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

Photo Courtesy: Hayley Good

Midway through the 2018-2019 NCAA Division III season we’re starting to get a sense of what the national scene looks like this year, and things look pretty familiar. Five schools- Emory, Kenyon, Denison, MIT, and Johns Hopkins have men’s relays ranked in the top three. These schools have in recent been among the strongest.

Kenyon and MIT look a bit stronger than last year, while Denison is holding steady. Despite the big loss of Oliver Smith, Emory is still in the hunt. A very young Johns Hopkins team looks prepared for success come March.

Here’s a look at the top three relays so far this fall, and some thoughts on what’s looking different from the 2018 Championship season, and what 2019 might bring. To read about the women’s relays, click here.

4×50 Freestyle Relay

1. Emory 1:20.63

Sage Ono, Zach Chen, Colin Lafave, Trey Kolleck

2. Kenyon 1:20.83

David Fitch, Weston Carpenter, Tommy Weiss, Cole McMahon-Gioeli

3. MIT 1:20.87

Kyri Chen, Nicholas Baginski, Justin Liu, Sam Ubellacker

Emory had two seniors on last year’s NCAA Championship relay, but the team has reloaded, taking Division III’s leading time, a time that would have tied for third last year. And it’s only December.

After finishing second last year with two seniors of their own, the MIT Engineers sit in third, just three tenths slower than their finals time (and three tenths faster than last year’s prelims effort).

Kenyon meanwhile is already faster than they were last March, earning the number two spot in the mid-season rankings.

Last year’s third place team, UW Stevens Point, had three seniors, but has still managed a 12th place time so far this fall.

4×100 Freestyle Relay

1. Denison 2:57.52

Matt McHugh, Bebe Wang, Drake Horton, Eric Gerlach

2. Emory 2:57.66

Sage Ono, Colin Lafave, Matt Rogers, Trey Kolleck

3. Kenyon 2:58.71

Joe Black, Cole McMahon-Gioeli, David Fitch, Tommy Weiss

Denison and Emory raced this relay at the Denison Invite, and the Big Red rose to the challenge. After tying for third in 2:59.08 last March, the team blew that time out of the water, clocking a nation leading 2:57.52, just ahead of the defending NCAA Champions, Emory.

The team Denison tied last year? That would be Pomona-Pitzer. Their relay had two seniors- including multiple time All-American Mark Hallman. Currently they sit 13th at 3:04.26.

As in the 4×50 freestyle relay, Kenyon has made a nice jump, beating last year’s Championship time at midseason.

4×200 Freestyle Relay

1. Emory 6:38.59

Kellen Stillman, Alex Kohlman, Connor McCourt, Trey Kolleck

2. Denison 6:39.45

Matthew Hedman, Drake Horton, Matt McHugh, Ryan Stevenson

3. Johns Hopkins 6:40.27

Brandon Fabian, Noah Corbitt, Collin Hughes, Mitchell Simmons

The Eagles finished fourth at NCAAs in this relay, and are already just three seconds shy of their Championship time last year (and already faster than their seed time in 2018). Tom Gordon was missing at mid-season. If he makes a return (He finished third in the 200 free last year.) and is back to form, expect this relay to improve.

The Big Red put up a solid mid-season time at their invite, where they finished just behind Emory. Last year Denison won this relay, and will be looking for a bit more speed all over in March.

Last year Johns Hopkins finished third. Now, they’ve got the third fastest time again, with an incredibly young relay- three freshmen and last year’s 200 freestyle NCAA Champion Fabian.

After nice improvements over last year in the shorter freestyle relays, Kenyon (last year’s second place team) isn’t yet in the top three here. Instead, the Lords are fourth, with a 6:41.61, using just one of last year’s three returning members.

4×50 Medley Relay

1. Denison 1:28.58

Carson Clear, Tieran Foster-Smith, Colin Macmillan, Matt McHugh

2. Johns Hopkins 1:29.27

Emile Kuyl, Peter Lazorchak, Nat Davenport, Max Chen

2. MIT 1:29.27

Tim Kralj, Brandon McKenzie, Bouke Edskes, Sam Ubellacker

Only the front half of Denison’s relay is the same as it was last year, but things are clicking for the Big Red. They’ve put together a swim just two tenths shy of last year’s prelims time.

The Blue Jays have used a nearly new relay to stay near the top of the rankings, turning in a time that’s less than a second slower than their performance from last March.

MIT could be the story of this relay. After finishing tenth last yer in 1:30.37, the team is already down to 1:29.27 (though that only would have been good for eighth last year). With the graduation of anchor Josh Tomazin, Ubellacker moved to freestyle duties and Edskes joined in the fly spot. The change seems to be working so far for the Engineers.

Oliver Smith‘s 20.7 fly split appears to be irreplacable, leaving defending NCAA Champs Emory sitting eighth in this relay.

4×100 Medley Relay

1. Denison 3:16.35

Carson Clear, Tieran Foster-Smith, Colin Macmillan, Drake Horton

2. Johns Hopkins 3:16.73

Emile Kuyl, Max Chen, Jeffrey Vitek, Brandon Fabian

3. Kenyon 3:16.83

Ben Baturka, Luis Weekes, David Fitch, Cole McMahon-Gioeli

Denison traded out only their anchor from the 4×50 to the 4×100 medley relay, and holds the top seed in both events.

Last year Kenyon posted a 3:18.88 in prelims, a time that left them at the top of the B final. At night they improved to a 3:16.41, too little, too late. This year there appears to be no playing around, as the Lords are already third in the country, just off their finals time from last season.

For Hopkins, Chen’s versatility shines. He’s tough to keep up with in a 100 breaststroke (currently ranked first in 54.50), so it makes sense he’d take breaststroke duties on the longer relay, after anchoring the shorter medley. Fabian can’t swim it all, so something had to give and it was the 4×50 medley relay

Emory (defending champs- 3:13.97) is right there in fourth in 3:16.87.

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Monica Anderson

5 years ago

Not the best picture ever, but close

Anonymous

5 years ago

Emory Men’s 4 x 50 medley a clocked 1:28.80 at the Denison Invitational