Emory Women Dominate For Fifth Straight; Kenyon Men Edge Denison at NCAA D3s

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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 22. THE women’s race was already over heading into the final day as Emory dominated the field, while the men’s team title went down to the final 400 free relay at the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships.

The Kenyon men managed to catch Denison on the fourth and final day of swimming with an eight-point victory, 480-472. that’s Kenyon’s second straight win after defending the title from a year ago. Kenyon had won 31 straight titles from 1980-2010 before Denison went on a two-year run in 2011 and 2012.

Emory (246.5), Johns Hopkins (245), MIT (236) and TCNJ (203) finished third through sixth, while CMS (164), Williams (153), Keene State (149) and Chicago (146) made the top 10.

Emory’s women dominated this week, winning its fifth straight team title here at D3s. Emory finished with 595.5 points, while Kenyon took a solid second with 456.5 points. Johns Hopkins cleared Denison for third, 387 to 374.5.

Williams (272), Amherst (185), Gustavus Adolphus (154), Washington U (134), MIT (123.5) and Chicago (122) rounded out the top 10.

Denison’s Allen Weik opened the night with a strong time of 15:05.60 to top the men’s 1650-yard freestyle, giving him a career sweep of the event, having previously won the mile in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He beat last year’s time by four seconds, and finished less than a second off his NCAA D3 record of 15:04.85 from 2012.

Johns Hopkins’ Andy Greenhalgh (15:12.98), Kenyon’s Arthur Conover (15:29.33) and Keene State’s Drew Ledwith (15:20.38) finished second, third and fourth in the timed final event. Meanwhile, Keene State’s Shahar Resman (15:25.66), Washington U’s Luke Dobben (15:29.40), Washington U’s Carter Turpin (15:31.23) and Kenyon’s Andrew Chevalier (15:37.62) rounded out the top eight.

While Denison had the big point scorer with Weik’s win, it only had one other scorer with a 12th-place 15:48.12 from Peter Fallon. Kenyon, on the other hand, added two more scorers with Alex Seaver (15:53.46, 15th) and Jose Guilfoyle (15:53.96, 16th) joining Conover and Chevalier. Denison remained in the lead ahead of Kenyon, however, with a 399-376 score.

Williams’ Sarah Thompson dominated the women’s 1650-yard freestyle finale with a 16:31.17, just a tad better than the 16:31.60 she used to win a year ago. She also added the title to her 500 free from earlier in the week. Emory’s Courtney McDermott finished second in 16:43.79, while Denison’s Taylor Johns took third in 16:47.37.

Kenyon’s Sydney Lindblom (16:50.60), Williams’ Megan Pierce (16:51.46), Emory’s McKenna Newsum-Schoenberg (16:52.35), Kenyon’s Mariah Williamson (16:53.69) and Denison’s Cambell Costley (16:55.2) completed the top eight in the event.

Tonight is basically a victory lap for Emory as it pushed its leading tally to 447.5. Kenyon (336), Denison (303) and Johns Hopkins (298) are battling for second.

The much faster 100 frees followed with Trinity’s Stephen Culberson clinching the men’s title with a 44.18. Kenyon’s Austin Caldwell placed second in 44.46, while TCNJ’s Stephen Tarnowski claimed third overall in 44.49.

Gettysburg’s Jason Potter (44.54), Coast Guard’s Christian Brindamour (44.65), CMS’ Alex Poltash (44.70), Johns Hopkins’ Anthony Lordi (44.72) and Denison’s Ryan Fleming (44.79) also vied for the national title.

In the Denison vs. Kenyon battle, Denison’s Conrad Wuorinen clipped Kenyon’s Joseph Duronio, 44.97 to 45.01, for 11th place overall in the consolation heat along with Kenyon’s Caldwell placing much better than Denison’s Fleming in the A final. Denison still held the lead after the event, 416-398.

Sprinfield’s Kellie Pennington ripped off a 49.41 to win the women’s 100-yard freestyle finale, delivering Anastasia Bogdanovski of Johns Hopkins her first loss of the meet as Bogdanovski touched just behind in 49.66. Bogdanovski had been part of six wins up until this race.

Emory’s Nancy Larson (50.33), Kenyon’s Hillary Yarosh (50.94), Kenyon’s Jourdan Cline (50.95), Connecticut’s Julia Pielock (51.02), Denison’s Carolyn Kane (51.23) and Johns Hopkins’ Kylie Ternes (51.33) closed out the rest of the heat, finishing third through eighth.

Emory pushed its leading tally to 463.5 points, while Kenyon put some separation between itself and Johns Hopkins/Denison for second with a 375.5. JHU (328) and Denison (320.5) looked to be in a battle for third at this point of the evening.

Kenyon’s Harrison Curley won an important battle for his team by topping the men’s 200-yard back in a 1:45.11. He threw down a sizzling 26.23 final split to overtake USMMA’s Kevin Lindgren (1:45.42) and Williams’ Ben Lin (1:45.88) for the title.

