2024 NCAA Division III Championships: Day 1 Prelims Live Recap

2024 NCAA DIII Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 20-23, 2024
• Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
• Times: Prelims 10:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM (ET)
• Defending Champs: Denison women (1x) & Emory men (2x)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Streaming on NCAA.com
• Live Results

The 2024 NCAA Division III Championships in Greensboro kick off this morning with preliminary heats in the men’s and women’s 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free and 200 medley relay, plus the men’s 3-meter diving event.

Men’s 500 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• Division III Record: 4:18.35, Arthur Conover (Kenyon), 2017
• 2023 Champion: 4:20.41, Pat Pema (Emory)

Top 8:

1. Justin Finkel (Connecticut College) – 4:25.42
2. Benjamin Thorsen (Emory) – 4:25.79
3. Samuel Dienstag (Brandeis) – 4:25.88
4. Connor Vincent (NYU) – 4:25.96
5. Kellen Roddy (JHU) – 4:26.48
6. Lucas Conrads (Denison) – 4:27.35
7. Rafae Shafi (Tufts) – 4:27.70
8. Alexander Atherton (Williams) – 4:28.39

In the first heat of the meet, WashU junior Ryan Hillery dropped over two seconds from his seed time to clock 4:33.08.

In heat two, Luke Landis (Denison) used a big last 50 (25.80) to move past Coast Guard’s Sean Lyman, touching in 4:28.77 to cut two seconds off his entry time.

Moving into the circle-seeded heats, Rafae Shafi (Tufts) took control of the third heat early, finishing in a time of 4:27.70

In heat four, Samuel Dienstag (Brandeis) touched first with a time of 4:25.88, just five-hundredths off his entry time, to establish the new top time of the morning heading into the final heat.

The final heat and top time of the morning went to 2023 runner-up Justin Finkel of Connecticut College (4:25.42). Two other swimmers joined him under 4:26: Benjamin Thorsen (8th in 2023) and Connor Vincent (9th in 2023).

Tonight’s A-final will be an even split between returning finalists and newcomers. Finkel, Thorsen, Roddy, and Atherton will all reprise their 2023 appearances.

Women’s 500 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• Division III Record: 4:43.37, Kendra Stern (Amherst), 2011
• 2023 Champion: 4:48.38, Kristin Cornish (Johns Hopkins)

Top 8:

1. Caitlin Marshall (NYU) – 4:52.67
2. Penelope Helm (Emory) – 4:53.51
3. Tara Witkowski (Denison) – 4:53.52
4. Kristin Cornish (JHU) – 4:53.58
5. Bengisu Caymaz (Kenyon) – 4:54.16
6. Quinn Brown (Denison) – 4:55.13
7. Maeve Kelley (Amherst) – 4:56.00
8. Chloe Katz (Middlebury) – 4:56.62

Before the circle-seeded heats, Sophie Elliott (CMU) leads the rankings with 5:00.23.

(There appears to be some equipment malfunctions, as meet officials swapped out a touch pad before heat four got started.)

Tara Witkowski won heat four (4:53:52) to place 3rd overall this morning. She’s placed 3rd in this event the last two years.

Most swimmers added from their seed time this morning. Caitlin Marshall clocked the top time of the morning, swimming 4:52.67 to add almost three seconds from her entry time. Behind her in heat five, Penelope Helm (4:53.51) and defending champion Kristin Cornish (4:53.58) touched 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Kenyon’s Bengisu Caymaz, who came in as the top seed, added almost five seconds from her entry time to qualify 5th (4:54.16).

A notable A-final miss is 2023 runner-up Taryn Wisner, who will swim in an outside lane in the B-final tonight.

Men’s 200 Yard IM – Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:44.18, Andrew Wilson (Emory), 2018
• 2023 Champion: 1:45.65, Garret Clasen (Chicago)

Top 8:

1. Garret Clasen (Chicago) – 1:45.84
2. Derek Maas (NYU) – 1:45.91
3. Brayden Morford (CMU) – 1:46.26
4. Patrick Daly (Denison) – 1:47.35
5. Oliver Schalet (Williams) – 1:47.40
6. Larry Yu (Pomona-Pitzer) – 1:47.53
7. Alexander McCormick (WashU) – 1:47.70
8. Jaeden-hans Yburan (NYU) – 1:48.29

Derek Maas and Garret Clasen traded spots from their heat sheet placings to lead the men’s 200 IM. Clasen, the defending champion, clocked 1:45.84 in the penultimate heat. Maas followed that up with 1:45.91 in the final heat, over 1.5-seconds from his seed time. He appeared to shut it down on the freestyle leg after being under Andrew Wilson‘s national record at the 150 mark.

