NCAA Division III Championships, Day 4 Prelims: Jack Hill Clips National Record; NYU Women Continue Dominance
The final morning prelims session of the NCAA Division III Championships in Indianapolis featured Jack Hill of Denison swimming a national record in the men’s 100 freestyle and helping his team to pole position in the 400 freestyle relay. However, Denison’s lead in the team competition has narrowed, and NYU and Chicago will be coming hard on the final night.
As for the women’s meet, NYU seemingly has the title wrapped up. Three swimmers qualified for the A-final of the 100 free, with star sprinter Kaley McIntyre leading the way, and the team also has a big advantage in the 400 free relay.
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Men’s 100 Freestyle
Jack Hill will try to complete the 100-200 freestyle double after he took down the NCAA Division III record in the 100 free in prelims. His time of 42.87 clipped the record of 42.88, set last year by Bates’ Max Cory, by one hundredth. Hill previously broke the record in the 200 free, and he has been one of the key contributors to Denison’s squad sitting in the top spot entering the final night.
Hill will be joined in the final by teammate Nick Hensel, who got third in the morning in 43.47, while 50 free winner Djordje Dragojlovic of Kenyon claimed third in 43.11. Chicago got John Butler in the fourth spot at 43.51 while Cory, going for the title defense after entering the meet with the top-seeded time of 42.92, ended up seventh in 43.76. Saint Vincent’s Jacob Dzurica was eighth in 43.80.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Kaley McIntyre began the final day of her NYU career with a bang, taking down her own meet record in the 100 free prelims. McIntyre was timed at 48.26, quicker than the 48.53 she went last year and just off her D3 record of 48.13 from November.
The day could end in magical fashion as well, with NYU first in the women’s team competition and dominating prelims. Maeve O’Donnell, the 100 back winner, took second in 49.96 while Llew Ladomirak was seventh in 50.33, with two further NYU swimmers in the B-final. There was a tie for third between Hope’s Greta Gidley and Pomona-Pitzer’s Nina Aballea at 50.22.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
After the NYU women went 1-2 in the 100 free, the men matched that accomplishment in the next event as Teddy Cross and Teddy McQuaid recorded the top two times in qualifying, Cross going 1:44.25 and McQuaid coming in at 1:45.03. The two men entered as the top seeds by a substantial margin, with Cross owning a season best of 1:44.25.
Bates’ Timothy Johnson placed third in 1:45.38, just ahead of Chicago’s David Gutin (1:45.42). A time of 1:46.06 was required to make it back to the A-final. While no Denison men reached the top eight, the team competition leaders did put two into the consolation heat.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Six swimmers went under the 2:00 mark in the 200 back prelims, with Carnegie Melon’s Savannah Xu leading the way at 1:58.38. That obliterated her season-best mark of 1:59.60 by more than a second. Also dropping big time in the morning was Williams’ Alden White at 1:58.94 while Johns Hopkins’ Ken Lee was third in 1:59.22.
Also breaking 2:00 were Gettysburg’s Mia Morreale, Emory’s Emma Lunn and NYU’s Eloise Emig. Lunn held the top time entering the meet at 1:58.99.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Connecticut College’s Carrick Shea cruised to the top qualifying mark in prelims with a time of 1:57.60, four tenths ahead of anyone else in the field. Shea entered the meet with an even bigger advantage, his top time of 1:55.12 ahead of anyone else in Division III by more than a second.
The final might be closer, however, as Centre College’s Tiernan Moore (1:58.02) and NYU’s Conner Dean (1:58.10). With NYU in hot pursuit of team competition leader Denison, Dean will be joined in the final by teammate Victor Derani while third-place Chicago placed Ethan Taylor into the final. Denison, however, was shut out of the top eight again, although it did get one B-final spot.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Kelsey Van Eidik is set to go for a breaststroke sweep in the last championship final of the meet. Van Eldik, fresh off winning the 100 breast by more than a second Friday, put up a qualifying mark of 2:13.48. The Kenyon senior came in a full second clear of the top-seeded swimmer entering the meet, Denison’s Drue Thielking (2:14.84).
There was another big gap back to the rest of the field, with Sarah Bernard placing third (2:15.93) and Katie Cohen fourth (2:15.99). A mark of 2:18.02 was required to reach the final, with Williams’ Anna Doherty in the last spot.
Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay
If Denison can hang onto the lead throughout the finals session, the team will be in great shape to come home with a title thanks to some serious speed in the 400 free relay. The team of Jack Hill, Cam Blevins-Mohr, Harry Parsons and Nick Hensel swam the top time in the morning by 1.52 seconds at 2:54.61. Hill, fresh off a national record in the 100 free earlier in the session, led off in 42.88 to match the previous national mark and come up just one hundredth behind his new top time.
Chicago could be tough, though, after qualifying second in 2:56.13 with Cooper Costello and John Butler bookending the squad. Kenyon, anchored by Djordje Dragojlovic in 43.45, came in third at 2:57.23, with Bates fourth in 2:58.12 thanks to a Max Cory homecoming leg of 43.00. NYU had a morning scare but snuck into the final in eighth position, beating out ninth-place Emory by a mere hundredth, 2:58.61 to 2:58.62
Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay
It’s hard to imagine anyone stopping NYU in the women’s 400 free relay. Lian Jeong Engle, the leadoff swimmer in prelims, was the only one of the four women that did not qualify for the 100 free A-final. Maeve O’Donnell, Llew Ladomirak and Kaley McIntyre finished off the team that went 3:20.58 for a lead of almost a second in qualifying.
Pomona-Pitzer got a 49.81 anchor split from Nina Aballea, and that helped the team earn the second spot at 3:21.53. Greta Gidley went under 50 on the leadoff for Hope College, pacing her team to a third-place time of 3:22.33. Sydney Smith’s 49.72 split helped MIT place fourth (3:22.50). Swarthmore was the last team into the A-final at 3:23.63, four hundredths ahead of ninth-place Denison.