Johns Hopkins’ Dylan Davis (1:46.32), Albright’s Ralph Porrazzo (1:46.62), Emory’s Ross Spock (1:47.76), Denison’s Jack Humphrey (1:47.85) and Connecticut’s Loring Bowen (1:49.19) placed fourth through eighth.

In the consolation heat, Denison’s Jack Lindell beat Kenyon’s Oscar Anderson, 1:49.07 to 1:49.56 as the two finished 14th and 15th. Anderson had had to win a three-way swimoff to even make the B final, given Kenyon two points it might not have gotten otherwise.

Kenyon kept chipping away at Denison’s lead with Denison now holding a 431-420 advantage.

Luther’s Clare Slagel raced to victory in the women’s 200-yard back with a 1:58.38. She finished half-a-second ahead of Johns Hopkins’ Taylor Kitayama, who took second in 1:58.74. Williams’ Katherine Bennett also beat 2:00 with a third-place 1:59.28.

Gustavus Adolphus’ Alissa Tinklenberg (2:00.33), Emory’s Sadie Nennig (2:00.48), Kenyon’s Celia Oberholzer (2:01.26), Chicago’s Alison Wall (2:01.35) and Rose-Hulman’s Eleanore Hong (2:01.99) closed out the championship field.

Emory’s leading tally rose to 486.5 with Kenyon firmly in second with 388.5 points. Johns Hopkins began stretching its advantage for third against Denison, 347 to 325.5.

Occidental’s Steve Van Deventer defended his men’s 200-yard breast title with a 1:58.21 to 1:58.54 victory against Emory’s Andrew Wilson, both under the 1:58.60 Van Deventer went to win a year ago.

Kenyon made its move in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke with two up and one down as Trevor Manz (1:59.62) and Alex Beckwith (2:01.15) placed third (tie) and seventh overall in the finale, while Ian Reardon tied for 10th with a 2:01.63.

UW Eau Claire’s Alex Card (1:59.62), Calvin’s Johnson Cochran (2:00.44), MIT’s Michael Liao (2:00.77) and Williams’ Tim Lattimer (2:01.59) also competed in the A final.

Denison, meanwhile, had a trio of swimmers in the consolation heat with Damon Rosenburg (2:02.78), Addison Evans (2:04.34) and Bart Brunk (2:05.87) taking 13th, 15th and 16th.

The 200 breast represented more than a 20-point swing as Kenyon vaulted into the lead, 454-438, with just the 400 free relay left to make an impact.

Emory dropped the hammer in the women’s 200-yard breast with an amazing 1-2-3-6 in the event. Elizabeth Aronoff won in 2:14.37 with teammates Megan Beach (2:14.73) and Annelise Kowalski (2:16.12) rounding out the top three, while Kylie McKenzie took sixth overall.

Denison’s Natalie Lugg (2:16.29), Kenyon’s Katie Kaestner (2:16.33), Amherst’s Emily Hyde (2:18.52) and UW Whitewater’s Amy Spaay (2:20.57) comprised the rest of the championship heat.

Emory easily cleared 500 points with 552.5 following the event, while Kenyon cracked 400 points with a second-place 402.5. Johns Hopkins (347) and Denison (344.5) remained close for third overall.

Kenyon’s Maria Zarka topped the women’s three-meter diving event with 494.15 points, while Amherst’s Kait Linsmayer took second with 486.25 points.

Springfield’s Jen Thompson (485.95), Macalester’s Renee Jordan (478.75), Ithaca’s Nick Griesemer (471.20), Williams’ McKenzie Murdoch (468.30), Hope’s Sarah Sheridan (466.45) and Emory’s Sarah Greene (444.35) rounded out the diving finale heading into the final relays.

TCNJ’s Stephen Tarnowski (44.92), Brett Pedersen (44.30), Joseph Dunn (44.46) and Stephen Gibson (44.39) won the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay in 2:58.07 to close out the night. Denison beat Kenyon by four spots with a second-place time of 2:58.67 against Kenyon’s sixth-place 3:00.10, but it wasn’t enough as Kenyon claimed an eight-point victory, 480-472.

Gettysburg (2:59.70), DePauw (2:59.78), MIT (3:00.01), Chicago (3:00.36) and CMS (3:01.30) comprised the rest of the championship finale.

Johns Hopkins closed out a strong meet as Sarah Rinsma (50.59), Kylie Ternes (50.98), Samantha Fox (52.08) and Anastasia Bogdanovski (48.79) won the women’s 400-yard free relay in 3:22.44. Kenyon (3:22.84), Emory (3:24.76) and Denison (3:25.41) wrapped up the top four.

CMS (3:26.32), MIT (3:26.62), Gustavus Adolphus (3:27.20) and Chicago (3:27.67) also swam in the finale as Emory rolled to the team title.

Also, just for good measure, someone accidentally pulled the fire alarm right before the team trophy ceremony, which led to a full blown evacuation.

Results For: NCAA Division III Championships: Day Four

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