Emory Women Win Tenth-Straight NCAA Championship by Nine Points; Denison Dominates Men’s Race

Photo Courtesy: Emory Athletics

The final night of competition at the 2019 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center featured four individual swimming events, men’s three-meter diving finals and the 400 Freestyle Relay.

Emory’s Fiona Muir (50.14) capped off her stellar career with her third NCAA title of the week in the 100 Freestyle. She also posted a 48.77 anchor leg to help secure the Eagles’ team victory over Kenyon by just nine points. The Ladies were led by Crile Hart in the 200 Backstroke in addition to Abigail Wilson, Hannah Orbach-Mandel and Emmerson Mirus in the 400 Freestyle Relay.

Although Denison ran away with the men’s title, it was the Emory Eagles who outscored Kenyon 447.5 to 447 to earn runner-up honors. The Eagles won three individual events on the final night of competition courtesy of Tom Gordon in the 1,650, Trey Kolleck in the 100 Free and Jason Hamilton in the 200 Breast.

Final team scores are available below:

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 39                     
 
  1. Emory                             488   2. Kenyon                            479
  3. Denison                           419   4. Williams                          323
  5. Nyu                               203   6. Chicago                           171
  7. Pomona-Pitzer                     143   8. Amherst                           129
  9. Mit                               125  10. W&L                              121.5

Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 40                      
 
  1. Denison                         562.5   2. Emory                           447.5
  3. Kenyon                            447   4. Johns Hopkins                     300
  5. Wash U. MO                        221   6. Mit                               203
  7. Williams                          162   8. Chicago                           153
  9. Amherst                         149.5  10. Tufts                             147

Live Results

Women’s 1650 Freestyle

Williams sophomore Laura Westphal ran away with the 1,650 title after dropping over 15 seconds from her season-best time. The swim was her second title of the meet and second in this event after winning dominantly in 2018. She came in at 16:35.50 to take the win over Emory’s Julia Durmer (16:44.55) and SCU’s Margaret Menso (16:47.96).

Kenyon’s Kendall Vanderhoof maintained her history of top finishes in this event by coming in fourth with a personal best time of 16:52.66. NYU freshman Rachel Reistroffer did likewise to finish fifth, her highest finish of the week.

Denison’s Natalie Zaravella (16:56.15) and SUNY Geneseo’s Nancy Nasky (17:00.10) both posted big time drops to improve from the eleventh and twenty-first seeds, respectively. Wheaton’s Lydia Dacorte rounded out the top eight finishers in 17:00.61.

Men’s 1650 Freestyle

Emory senior Tom Gordon defended his National title in the 1,650 over classmate Matthew Hedman of Denison 15:24.84 to 15:19.60. The men were nearly dead-even through 1300 yards before Hedman brought home the win. Williams sophomore Jackson Karofsky improved on his sixth-place finish in this event from last year with a big best time of 15:23.06.

Kenyon Lords Bryan Fitzgerald (15:28.56) and Connor Rumpit (15:29.34) claimed the next two spots, both coming in under their seed times. Just a freshman, Fitzgerald dropped over twelve second to score big points coming from the twelfth seed.

Denison’s James Baker (15:32.77) was just off his season-best for seventh and Emory freshman Zachary Lorson (15:38.12) took eighth.

