cory finished in 42.22 to lock down the win.
Chicago was the closest competitor as Misha Kojanov, Ethan Taylor, Cooper Costello and John Butler combined for a time of 3:09.94. Costello was back in the pool after winning the 200 IM earlier in the session. Emory, with a team of Zack Spicer, Henri Bonnault, McKee Thorsen and Hayden Tupper, took third in 3:11.55, just two tenths ahead of NYU (3:11.75).
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
Kenyon was dominant in the women’s 400 medley relay, clearing the rest of the field by almost 3.5 seconds. The team of Gwen Eisenbeis, Kelsey Van Eldik, Nora Kortuem and Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault finished in 3:37.94. That time clipped the previous national record of 3:38.05 set by a Kenyon team four years ago. Van Eldik, who split 59.25 on breaststroke, returned to the podium after taking second in the 200 IM earlier in the night, and the win was the third overall for Kenyon after Molly Haag topped the women’s 500 free and Djordje Dragojlovic took the men’s 50.
In second place was Emory’s team of Penny Celtnieks, Katie Cohen, Allison Greene and Sami Thiele in 3:41.42 while NYU’s Maeve O’Donnell, Sammy Wong, Nicole Ranile and Kaley McIntyre grabbed third in 3:41.83. McIntyre turned on the jets on the anchor leg with a 47.81 split.