The results from the December invitationals are in, and Emory University tops the Division III rankings in both the women’s and men’s fields as we pause the 2021-22 season and head into the holiday break. Using our Swimulator, we have taken the top times so far this season and scored out a national meet. The calculation excludes the diving events.
The 2022 NCAA Division III Championships will be the first national meet in the division since 2018-19, as the coronavirus pandemic shut down the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons for most Division III schools. While both Division I and Division II held championship meets last season, Division III canceled theirs due to COVID. This year, the Emory women come in as the 10-time defending champions and lead the mid-season Swimulator rankings with 534.5 points, topping second-place Kenyon by 105.5. After Kenyon (429) come Denison (387), Johns Hopkins (267), Tufts (236), and Pomona-Pitzer (220).
The Eagles project to score 176 relay points, with the nation’s top times in the 200 free and 400 free relays. Emory has four individual swimmers who are among the top-20 point-earners: Clio Hancock (49 points), Megan Jungers (46), Taylor Leone (37.5), and Caroline Maki (35). Leone has the #1 time in the 50 free while Maki leads in the 100 free and ranks 4th in the 50. Also among the top-5 in the 100 free are teammates Samantha Kass and Cailen Chinn. Leone is top-5 in the 100 fly while Hancock ranks second in the 200 fly and 400 IM. Jungers is the second-fastest 100- and 200- backstroker.
Kenyon ranks second overall with 429 points, leading conference rivals Denison by 42 points. Kenyon’s relays account for 148 points; the Ladies have three swimmers projected to score in the top-20, including #1 Crile Hart. Hart tops three events, and by significant margins. She leads in the 100 fly by over half a second, in the 200 fly by more than 2.2, and in the 200 IM by 3.5. Gabby Wei ranks 8th with a projected 45 points. She has the nation’s top time in the 200 breast and is top-8 in the 100 breast and 400 IM. Jennah Fadely (35 points) is third in the 100 breast, seventh in the 200 breast, and tenth in the 200 IM.
Third-place Denison scores 158 points in relays and dominates in distance freestyle. Alix O’Brien (52 points), Taryn Wisner (44), and Tara Culibrk (44) all rank among the top-10 point-earners. Culibrk has the fastest time in the nation in the 200 free, while Wisner and O’Brien are 1-2 in the 500 free and 2-1 in the 1650 free.
In the men’s meet, the Emory Eagles lead the mid-season rankings with 527.5 points. Johns Hopkins are projected to score 503 points. The Blue Jays are followed by 2019 national champions Denison (457.5), Kenyon (371), WashU (201), MIT (188), Franklin & Marshall (182), and Chicago (180).
Emory leads the nation in the 800 free relay and 200 medley relay, garnering 164 points from their five quartets. Nicholas Goudie is the top-ranked swimmer in three events (50/100/200 free), scoring 60 points. Pat Pema (42 points), Ryan Soh (40), and Jason Hamilton (39) are also projected to score in the top-20. Pema is first in the 500 free, third in the 200 free, and 11th in the 100 free; Soh is second in the 100 fly, third in the 100 back, and tenth in the 50 free; Hamilton ranks #1 in the 200 breast, #5 in the 100 breast, and #12 in the 500 free. Emory has five swimmers in the top-16 of the 400 IM, led by Crow Thorsen, who has the top time in the nation so far this season.
Johns Hopkins ranks second as a team behind the Eagles. Although they don’t have the same depth as Emory, the Blue Jays have plenty of flair, with 162 relay points and three of the top-7 individual scorers: Max Chen (54 points), Kyle Wu (46), and Steven Rua (43). Chen leads the nation in the 100 breast and is second in the 200 breast; Wu is third and fourth in the respective events (JHU has two more top-8 200 breaststrokers: Brandon Stride and Justin Limberg). Rua, Chen and Wu are 1-2-4 in the 200 IM. Rua is seventh in the 200 back and eighth in the 100 back. Jeffrey Vitek has the #1 time in the nation in the 200 fly and is #3 in the 100 fly. Kellen Roddy is second in the 1650 free and third in the 500.
The Denison Big Red top the field in relay points (174). They have posted the top times in the 200/400 free relays and are second and fourth in the 200/400 medley relays, respectively. Denison’s Trey Ike (45 points), Richie Kurlich (also 45 points), and Liam Picozzi (43) are all in the top-10 overall. Ike has the #3 times in the 50/100 free and is sixth in the 100 back. Kurlich is #2 in the 200 fly, #3 in the 200 IM, and #7 in the 100 breast. Picozzi is third in the 200 back, fifth in the 100 back, and sixth in the 50 free.
Kenyon’s David Fitch projects to third overall with 52 points, ranking first in the 100 fly, second in the 100 back, and fourth in the 200 fly. Kenyon’s 400 medley relay is the fastest in the nation and the Lords have the #1 100/200 backstroker in the nation, Yurii Kosian, as well.
