A Mid-Season Look at Division III’s Top Women’s Relays

Photo Courtesy: Dennis Lowe

The women from Denison, currently the CSCAA’s number one ranked team, have the fastest time in the country in three different relays. Last year Emory won three relay National titles in March. In all five women’s relays, Denison, Emory, and Kenyon have the three fastest times in the country.

There are a number of typically top teams (Johns Hopkins, WashU, MIT) sitting outside that top three, while Williams, who even won a relay last year, is not yet in sight.

Here’s a look at the current top three rankings in each of the five relays, and some observations on what’s different from last March, and what else could change come Championship season.

4×50 Freestyle Relay

1. Denison 1:32.81

Mia Chiappe, Maddie Hopkins, Casey Kirby, KT Kustritz

2. Emory 1:33.02

Lucy Daro, Meg Taylor, Hannah Lally, Fiona Muir

3. Kenyon 1:33.30

Celina German, Emmie Mirus, Caylee Hamilton, Abby Wilson

Denison and Emory both swam those times at the Denison Invite, going head to head. Chiappe is the new edition to the Big Red relay this year, and the quartet has already gone a half second faster than they went at NCAAs last year, when they placed fourth.

Emory suffered a prelims DQ last year, but their splits totaled a 1:31.90. They haven’t been that fast yet this year, but their starts have evidently been safer.

Williams is the defending NCAA Division III champions in this event. So far, the Ephs sit 100th in the country in this relay, when two freshmen and two seniors combined for a 1:41.60 in a dual meet against Union. The Ephs are certainly hurting without Emma Waddell this year (she anchored in 21.95 last year), but she doesn’t leave them at this large of a loss. Like much of the NESCAC, Williams is unlikely to put up National level times until February, when they’ll certainly become a nationally prevalent relay, though they’re unlikely to defend their title.

4×100 Freestyle Relay

1. Emory 3:22.90

Fiona Muir, Lucy Daro, Hannah Lally, Meg Taylor

2. Kenyon 3:23.42

Abby Wilson, Celina German, Crile Hart, Hannah Orbach-Mandel

3. Denison 3:26.81

Mia Chiappe, Maddie Hopkins, Sophia Gaguzis, KT Kustritz

Last year an Emory quartet of Muir, Taylor, and since graduated Cindy Cheng and Ming Ong demolished the Eagles’ own NCAA record with a 3:18.46. With two new additions they’re not in that territory yet, but the Eagles look prepared to repeat their title.

Hart and Orbach-Mandel bookended the Ladies’ 4×100 freestyle relay last year (3:22.16) and look to be two key pieces again this year.

At the mid-season mark, Denison sits in third, where they finished last year. Three of the four legs of last year’s relay remain intact, just adding Gaguzis. They’ll have to swim a bit faster to stay in that top three come March. In 2018 the Big Red went a 3:24.32, but WashU went a 3:24.68 and Williams was sixth in 3:24.71. Johns Hopkins was DQed, but their splits added up to 3:23.11. So far this fall Hopkins has been a 3:28.00, good for the fourth ranked time.

4×200 Freestyle Relay

1. Kenyon 7:22.94

Hannah Orbach-Mandel, Abby Wilson, Kendall Vanderhoof, Crile Hart

2. Emory 7:24.92

Fiona Muir, Lucy Daro, Maria Turcanu, Meg Taylor

3. Denison 7:30.39

Natalie Zaravella, Mia Chiappe, Spencer Crawford, Hannah Ruskino

In 2016 Kenyon had a sensational freshman quartet: Orbach-Mandel, Wilson, Delaney Ambrosen (10th in the 200 free in 2018), and Marysol Arce who teamed up to win the 4×200 freestyle relay. Two of those legs remain, and have since been joined by Hart and Vanderhoof. Last year that squad finished second, two seconds behind the NCAA record setting Eagles.

Muir and Taylor are Emory’s only holdovers from last year, with Daro and Turcanu filling in for graduates Julia Wawer and Cheng.

Last year Williams finished third (7:24.01), and nobody from that quartet (Casey Delano, Alison McNamara, Gwyneth Maloy, and Laura Westphal) has graduated. They’ll likely make a rise in the rankings come February.

Three of Denison’s four legs on this year’s mid-season time are holdovers from last year when they finished seventh. They’ll need a pretty big drop in March to score in the top five.

4×50 Medley Relay

1. Denison 1:41.57

Angela Le, KT Kustritz, Maddie Hopkins, Casey Kirby

2. Kenyon 1:41.59

Crile Hart, Andrea Pettula, Emmie Mirus, Abby Wilson

3. Emory 1:42.56

Bethany Seagraves, Ashley Daniels, Maria Kyle, Meg Taylor

Having graduated Cheng’s 25.15 backstroke leadoff, the Eagles could have trouble returning back to last year’s form, an NCAA record 1:40.12.

This year Kenyon has already been faster than the 1:41.98 they went at NCAAs last year, en route to a fifth place finish. The big improvement has come in the butterfly, where Mirus is a full half second faster in December than she was in March.

Denison hasn’t changed a thing from last year, but are eight tenths shy of their second place time from last year.

Every other relay in last year’s top eight had at least one key senior, suggesting things could look different come March. Right now MIT, NYU, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, and WashU sit fourth through eighth, all in the 1:44-mid range, times that scored in last year’s B final.

4×100 Medley Relay

1. Denison 3:42.72

Casey Kirby, KT Kustritz, Maddie Hopkins, Mia Chiappe

2. Kenyon 3:42.75

Crile Hart, Makena Markert, Emmie Mirus, Abby Wilson

3. Emory 3:42.56

Grace Snyder, Edie Bates, Lucy Daro, Fiona Muir

How deep are the top three teams? Across 24 total relay spots, they use 18 different bodies. For the top three schools, six women swim both the 200 and 400 medley. Emory used four entirely different athletes to put together the third fastest relay in Division III.

Last year Kenyon won this with Hart on the fly leg (splitting a 52.94). So far this year, they’ve moved her into the backstroke spot, where she out-split last year’s backstroker by 1.5 seconds. Yet this year’s butterflier is 2.5 seconds slower than Hart.

The Ladies’ B breaststroker freshman Andrea Perttula actually outsplit Markert by over a second at the Total Performance Invite. With an A and a B 4×100 medley relay that would have been in the top 5 at NCAAs last year, Kenyon is beyond deep, leaving Jess Book and his coaching staff with a lot of relay decisions.

For full coverage of last year’s NCAA Division III season click here.

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