Denison Men Take Down 400 Medley Relay at NCAC Championships Night 2

2022 NCAC (North Coast Athletic Conference) Championships 

• Wednesday, February 9 2022-Saturday, February 13, 2022
• Trumbull Aquatics Center, Denison University, Granville, Ohio
• Defending champions
  • Men- Kenyon
  • Women- Denison
• Live results
• Live video
• Championship central

The 2022 NCAC Championships kicked off on Wednesday with Kenyon sweeping all three events: women’s 800 freestyle relay (6:36.01), men’s 800 freestyle relay (7:24.01), and men’s 3-meter diving (Israel Zavaleta, 595.92). The Kenyon women’s relay won by 15 seconds with Ania Axas (1:52.99), Sarah Hoffman (1:51.47), Sydney Geboy (1:50.25), Crile Hart (1:49.88). 

Men’s Recap

200 Freestyle relay

1. Denison (1:19.73)
2. Kenyon (1:20.20)
3. Wabash (1:23.32)

Denison got the ball rolling tonight with three swimmers having sub-20 splits. Kyle Verstandig (20.51), Trey Ike (19.67), Chase Fisher (19.98), and Liam Picozzi (19.57). At the 2020 NCAC Championships, Denison set the championship record in the 200 freestyle relay. Only Ike and Picozzi returned to the relay this year. Denison’s B-relay would have finished 3rd (1:21.93), but only A-relays are allowed to score points.

500 Freestyle

1. Bryan Fitzgerald, Kenyon (4:26.46)
2. Luke Landis, Denison (4:28.00)
3. James Tracey, Kenyon (4:29.18)

The men’s 500 freestyle featured four Denison swimmers in the A final placing 2nd, 4th (Sam Myaard 4:29.25), 5th (Luke Conrads 4:34.12), and 6th (Ryan Foreback 4:34.22), which scored 115 points for Denison. Fitzgerald finished 6th in this event in 2020 (4:31.22) as a sophomore.

200 IM

1. Noah Altoff, Kenyon (1:49.55)
2. Ethan Bevill, Denison (1:49.69)
3. Patrick Daly, Denison (1:49.78)

Denison put six swimmers in the A-final. Of all the swimmers in the A-final, only three were upper-classmen, which makes for exciting future championships on the horizon. 2nd place Bevill was out fast in 51.07 seconds, but Atloff posted the fastest breaststroke split in the field (30.78) to takeover the back-half of the race.

50 Freestyle 

1. Trey Ike (20.04)
2. Liam Picozzi (20.26)
3. Marko Krtinic (20.38)

Less than a second separated 1st through 7th place, and all swimmers in the field hailed from either Denison or Kenyon. In 2020, Ike (20.10)  and Picozzi (20.21) also finished 1-2 

400 Medley Relay

1. Denison (3:13.73)
2. Kenyon (3:14.27)
3. Wabash (3:27.61)

Denison’s relay took down the pool record, which was formerly held by Wayne State (3:13.96), which was set in 2018. 

Men’s Scores Through Day 2

1. Denison, 732
2. Kenyon, 568
3. Wabash, 332
4. DePaw, 312
5. College of Wooster, 309.5
6. Allegheny, 239.5
7. Oberlin, 232
8. Ohio Wesleyan, 168
9. Hiram, 148
10. Wittenberg, 129

Women’s recap

200 freestyle relay

1. Kenyon (1:31.04)
2. Denison (1:33.57)
3. DePaw (1:35.38)

Geboy won her 2nd NCAC title of the meet as she led off the winning relay for Kenyon. Hart of Kenyon had the fastest split in the field (22.28), and will also compete in the individual 50 freestyle. Denison’s B-relay would have finished 3rd overall (1:34.67), but B-relays compete exhibition at the NCAC championships.

500 Freestyle

1. Tara Witowski, Denison (4:51.39)
2. Alix O’Brien, Denison (4:53.13)
3. Taryn Wisner, Denison (4:54.92)

The Denison women also had a stunning showing in the 500 freestyle with five swimmers in the A-final, which totaled 173 points just from this event. Notably, three swimmers in the A-final O’Brien, Wisner and Tara Holder (7th) are only freshmen.

200 IM

1. Crile Hart, Kenyon (1:59.86)
2. Jennah Fadely, Kenyon (2:03.28)
3. Esme Wright, Denison (2:03.76)

Hart had the fastest splits in the field in every stroke except for breaststroke. She clocked in at 55.53 seconds after the first 100, and closed in 28.93. Hart also won this event in 2020 (1:58.04), which also set the pool, NCAC and NCAA records. Half of the swimmers in the final were from Denison taking 3rd, 5th (Savy Sargent 2:05.57), 6th (CC Crane 2:06.00), and 8th (Emma Berdelman 2:08.80)

50 Freestyle

1. Emmie Mirus, Kenyon (23.10)
2. Alexandra White, Kenyon (23.29)
3. Lauren Richner, Denison (23.51)

Mirus won the event after placing 3rd in the event in 2020 (23.16). Also in 2020, White finished 7th (23.90). 

1 Meter Diving 

1. Emma Hellman, Wittenberg (460.40)
2. Kerstyn Johnson, Denison (424.05)
3. Maggie Seftenberg, Denison (418.30)

Hellman won Wittenbgerg’s first conference title of the meet. Kenyon placed 4-6 on the 1 meter board, which picked up 84 points, compared to Denison’s 61 points from this event.

400 Medley Relay

1. Kenyon (3:40.65)
2. Denison (3:43.83)
3. College of Wooster (3:54.70)

Fadely of Kenyon posted a 1:01.63 breaststroke split, which was the fastest in the field by almost two-seconds. If allowed to score, Denison’s B-relay would have received 3rd place points (3:53:03). 

Women’s Scores Through Day 2

1. Kenyon, 614
2. Denison, 610
3. DePaw, 351
4. College of Wooster, 306
5. Oberlin, 269
6. Ohio Wesleyan, 243
7. Allegheny, 178
8. Wittenberg, 178
9. Hiram, 155