Women’s Rankings
| Team | Points |
| Emory | 534.5 |
| Kenyon | 429 |
| Denison | 387 |
| Johns Hopkins | 267 |
| Tufts | 236 |
| Pomona-Pitzer | 220 |
| MIT | 171 |
| NYU | 165.5 |
| Chicago | 164 |
| Wash U. MO | 153.5 |
| St. Kate’s | 136 |
| Claremont MS | 124 |
| Williams | 106 |
| Bates | 57.5 |
| Trinity U. | 54 |
| Hope College | 45.5 |
| Mary Washington | 32 |
| Calvin | 29 |
| Austin College | 28 |
| Nazareth | 24 |
| Bowdoin | 22 |
| Gustavus | 21 |
| W&L | 20 |
| Kalamazoo | 20 |
| TCNJ | 14 |
| Swarthmore | 14 |
| CMU | 13.5 |
| SUNY Geneseo | 12 |
| Case Western | 12 |
| Wheaton MA | 11 |
| Albion | 9.5 |
| Colby | 9 |
| Whitworth | 6.5 |
| Caltech | 4.5 |
| Ursinus | 4.5 |
| Gettysburg | 4 |
| Wellesley | 3 |
| Chapman | 2 |
| St. Olaf | 2 |
| Wooster | 1 |
Men’s Rankings
| Team | Points |
| Emory | 527.5 |
| Johns Hopkins | 503 |
| Denison | 457.5 |
| Kenyon | 371 |
| Wash U. MO | 201 |
| MIT | 188 |
| F&M | 182 |
| Chicago | 180 |
| NYU | 147 |
| Calvin | 144 |
| Claremont MS | 99 |
| Tufts | 80 |
| TCNJ | 77 |
| Rowan | 60 |
| CMU | 58 |
| UWEC | 56.5 |
| Cal Lutheran | 43 |
| Ithaca | 33.5 |
| John Carroll | 23 |
| UW-Stevens Point | 19.5 |
| Millsaps | 17 |
| Trinity U. | 15 |
| Wheaton IL | 14 |
| Pomona-Pitzer | 14 |
| Caltech | 11 |
| Whitman | 10 |
| Bowdoin | 6 |
| Swarthmore | 6 |
| SUNY Geneseo | 4.5 |
| Case Western | 4 |
| BSC | 4 |
| Drew | 3 |
| Rose-Hulman | 2 |
| Brandeis | 2 |
| Babson | 2 |
Pretty meaningless without midseason rest meets for Williams and other NESCAC teams. Plus certain key swimmers, in particular one at JHU, still without any meet times. There is still a lot of swimming that has to happen before NCAAs.
And then y’all cry when you think swimswam doesn’t cover D3 swimming enough smh.
That mens 400 medley relay is going to be quite the race this year. 3 teams already sub 3:14.2 and all 3 are within 0.3.
Additionally every relay seems to have different strengths and weaknesses. Kenyon has the fastest Back/Fly combo but doesn’t seem to have a breaststroker. Meanwhile Hopkins has the fastest breaststroker in the nation by over a second. Lastly Emory has a potential 42 split in the end.
It’s gonna make for one hell of a race
Good comment Papa!
Denison’s B relay (48.30/55.47/48.07/44.28) beat their A relay (49.31/54.64/48.90/43.60) at their invite.
Put the best times together (48.30/54.64/48.07/43.60) and Denison is 3:14.61.
JHU’s A relay was 3:14.09 but I don’t think that it was the lineup that they will swim at NCAAs.
Kenyon’s A relay was 3:13.89 but they swam Sweeney (44.91) instead of Dobric (43.47 on the B relay). subtract 1.44 and they are at 3:12.45 (!).
We do not care
Bad look for Kenyon Men. Seems they are a 3-man show this year (Fitch, Kosian, Fitzgerald). Their lack of depth could be the dagger for them this year.
Dobric (20.46/44.27) and Pruett (48.72/1:47.82 BK; 48.43 fly) are also very strong, so I wouldn’t say three person.
Kenyon’s 400 free relay was 3:57 with a DQ, and I don’t think they swam anything near their best 800 free relay, but my opinion, for the little that it counts, is that between Kenyon, Denison, JHU and Emory, Kenyon is the team that is most likely to end up off of the podium.
I went to the Denison Invitational. There were a lot of fantastic swims but the one swim that really jumped out was Denison’s 400 free relay. 2:56.45. Picozzi, Ike, Daly, Verstandig.
Emory is looking pretty deep. Kenyon just hasn’t had the crazy season finishes like they did when Steen was there. That guy could tap into the minds of his swimmers and orchestrate an amazing taper.
They did win 3 times after he left. And have more national records than any other team. It’s more that the rest of the division has caught up.
The D3 men’s swimulator includes a 1:47 500 free, a 29 second 100 fly, and 30 and 38 second 100 backs, so I’ll take these with a grain of salt lol
Nah i just be that fast fr 😎
Women’s include a 1:32 for the 200 free, 6 women under 50 in the 100 back (including 3 under 40), and two 200 medley relays under 1:40 (which is faster than the national record). Maybe closer to a salt shaker.
It looks like they took those out and adjusted the points because if you run it with those times you get different numbers.
Those times were removed for this analysis.