MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, March 19. AS expected, Kenyon College wrapped up its 27th consecutive NCAA Division III men’s championship on Saturday night. The Lords tallied 498 points, supplying a comfortable advantage over Denison (345) and Emory (310). Johns Hopkins (303) and Williams (295) rounded out the top five.
Kenyon started the night in strong fashion as freshman Eric Dunn won the 1,650 freestyle in 15:22.21, more than nine seconds clear of Denison’s Bryce Peterson. Kenyon also received a gold-medal performance from Joseph Gosselar, as the junior went 2:01.57 in the 200 breaststroke. The big noise, however, was generated by Andrejs Duda, who won the 200 butterfly with a mark of 1:47.72. The title was Duda’s ninth individual crown of his career.
The Lords capped their championship run by winning the 400 freestyle relay in 3:02.20. The squad consisted of Duda, Jim Berger, David Dehart and Marc Christian.
In the 200 backstroke, North Central’s Mark Schmitt hit the wall in 1:49.29 to register a narrow triumph over Denison’s Adam Ulrich (1:49.47). Meanwhile, Grove City’s Caleb Courage was the only swimmer to crack the 45-second mark in the 100 freestyle, as he stopped the clock in 44.51. He was followed by Washington’s Eric Triebe (45.01). The three-meter diving competition was won by Hamilton’s Mike Salmon, who totaled a score of 511.45.