Division III Recap: Denison Beats Kenyon; W&L Women Upset Carnegie Mellon

Photo Courtesy: Allen Rich

In the most anticipated NCAA Division III dual meet of the weekend, Denison’s men and women both beat Kenyon on Saturday afternoon.

Washington and Lee traveled to Carnegie Mellon this weekend, and the women walked away with an unexpected team victory over the Tartans. Freshmen were key to Carnegie Mellon’s men’s success.

Also in action this weekend, MIT swept fellow NEWMAC team Springfield. CMS took down Chapman and Pomona-Pitzer downed Whittier and Occidental on Saturday.

Denison Beats Kenyon

Headed into the weekend Denison held higher CSCAA Pre-Season Poll rankings than their Kenyon competition, but the Ladies had beat Denison by a narrow margin last fall. This year, things were different. The Big Red women swam a closer meet than the men, but still prevailed 168 to 132. The men outscored the Lords 188.5 to 109.5.

Women

Denison opened the meet winning the 200 medley relay in 1:43.98, a quarter second faster than Kenyon. KT Kustritz nearly singlehandedly got the job done, splitting a 27.91 on the breaststroke leg, out doing the Ladies’ Makena Markert by over a second.

Denison continued on, going one-two in the 1000 led by Natalie Zaravella (10:33.47). Kenyon bounced back in the 200 free as Hannah Orbach-Mandel (1:53.51) and Kendall Vanderhoof (1:53.80) went one-two, four seconds ahead of third place. Kenyon won two in a row as Crile Hart took the 100 backstroke in 55.83, coming within a half second of the Trumbull pool record. That would be Hart’s first of three wins.

Kustritz and her teammate Kate Mesaros cut the Ladies’ winning streak at two, taking the 100 breaststroke in times of 1:02.33 and 1:03.99, respectively. It was all Denison in the 200 fly as Zoe Whelan (2:07.09) led a one-two-three finish.

Kenyon looked to turn things around in the 50 freestyle. Abby Wilson won the event in 23.95 while the Ladies also took third, fourth, and fifth. Wilson won the 100 free in 51.75, followed by teammate Celina German (53.76).

Kenyon’s momentum continued into the 200 backstroke when Hart took her second convincing victory of the day, posting a 2:02.26.

Denison came back to sweep the 200 breaststroke, led by their elite duo Kustritz (2:18.43) and Mesaros (2:22.39). Their teammate Hannah Ruskino went a season best 5:08.46 for the 500 freestyle victory. Maddie Hopkins, the nation leading 100 butterflier headed into the weekend, led a one-two-three finish for the Big Red with her 56.80.

The final individual race of the day pitted two of Division III’s best athletes against one another as Hart and Kustritz swam well ahead of the field in the 200 IM. Hart got to the wall first in 2:02.57, out splitting Kustritz (2:03.90) on every 50 except the breaststroke leg.

Kenyon won a tight 200 freestyle relay 1:36.31 to 1:36.63.

Denison finished first and second in one meter diving with Emma Weber leading the way. Kenyon came back on the three meter, snagging first place points from Madeline Carlson.

Men

The Big Red took a decisive lead from the beginning, going one-two in the opening 200 medley relay, led by a 1:32.18 from their A relay. Matt Hedman (9:24.20) and Dayen Wilson followed that up with a one-two finish in the 1000.

Their teammate Drake Horton won a tight 200 freestyle over Kenyon’s Robert Williams 1:42.43 to 1:42.82.

The Lords finally grabbed an event win in the 100 backstroke behind Nick Tong‘s 51.66. He just out touched Denison’s Bebe Wang (51.83).

Denison took the top three spots in the 100 breaststroke with Tiernan Foster-Smith leading the way (57.11). His teammates Mitch Williams (1:51.75) and Noah Housekeeper (1:52.14) raced to the wall first in the 200 butterfly.

Denison’s Kymani Senior led the way in the 50 freestyle with a 21.27, just out touching his teammate Matt McHugh (21.37). Senior didn’t swim the 100 freestyle, but his teammate Drake Horton won the event in 46.67.

After falling in the 100 back, Wang won the 200 in 1:50.30, two seconds ahead of his teammate Samuel Jo (1:52.61). Ryan Stevenson got to the wall in 2:09.10 to take the 200 breaststroke for the Big Red.

Hedman continued to be among the nation’s distance freestyle leaders, winning the 500 freestyle in 4:35.04.

With a 49.98 100 fly Tong won his second event for Kenyon. His backstroke competition Wang won the 200 IM with a 1:54.26, just three tenths faster than Kenyon’s Grant Thompson (1:54.56). Kenyon ended the meet with a three tenth victory of their own, winning the 200 freestyle relay 1:23.70 to 1:24.04.

Ryder Sammons won both diving events for Kenyon.

Full Results

Washington and Lee Women Upset Carnegie Mellon

After losing last year, the #14 W&L women upset the #10 Tartan women on Saturday by a score of 149 to 113. The Carnegie Mellon men beat the Generals 191 to 71.

The Generals’ women had a few multiple event winners. Standout junior breaststroker Emily Hageboeck who won the 100 and 200 breaststroke (1:06.24, 2:21.54). She was also runner up in the 200 IM, behind her freshman teammate Caroline Baber (2:10.09). Baber was huge for the Generals on Saturday, also claiming the sprint freestyle double in 24.82 and 54.41.

Ali Macqueen also picked up wins with a 58.10 100 butterfly and a 2:10.44 in the 200 butterfly. The team’s freshman Anna Jamieson out touched CMU’s Jessica Chau 59.70 to 59.76 to win the 100 backstroke.

Chau was first to the wall in the 200 breaststroke (2:07.14). Her teammate Taylor Brown won the 1000 (10:48.18) and the 500 (5:17.41) freestyles.

Carnegie Mellon’s Baris Denizli had a notable 1000 freestyle, winning the event by 20 seconds in 9:31.26. His freshman classmate Richie Dauksher clocked a 1:42.28 to win the 200 freestyle, a 4:39.88 to claim the 500, and a 1:55.48 for the 200 IM victory. Freshmen combined to win the sprint freestyles with Nathan Shao in the 50 freestyle (21.31) and Jonathan Hua (47.10) in the 100 freestyle.

Justin Britton led a Tartan one through four finish in the 100 backstroke with his 50.35. The team was on top again with Winston Chu’s 57.47 100 breaststroke. Britton also topped the 200 backstroke (1:53.33) while Chu completed the breaststrokes in 2:11.69.

The Generals picked up a victory from Danny Lynch in the 200 fly (1:53.24).

Full Results

Also of Note:

Gustavus senior Tanner Sonnek posted his best ever in-season 100 breaststroke, a 57.06, in the team’s win over St. Olaf.
SUNY Geneseo sophomore Deidra Osula posted her second best ever 50 freestyle (24.12) on Saturday, in a dual meet against SUNY Cortland. That’s the fastest she’s been since 2015, and moves her into Division III’s top five in the event.
After jumping onto the radar with her lifetime best, school record 200 backstroke in an early fall dual meet, Mabel Fowler, a Trinity University (TX) sophomore, has posted another of the nation’s top times. Just three tenths off her best ever swim, Fowler went a 5:04.78 in the 500 against TCU, moving her to number two in the nation in the event.
St. Kate’s’ Jordyn Wentzel posted a 2:20.30 200 breaststroke on Saturday. That swim moves the freshman to number two in Division III, but is still a full five seconds from her lifetime best. She also went a 2:06.58 in the 200 IM to move into the top five.

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