 Event 31  Men 1650 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
  NCAA Record: * 14:56.44  12/1/2016 Arthur Conover, Kenyon
  Meet Record: ! 14:59.56  3/18/2017 Arthur Conover, Kenyon
  2018 Winner:   15:15.60            Thomas Gordon, Emory
 Meet Qualify:   15:44.28
    Name           Year School               Seed     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
  1 Gordon, Thomas   SR Emory            15:24.20   15:14.84         20  
                 24.60        51.76 (27.16)
        1:19.26 (27.50)     1:47.21 (27.95)
        2:15.02 (27.81)     2:42.98 (27.96)
        3:10.98 (28.00)     3:38.87 (27.89)
        4:06.77 (27.90)     4:34.91 (28.14)
        5:02.68 (27.77)     5:30.61 (27.93)
        5:58.62 (28.01)     6:26.65 (28.03)
        6:54.83 (28.18)     7:22.80 (27.97)
        7:50.92 (28.12)     8:19.02 (28.10)
        8:47.15 (28.13)     9:15.37 (28.22)
        9:43.24 (27.87)    10:11.05 (27.81)
       10:39.17 (28.12)    11:07.21 (28.04)
       11:35.08 (27.87)    12:02.93 (27.85)
       12:30.94 (28.01)    12:58.96 (28.02)
       13:26.51 (27.55)    13:53.90 (27.39)
       14:21.63 (27.73)    14:49.00 (27.37)    15:14.84 (25.84)
  2 Hedman, Matthew  SR Denison          15:18.98   15:19.60         17  
                 25.07        52.11 (27.04)
        1:19.53 (27.42)     1:47.34 (27.81)
        2:15.20 (27.86)     2:43.32 (28.12)
        3:11.40 (28.08)     3:39.30 (27.90)
        4:07.30 (28.00)     4:35.29 (27.99)
        5:03.26 (27.97)     5:31.12 (27.86)
        5:59.04 (27.92)     6:26.99 (27.95)
        6:54.99 (28.00)     7:23.22 (28.23)
        7:51.19 (27.97)     8:19.22 (28.03)
        8:47.35 (28.13)     9:15.47 (28.12)
        9:43.54 (28.07)    10:11.43 (27.89)
       10:39.66 (28.23)    11:07.74 (28.08)
       11:35.83 (28.09)    12:03.79 (27.96)
       12:31.81 (28.02)    12:59.98 (28.17)
       13:28.17 (28.19)    13:56.17 (28.00)
       14:24.22 (28.05)    14:52.40 (28.18)    15:19.60 (27.20)
  3 Karofsky, Jacks  SO Williams         15:31.01   15:23.06         16  
                 24.77        51.77 (27.00)
        1:19.27 (27.50)     1:46.94 (27.67)
        2:14.86 (27.92)     2:42.70 (27.84)
        3:10.59 (27.89)     3:38.72 (28.13)
        4:06.94 (28.22)     4:35.27 (28.33)
        5:03.51 (28.24)     5:31.63 (28.12)
        5:59.78 (28.15)     6:28.00 (28.22)
        6:55.94 (27.94)     7:24.20 (28.26)
        7:52.43 (28.23)     8:20.72 (28.29)
        8:48.82 (28.10)     9:17.07 (28.25)
        9:45.22 (28.15)    10:13.18 (27.96)
       10:41.45 (28.27)    11:09.75 (28.30)
       11:37.88 (28.13)    12:06.17 (28.29)
       12:34.50 (28.33)    13:02.82 (28.32)
       13:31.05 (28.23)    13:59.38 (28.33)
       14:27.50 (28.12)    14:55.52 (28.02)    15:23.06 (27.54)
  4 Baylis, Paddy    FR Pomona-Pitzer    15:34.45   15:25.66         15  
                 25.91        53.89 (27.98)
        1:22.03 (28.14)     1:49.83 (27.80)
        2:17.95 (28.12)     2:46.18 (28.23)
        3:14.43 (28.25)     3:42.66 (28.23)
        4:10.88 (28.22)     4:39.29 (28.41)
        5:07.59 (28.30)     5:35.77 (28.18)
        6:03.97 (28.20)     6:32.06 (28.09)
        7:00.26 (28.20)     7:28.63 (28.37)
        7:56.87 (28.24)     8:25.55 (28.68)
        8:53.70 (28.15)     9:22.18 (28.48)
        9:50.06 (27.88)    10:18.22 (28.16)
       10:46.18 (27.96)    11:14.33 (28.15)