Brayden Morford continued his impressive freshman campaign with a new best time, dropping over a second to clock 1:46.26 and qualify third overall. Prior to arriving at Carnegie Mellon, his best time in this event was 1:54.25. He’s the only underclassmen in the final; everyone else is at least a junior.

2023 runner-up Jaden Luo missed finals altogether, swimming 1:49.70 to finish 19th overall.

Women’s 200 Yard IM – Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:57.76, Crile Hart (Kenyon), 2022
• 2023 Champion: 1:59.47, Sophia Verkleeren (Williams)

Top 8:

1. Greta Gidley (Hope) – 1:59.79
2. Sophia Verkleeren (Williams) – 2:00.96
3. Jennah Fadely (Kenyon) – 2:01.93
4. Sammi Thiele (Austin) – 2:02.89
5. Neely Burns (Trinity) – 2:03.11
6. Kinsey Brooks (UMW) – 2:03.55
7. Jordan Herrera (Kenyon) – 2:03.64
8. Kate Augustyn (MIT) – 2:03.86

In the penultimate heat, Hope College’s Greta Gidley broke the 2:00-barrier for the first time, clocking 1:59.79. Behind her, 2022 A-finalist Kate Augustyn touched 2:03.86 to qualify 8th overall.

2023 champion Sophia Verkleeren matched her seed time exactly in the final heat (2:00.96). She is the only other swimmer in the field to have ever broken 2:00, so it should be an exciting race tonight.

Kinsey Brooks (2:03.55) and Neely Burns (2:03.11) are the only other returning 2023 A-finalists in the top 8.

Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• Division III Record: 19.37, Oliver Smith (Emory), 2018
• 2023 Champion: 19.48, Noah Holstege (Calvin)

Top 8:

1. Tobe Obochi (MIT) – 19.66
2. Nicholas Goudie (Emory) – 19.80
3. Nathaniel Taft (Hamilton) – 19.91
4. James McChesney (TCNJ) – 19.95
5. James Schwenk (SMCM)/Neil Mortimer(Colby) – 20.03 (TIE)
6. —
7. David Bajwa (Calvin) – 20.05
8. Djordje Dragojlovic (Kenyon) – 20.06

Last year, Tobe Obochi qualified 8th in this event in 20.04. This year, he scorched 19.66 to lead prelims by 14-hundredths of a second. Three other swimmers joined him under 20 seconds: Nicholas Goudie and James McChesney, who tied for 3rd in 2023, and Hamilton freshman Nathaniel Taft. The second half of the field was separated by only three-hundredths.

Top seed Max Cory added from his entry time of 19.66 to qualify 10th.

Women’s 50 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• Division III Record: 22.48, Fiona Muir (Emory), 2018
• 2023 Champion: 22.78, Kaley McIntyre (NYU)

Top 8:

1. Alexandra Turvey (Pomona-Pitzer) – 22.70
2. Kaley McIntyre (NYU) – 22.72
3. Hannah Fathman (ALBC) – 23.01
4. Tatum Zupnik (Bowdoin) – 23.02
5. Ella Roberson (MIT) – 23.13
6. Alexandra Sotek (Geneseo)/Jillian Cudney (Tufts) – 23.14 (TIE)
7.  —
8. Genine Collins (Swarthmore) -23.19

Alex Turvey had a stellar swim to qualify 1st this morning. She shaved 19-hundredths of a second off her entry time and personal best to clock 22.70. She placed 10th in this event last year.

Defending champion Kaley McIntyre is close behind with a 22.72. She holds a best time of 22.60, so there could be an exciting race in the center of the pool tonight.

A trio of first-years made their first NCAA A-final. Ella Roberson, Alexandra Sotek, and Genine Collins all added to their entry time.

There will be a swim-off for 16th between Valerie Mello (Pomona-Pitzer) and Samantha Kilcoyne (Williams), who both clocked 23.50 in prelims.

