Kenyon Men Take Over Lead, Denison Women Maintain It At NCAC Championships

NORTH COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (NCAC) – MEN AND WOMEN

• Dates: Wednesday, February 12-Saturday, 15, 2020
• Location: Trumbull Aquatic Center – Denison University
• Defending Champion: Kenyon women (2x), Denison men (11x)
• Live Results: Available here
• Live Video (if available): Available here
• Championship Central

Courtesy: North Coast Athletic Conference

GRANVILLE, OH — The Kenyon men and Denison women lead in the team standings following day three of competition at the 2020 NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships, held at Denison’s Trumbull Aquatics Center. The Lords won five of the seven events contested on Friday night and have now compiled 1,316 points over the first three days of action. The Big Red women won the 200-medley relay and three individual events to remain on top the team standings with 1,335 points.

The Denison men collected two more conference titles on Friday night and sit in second in the team standings with 1,144 total points. Wabash currently sits in third with 850 points, followed by DePauw (660), Wooster (553), Allegheny (495.5), Ohio Wesleyan (440.5), Oberlin (334), Wittenberg (277) and Hiram (0). On the women’s side, Kenyon won two events on the evening and sits in second with 1,185 points, followed by DePauw (699), Allegheny (643), Wooster (590), Ohio Wesleyan (503), Oberlin (370), Wittenberg (243) and Hiram (240).

Night three opened with the Kenyon 200-medley relay quartet of junior David Fitch (Conway, MA/Williston Northampton), sophomore Luis Weekes (St. Thomas, Barbados/Baylor School), junior Marcus Hong (Westlake, OH/St. Ignatius) and freshman Cheran De Silva (Colombo, Sri Lanka/Ananda) breaking the NCAC record, logging an NCAA “B” cut and snapping Denison’s seven-year streak with a winning time of 1:27.42. In the first individual event of the night, the 400 IM, the Lords placed three swimmers in the top four to take over the lead in the team standings with sophomore Bryan Fitzgerald (West Bend, WI/West Bend East) touching the wall first with an NCAC record and NCAA “B” cut time of 3:51.60. De Silva outpaced the field in the “A” finals of the 100 butterfly, earning the win for the Lords with an NCAC record and NCAA “B” cut time of 47.31. In the 200 freestyle, Denison junior Drake Horton (Madison, WI/James Madison Memorial) claimed his second title in the event with an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:37.62. Kenyon’s Weekes topped the championship field with an NCAA “B” cut time of 55.16 in the 100 breaststroke. Denison sophomore Liam Picozzi (Ballston Spa, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) won the 100 backstroke with an NCAA “B” cut time of 48.39. In the final event of Friday night, Kenyon freshman Drew Albrecht (Aurora, OH/Aurora) completed a clean sweep in the diving well, winning the one-meter competition with a regional-qualifying score of 458.90.

In the first women’s event on Friday night, the Denison team of seniors Casey Kirby (Long Grove, IL/Stevenson) and KT Kustritz (St. Paul, MN/St. Paul College), junior Maddie Hopkins (Chico, CA/Chico) and senior Gabriella Nutter (Johannesburg, South Africa/St. Mary’s School) topped the field in the 200-medley relay with an NCAC record and NCAA “B” cut time of 1:40.16. Their time was just five one-hundredths of a second off of the NCAA record that was set at the 2019 national championships by a Denison squad that included Hopkins, Kustritz and Nutter. The Big Red then recorded a one-two-three finish in the 400 IM with senior Erica Hsu (Iowa City, IA/West) earning the NCAC title in an NCAA “B” cut time of 4:21.98. In the prelims of the 100 fly, Kenyon junior Crile Hart (Pepper Pike, OH/Hawken School) set the NCAC record in 54.35 before resetting the conference record and claiming an NCAA “B” cut with an “A” finals finish of 53.59 to take the event title. Denison junior Mia Chiappe (Hinsdale, IL/Hinsdale Central) broke the four-year streak of Kenyon by reaching the wall first with an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:50.46 in the 200 free. Denison’s Kustritz logged her fourth-consecutive title in the 100 breaststroke with an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:01.48. She is only the second NCAC women’s swimmer to claim four breast titles in their career, as Kenyon’s Jeannine Gury also claimed four conference titles from 1986-89. Kenyon freshman Olivia Smith (Spanish Fort, AL/Daphne) climbed to the top of the podium in the final swimming event on Friday as she recorded an NCAA “B” cut time of 55.46 in the 100 backstroke.

Visit the championship website for complete results from day three: (NCAC Championship Site) 

The 2020 NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships continue through Saturday evening. Preliminary events start at 9:30 a.m., while finals begin at 6:00 p.m.