       11:42.73 (28.40)    12:11.27 (28.54)
       12:39.68 (28.41)    13:08.08 (28.40)
       13:36.37 (28.29)    14:05.00 (28.63)
       14:32.54 (27.54)    15:00.58 (28.04)    15:25.66 (25.08)
  5 Fitzgerald, Bry  FR Kenyon           15:40.18   15:28.56         14  
                 25.14        53.17 (28.03)
        1:21.56 (28.39)     1:50.23 (28.67)
        2:18.71 (28.48)     2:47.42 (28.71)
        3:15.69 (28.27)     3:44.21 (28.52)
        4:12.72 (28.51)     4:41.42 (28.70)
        5:09.66 (28.24)     5:38.11 (28.45)
        6:06.42 (28.31)     6:34.59 (28.17)
        7:02.84 (28.25)     7:30.96 (28.12)
        7:59.19 (28.23)     8:27.30 (28.11)
        8:55.65 (28.35)     9:24.31 (28.66)
        9:52.37 (28.06)    10:20.32 (27.95)
       10:48.35 (28.03)    11:16.46 (28.11)
       11:44.62 (28.16)    12:12.65 (28.03)
       12:40.98 (28.33)    13:09.21 (28.23)
       13:37.31 (28.10)    14:05.68 (28.37)
       14:33.68 (28.00)    15:01.66 (27.98)    15:28.56 (26.90)
  6 Rumpit, Connor   JR Kenyon           15:34.43   15:29.34         13  
                 24.91        52.39 (27.48)
        1:20.23 (27.84)     1:48.03 (27.80)
        2:15.90 (27.87)     2:44.02 (28.12)
        3:12.32 (28.30)     3:40.49 (28.17)
        4:08.57 (28.08)     4:36.88 (28.31)
        5:05.03 (28.15)     5:33.44 (28.41)
        6:01.79 (28.35)     6:30.05 (28.26)
        6:58.52 (28.47)     7:26.92 (28.40)
        7:55.30 (28.38)     8:23.96 (28.66)
        8:52.81 (28.85)     9:21.37 (28.56)
        9:49.95 (28.58)    10:18.69 (28.74)
       10:47.47 (28.78)    11:15.94 (28.47)
       11:44.65 (28.71)    12:13.06 (28.41)
       12:42.03 (28.97)    13:10.68 (28.65)
       13:39.55 (28.87)    14:07.60 (28.05)
       14:35.19 (27.59)    15:02.46 (27.27)    15:29.34 (26.88)
  7 Baker, James     JR Denison          15:31.71   15:32.77         12  
                 25.39        53.09 (27.70)
        1:21.58 (28.49)     1:50.29 (28.71)
        2:18.97 (28.68)     2:47.68 (28.71)
        3:16.18 (28.50)     3:44.92 (28.74)
        4:13.37 (28.45)     4:41.86 (28.49)
        5:10.23 (28.37)     5:38.80 (28.57)
        6:07.39 (28.59)     6:35.86 (28.47)
        7:04.41 (28.55)     7:32.69 (28.28)
        8:01.03 (28.34)     8:29.50 (28.47)
        8:57.70 (28.20)     9:25.96 (28.26)
        9:53.81 (27.85)    10:21.62 (27.81)
       10:49.60 (27.98)    11:17.60 (28.00)
       11:45.81 (28.21)    12:14.01 (28.20)
       12:42.27 (28.26)    13:10.69 (28.42)
       13:39.21 (28.52)    14:07.52 (28.31)
       14:35.84 (28.32)    15:04.53 (28.69)    15:32.77 (28.24)
  8 Lorson, Zachary  FR Emory            15:33.55   15:38.12         11  
                 25.47        52.75 (27.28)
        1:20.68 (27.93)     1:48.54 (27.86)
        2:16.42 (27.88)     2:44.54 (28.12)
        3:12.54 (28.00)     3:40.76 (28.22)
        4:09.07 (28.31)     4:37.31 (28.24)
        5:05.53 (28.22)     5:33.75 (28.22)
        6:02.27 (28.52)     6:30.56 (28.29)
        6:59.01 (28.45)     7:27.61 (28.60)
        7:56.16 (28.55)     8:24.82 (28.66)
        8:53.52 (28.70)     9:22.40 (28.88)
        9:51.22 (28.82)    10:20.18 (28.96)
       10:48.92 (28.74)    11:17.92 (29.00)
       11:46.96 (29.04)    12:15.90 (28.94)
       12:44.72 (28.82)    13:13.85 (29.13)
       13:43.00 (29.15)    14:11.86 (28.86)
       14:40.91 (29.05)    15:09.90 (28.99)    15:38.12 (28.22)