Men’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:25.85, Emory (R. Soh, J. Meyer, J. Echols, C. Lafave), 2023
• 2023 Champion: 1:25.85, Emory (R. Soh, J. Meyer, J. Echols, C. Lafave)

Top 8:

1. NYU (Maas, Ralston, Watanakun, Wehbe) – 1:27.47
2. Emory (Soh, Meyer, Echols, Bjornstad) – 1:27.57
3. Williams (Nichol, Grover, Heritage, Randall)/Kenyon (Kosian, Dobric, Krtinic, Brooks) – 1:27.90 (TIE)
4. —
5. CMU (Deshpande, Lee, Tarczynski, Lloyd) – 1:28.31
6. Chicago (Tritter, Starbuck, Ssengonzi, Kruep) – 1:28.48
7. MIT (Chen, Luo, Roberts, Obochi) – 1:28.52
8. TCNJ (Bidchob, Vandeveen, McChesney, Kahler) – 1:28.70

NYU will have the middle lane tonight, led by Derek Maas flexing his backstroke prowess. This morning, he scorched 21.42 on the backstroke leg for the fastest split by 39-hundredths of a second. He was joined by teammates Emmet Ralston (24.70), Ajay Watankun (21.53), and Greg Wehbe (19.82).

2023 champions and NCAA record holders Emory qualified second with Ryan Soh (22.91), Jake Meyer (23.45), Jeff Echols (21.01), and Caden Bjornstad (20.20). The first three members of this relay return from last year– Bjornstad is the sole newcomer. Meyer had the fastest breaststroke split of the morning.

Tobe Obochi, fresh off the 50 free, clocked 19.43 on MIT 7th place relay after setting a personal best in the individual event.

The fastest fly split came from Neil Mortimer (20.67) on Colby’s relay, which finished last out of all teams.

Update: A previous version incorrectly reported the fastest fly split.

Women’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:39.55, Emory (M. Jungers, A. Glowniak, T. Leone, C. Maki), 2023
• 2023 Champion: 1:39.55, Emory (M. Jungers, A. Glowniak, T. Leone, C. Maki)

Top 8:

1. Denison (Park, Tofflemire, Ferguson, Kadlecik) – 1:41.10
2. MIT (Augustyn, Chen, Naveen, Roberson)/Williams (Verkleeren, Wager, Kilcoyne, Dimter) – 1:41.39 (TIE)
3.  —
4. NYU (Ma, Le Fauve, Xayaveth, Oldham) – 1:41.93
5. Tufts (Harrison, Wheeler, Foltenyi, Cudney) – 1:41.96
6. Emory (Jungers, Cohen, McDonald, Sanderson) – 1:42.60
7. Pomona-Pitzer (Liao, Coppo, Turvey, Mello) – 1:43.07
8. Kenyon (Wukitch, Fadely, Eisenbeis, Geboy) – 1:43.18

Denison’s team of Jasmine Park (26.33), Riley Tofflemire (27.97), Phoebe Ferguson (24.15), and Grace Kadlecik (22.65) didn’t have any of the fastest individual splits of the morning, but they combined to qualify 1st. Last year the Denison women placed 7th (1:42.56), so they are already showcasing a strong improvement.

MIT’s Kate Augustyn (backstroke, 25.63) and Ella Roberson (22.53) bookended the Engineers’ relay with field-leading splits. They were joined by Edenna Chen (28.39) and Annika Naveen (24.84) on breast and fly. MIT and Williams tied for 2nd.

Kenyon eked into this final at 8th, buoyed by a 27.68 breaststroke split from Jennah Fadely. The Kenyon women were the runner-ups in this event last year, but Fadely is the only returner from that squad.

Men’s 3-Meter Diving — Prelims

• Division III Record: 645.70, Connor Dignan, Denison, 2014
• 2023 Champion: 595.15, Israel Zavaleta (Kenyon)

Top 8:

1. Israel Zavaleta (Kenyon) – 572.80
2. Avery Balch (Birmingham) – 511.65
3. John Beuerlein (Rhodes) – 504.20
4. Conor Compton (Alfred) – 490.95
5. Rowan Fitzsimmons (Centre) – 477.75
6. Gellert Kish (RIT) – 472.05
7. Haochen Liu (Williams) – 463.60
8. Trent Makoweic (Geneseo) – 458.75

Kenyon’s Israel Zavaleta looks poised to defend his national title after the preliminaries of the men’s 3-meter event. The other returning finalists from 2023 sit in 2nd-3rd-4th behind him: Avery Balch (4th), John Beuerlein (6th), and Conor Compton (7th).