Women’s 100 Freestyle

Fiona Muir completed her perfect meet with her third National Title of the week. Muir out-split the field in both fifties, coming in at 49.37 for the win. Denison’s Madison Hopkins also broke the 50-second barrier, greatly improving on her twenty-eighth place finish in 2018.

BSC’s Rebecca Erwin took the third spot in 50.50 just ahead of Emory senior Megan Taylor in 50.53. Teammate Lucena Daro was seventh in 51.28. Kenyon also placed two swimmers in the top eight with efforts from Hannah Orbach-Mandel in 51.03 and Abigail Wilson in 51.39. Brooke Barnes rounded out the heat with her fifth-place finish in 50.54.

 Event 32  Women 100 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
  NCAA Record: * 48.98  3/20/2010 Kendra Stern, Amherst
  2018 Winner:   49.29            Fiona Muir, Emory
 Meet Qualify:   51.37
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Muir, Fiona      SR Emory               50.14      49.37         20  
                 23.56        49.37 (25.81)
  2 Hopkins, Madiso  SO Denison             50.33      49.97         17  
                 23.94        49.97 (26.03)
  3 Erwin, Rebecca   JR BSC                 50.60      50.50         16  
                 24.42        50.50 (26.08)
  4 Taylor, Megan    SR Emory               50.54      50.53         15  
                 23.87        50.53 (26.66)
  5 Barnes, Brooke   SR Wheaton (IL)        50.73      50.54         14  
                 24.10        50.54 (26.44)
  6 Orbach-Mandel,   SR Kenyon              50.79      51.03         13  
                 24.52        51.03 (26.51)
  7 Daro, Lucena     SO Emory               50.75      51.28         12  
                 24.56        51.28 (26.72)
  8 Wilson, Abigail  SR Kenyon              50.57      51.39         11  
                 24.38        51.39 (27.01)

Men’s 100 Freestyle

Emory senior Trey Kolleck capped off his career with his first NCAA individual title in the 100 Freestyle. In third place at the fifty, Kolleck out-split the field in the second fifty at 22.73 to give him the edge in 43.31. Teammate Sage Ono also scored big points for the Eagles, coming in eighth at 44.91.

Tufts junior Roger Gu added another runner-up finish in this event to his resume coming in at 43.70.UW Eau Claire’s Collin Miller and F&M’s Chris Schiavone were also in the mix at 43.88 and 43.97.

Denison’s Kymani Senior (44.63), Rowan’s Kevin Gillooly (44.72) and Coast Guard’s Jose Rodriguez (44.88) placed fifth through seventh.

 Event 33  Men 100 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
  NCAA Record: * 42.98  3/24/2018 Oliver Smith, Emory
  2018 Winner:   43.32            Oliver Smith, Emory
 Meet Qualify:   44.86
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Kolleck, Trey    SR Emory               43.98      43.31         20  
                 20.58        43.31 (22.73)
  2 Gu, Roger        JR Tufts               43.87      43.70         17  
                 20.36        43.70 (23.34)
  3 Miller, Collin   JR UW Eau Claire       44.19      43.88         16  
                 21.09        43.88 (22.79)
  4 Schiavone, Chri  SO F&M                 44.16      43.97         15  
                 20.56        43.97 (23.41)
  5 Senior, Kymani   JR Denison             44.56      44.63         14  
                 21.01        44.63 (23.62)
  6 Gillooly, Kevin  SO Rowan               44.56      44.72         13  
                 21.33        44.72 (23.39)
  7 Rodriguez, Jose  JR Coast Guard         44.53      44.88         12  
                 21.06        44.88 (23.82)
  8 Ono, Sage        JR Emory               44.54      44.91         11  
                 21.33        44.91 (23.58)

Women’s 200 Backstroke

Kenyon’s Crile Hart kept the trend going of women defending their National Titles on night four in Greensboro. The sophomore finished the 200 Backstroke in 1:56.62, slightly off her winning time from 2018. The swim was still enough to dominate the field. Teammate Delaney Ambrosen also repeated her third-place finish from 2018, this time in 1:59.58.

Hope’s Meghan Peel, who took twenty-third in this event as a freshman in 2018, earned runner-up honors with a best time of 1:58.50. Vassar freshman Jessilyn Ecklund dipped under the two-minute mark for the first time to take fourth place in 1:59.60.

Ecklund had three classmates in the final, as MIT’s Laura Rosado was fifth (2:00.96), Johns Hopkins’ Sydney Okubo was seventh (2:01.70) and Emory’s Gaige Elms was eighth (2:03.91). Chicago’s Gillian Gagnard also took sixth in 2:01.35.

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Chicago junior Albert Litschgi dropped a 1:44.04 to win the 200 Backstroke after placing twenty-first in this event in 2017 and not qualifying for it in 2018. Classmate Bebe Wang of Denison also swam a best time of 1:44.93 for second. The swim was under his winning time of 1:45.37 from 2018. Teammate Liam Picozzi raced to a 1:46.93 for fifth.

WPI’s John Bauer took third in 1:45.48, also a season-best time. Kenyon’s Michael Bartholomew took fourth in 1:46.65 and was followed by Wash U MO’s Peyton Wilson (1:47.53), Amherst’s Craig Smith (1:48.60) and Johns Hopkins’ Emile Kuyl (1:48.84) in sixth through eighth.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke

Denison’s Katherine Kustritz won another breaststroke title for the Big Red, this time with a 2:12.33 in the 200. Despite closing hard in the back half, St. Kate’s freshman Jordyn Wentzel ran out of room to take the win. She ultimately finished second in 2:12.59.

Williams junior Caroline White and Emory senior Ashley Daniels had a similar battle for the third spot, with White getting the edge 2:13.91 to 2:14.10.

W & L junior Emily Hageboeck put up a big time drop for the fifth position, while Denison’s Katherine Mesaros took sixth after missing the finals by one spot in 2018. Amherst’s Nina Fitzgerald finished in seventh with a 2:18.09 and Pomona-Pitzer’s Alexandra Werner was eighth in 1:18.15.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

Emory’s Jason Hamilton was the first freshman of the night to win an individual title. Hamilton dropped nearly two seconds from his season best to beat Chicago junior Lance Culjat to the wall 1:57.34 to 1:57.77. Culjat was first to the wall at the 100 mark, but could not withstand a 1:01.05 closing split from Hamilton. The swim was still a great improvement for Culjat who finished fourth in 2018.

Gustavus’ Tanner Sonnek (1:58.88) led a trio of men under 1:59 as well, including UMW’s Jeffrey Leckrone (1:58.89) and Amherst’s Sean Mebust (1:58.92).

Denison’s Richard Kurlich (1:59.45), Wash U MO’s Simon Deshusses (1:59.51) and USMM’s Nolan Monahan (2:00.83) rounded out the heat.

Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay

The Kenyon Ladies squad of Abigail Wilson, Hannah Orbach-Mandel, Emmerson Mirus and Crile Hart combined for a winning time of 3:20.05 in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Despite a blazing 48.77 from Emory’s Fiona Muir, the Eagle finished second in 3:22.90. The swim was still enough to secure the overall team title for the women. Denison’s squad of Madison Hopkins, Gabriella Nutter, Casey Kirby and Katherine Kustritz took third in 3:22.24.

Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay

The Denison men claimed their first event of the night in the final race of the meet. The team of Kymani Senior, Eric Gerlach, Drake Horton and Bebe Wang finished in 2:57.52, only three tenths ahead of Emory. The Eagles’ squad of Sage Ono, Colin Lafave, Matthew Rogers and Trey Kolleck earned necessary points for their team to take second in the overall standings. Kenyon’s third place finish gave them the same results in the overall team race. Kolleck’s anchor leg of 42.81 was the fastest in the field by nearly one full second.

 Event 40  Men 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
  NCAA Record: * 2:53.59  3/24/2012 , Kenyon
                          Somers, Turk, Ramsey, Richardson
  2018 Winner:   2:56.72            Emory
 Meet Qualify:   3:01.77
    School                        Prelims     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
                            === Championship Final ===                            
 
  1 Denison                       2:59.60    2:57.52         40  
     1) Senior, Kymani JR             2) Gerlach, Eric JR             
     3) Horton, Drake SO              4) Wang, Robert JR              
                 21.19        44.67 (44.67)
        1:05.83 (21.16)     1:29.24 (44.57)
        1:50.06 (20.82)     2:13.54 (44.30)
        2:34.52 (20.98)     2:57.52 (43.98)
  2 Emory                         2:58.72    2:57.90         34  
     1) Ono, Sage JR                  2) Lafave, Colin FR             
     3) Rogers, Matthew SR            4) Kolleck, Trey SR             
                 21.38        45.11 (45.11)
        1:05.91 (20.80)     1:30.25 (45.14)
        1:51.44 (21.19)     2:15.09 (44.84)
        2:35.13 (20.04)     2:57.90 (42.81)
  3 Kenyon                        3:00.20    3:00.00         32  
     1) Black, Joseph FR              2) Reid, AJ SR                  
     3) Weiss, Thomas JR              4) Williams, Robert SR          
                 21.31        45.23 (45.23)
        1:06.37 (21.14)     1:30.25 (45.02)
        1:51.50 (21.25)     2:14.92 (44.67)
        2:36.10 (21.18)     3:00.00 (45.08)
  4 Johns Hopkins                 3:00.88    3:00.13         30  
     1) Corbitt, Noah FR              2) Kuyl, Emile SR               
     3) Davenport, Nathaniel SO       4) Fabian, Brandon JR           
                 22.04        45.40 (45.40)
        1:06.83 (21.43)     1:31.20 (45.80)
        1:52.47 (21.27)     2:16.23 (45.03)
        2:37.00 (20.77)     3:00.13 (43.90)
  5 Calvin                        3:00.45    3:00.31         28  
     1) Iturbe, Julian SO             2) Britton, Jared SR            
     3) Fish, Skyler SR               4) Holstege, Benjamin SR        
                 21.71        45.46 (45.46)
        1:06.28 (20.82)     1:30.16 (44.70)
        1:51.94 (21.78)     2:15.48 (45.32)
        2:36.60 (21.12)     3:00.31 (44.83)
  6 MIT                           3:00.91    3:00.39         26  
     1) Chen, Kyri FR                 2) Ubellacker, Samuel JR        
     3) Liu, Justin SO                4) Edskes, Bouke JR             
                 21.68        45.23 (45.23)
        1:06.33 (21.10)     1:30.68 (45.45)
        1:51.72 (21.04)     2:15.79 (45.11)
        2:36.79 (21.00)     3:00.39 (44.60)
  7 Tufts                         3:00.54    3:01.07         24  
     1) Tatro, Tyler SO               2) Gu, Roger JR                 
     3) Bowen, Kingsley SR            4) Vollbrechthausen, Victor FR  
                 21.75        45.66 (45.66)
        1:06.17 (20.51)     1:29.29 (43.63)
        1:50.61 (21.32)     2:14.99 (45.70)
        2:36.71 (21.72)     3:01.07 (46.08)
  8 Pomona-Pitzer                 3:00.77    3:01.47         22  
     1) Menkhoff, Lukas SO            2) Abele, Will JR               
     3) Spindler, Archie FR           4) Drover, Ryan SR              
                 21.58        44.91 (44.91)
        1:06.29 (21.38)     1:29.98 (45.07)
        1:52.02 (22.04)     2:15.88 (45.90)
        2:37.36 (21.48)     3:01.47 (45.59)

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Colleen Kelley Bohrmann

5 years ago

Thanks for covering all NCAA championship meets!

Mary Moran

5 years ago

This week was wonderful in Greensboro! Congratulations to both champion teams!!