Men’s NCAA DIII Championship Fan Guide: Will Kenyon’s 18 Be Too Much For Denison?

In this guide, you’ll find a rundown of important meet information, including races to keep an eye on, information on teams and individual seeding, as well as a pre-meet score based purely on seeded positions.

• Dates: Wednesday, March 19th – Saturday, March 22nd, 2014
• Location: IUPUI Natatorium, Indianapolis, IN
• Defending Champs: Kenyon
• Meet Schedule/Time Line
• Live Results
• Live Video (if available): Available

Last year, Kenyon walked away with the national title, reclaiming the top spot on the podium from rival, Denison. Since 1980, Kenyon was unstoppable, winning every national championship from 1980 until 2010. In 2011, Denison made a statement, overtaking Kenyon and breaking their victory streak. Denison won the national championship again in 2012, beating Kenyon for a second year. Although this is a national championship meet, many consider this meet a two team battle between Denison and Kenyon. Kenyon wants to stay on top, and Denison wants the title back.

After scoring out the psych sheets, Kenyon is walking into the meet as the favorites to win. Per NCAA rules, each team can score up to 18  athletes, and Kenyon is taking advantage of all 18 swimmers. They have the biggest team at the meet, with 18 invited swimmers. Denison has the second biggest team with 14 invited swimmers and 4 divers.

When we look at the individual races, it looks like this meet is going to be fast. With several NCAA record holders competing such as Denison’s Damon Rosenburg, Grinnel’s Michael Brus, and Mary Washington’s Hugh Anderson, we should all be ready to see more records come crashing down.

ORDER OF EVENTS

 Wednesday

• M/W 500 Freestyle
• M/W 200 IM
• M/W 50 Freestyle
• W 3m Diving
• M/W 200 Medley Relay

Thursday

• M/W 200 Freestyle Relay
• M/W 400 IM
• M/W 100 Butterfly
• M/W 200 Freestyle
• M 1m Diving
• M/W 400 Medley Relay Finals

Friday

• M/W 200 Butterfly
• M/W 100 Backstroke
• M/W 100 Breaststroke
• W 1m Diving
• M/W 800 Freestyle Relay

Saturday

• M/W 1650 Freestyle
• M/W 100 Freestyle
• M/W 200 Backstroke
• M/W 200 Breaststroke
• M 3m Diving
• M/W 400 Freestyle Relay

Meet The Teams

Kenyon – 18 Invites

The defending national champions are looking for another team victory this year, positioning themselves well with 18 invited swimmers; four more invites than any other men’s team received this season. Kenyon has four different swimmers seeded in the top three in their respective events: Michael Curley (400IM – 1^st, 100 Backstroke – 4^th, 200 Backstroke – 2^nd), Trevor Manz (400 IM – 3^rd, 100 Breaststroke – 3^rd, 200 Breaststroke – 1^st), Arthur Conover (1650 Freestyle – 2^nd), and Austin Caldwell (200 Freestyle – 2^nd). The Kenyon Lords have more than 50 prelim swims during the championships, and they need to take advantage of their depth to stay ahead of Denison and Emory. Relays will be very important this year. When we scored out the psych sheet, Kenyon is ahead by 100 points, but all five of their relays are in the top 3. In order to maintain their lead, it will be crucial that all their relays remain legal and they stay within the top 3 in each relay.

Denison – 14 Invites, 4 Divers

After scoring out the psych sheet, Denison is only sitting 100 points behind Kenyon, despite having four less invited swimmers. Senior Carlos Maciel and junior Damon Rosenburg will lead the team this year. Maciel is the top seed in the 200 freestyle and Rosenburg is the current NCAA record holder and top seed in the 100 breaststroke. Do not count the Big Red out of this meet, they still have the ability to catch Kenyon and fight for the win. This team is very experienced and wants to reclaim the national title after losing to Kenyon by less than 100 points last year. Denison won the meet in 2011 and again in 2012, ending Kenyon’s 30 year streak that began in 1980.

Emory – 14 Invites

The Emory men are expected to move up a few positions from their fifth place finish last year. With the third biggest team at the meet, they should have the depth to carry the team to a top 3 finish. Emory has finished top 5 or better for the past 15 years, and no what to expect at this years meet. They do not have the depth that Kenyon or Denison have this year, but they will hold their own at this years meet. Senior Ryan Bass, sophomore Eagan Zettlemoyer, and senior Ross Spock will lead the team with several individual top 8 seeds. The sprint relays are another major strength for this program. 

Williams – 12 Invites, 1 Diver

Williams is predicted to finish 10th as a team this year. Led by senior Thaddeus Ricotta who is top 8 in several events, the team has a good number of swimmers in scoring positions. The relays will also be a strength for the team, with a few top 8 seeded relays as well.

Chicago – 11 Invites, 2 Divers

Diving and relays will be the major staples of this team this week. Due to their depth, they have many swimmers in scoring positions, but not as many that will be scoring A final points, based on the psych sheet. Their divers, Matt Staab and Anthony Restaino are seeded 4th and 5th in both 3m and 1m diving this week. Chicago is expected to finish 8th as a team this weekend.

College of NJ – 11 Invites

The College of NJ is predicted to finish just inside the top 10 this year at 9th. Stephen Tarnowski and James Shangle are their two biggest individual contributors, both seeded in the top 8. Their relays are very strong this year, with most of them seeded top 8. They will need to score big with their relays because their individual events do not have as many scoring swimmers as some of the other larger teams at the meet.

MIT – 11 Invites

MIT is predicted to finish fourth as a team this year after scoring out the psych sheet. Alexander Lednev,  Luke Schlueter, and Michael Liao are all seeded in the top 8 in their individual races. Most of the team’s relays are in scoring position, but anything can happen in the relays. MIT will be chasing down the top two teams. The third, fourth, and fifth spots are up for grabs and any points MIT can grab will help them climb towards the top.

Ithaca – 9 Invites

Ithaca has 5 relays in the B final range this week. They will need their relays to score for them. Despite their numbers, they do not have many individual swims that are seeded in scoring position. They are predicted to finish 16th as a team.

Johns Hopkins – 9 Invites

Johns Hopkins has a solid group of individual swimmers that have to potential to earn points for the team. That group includes Anthony Lordi, Dylan Davis, Andrew Greenhalgh, and William Kimball among others. They have several relays seeded around 12th. With their depth, it is my opinion is that this team should be able to sneak into a few extra A finals, which will pull them closer to the top 3 in the team standings. Their 800 freestyle relay broke the NCAA record at last year’s NCAA Championship, and is not far off their time from last year with the second seed. When we scored out the psych sheet, John Hopkins was predicted to finish in 5th as a team.

Stevens – 9 Invites

Almost all of Stevens’ relays are on the bubble between the A final and the B final, based on their seed times. Moving up into those A finals will be essential for the team if they want to try to move up. Even with 9 swimmers invited, not many are seeded in scoring position. Scoring out the psych sheet puts Stevens in 18th place.

Claremont MS – 8 Invites

Freshman Matthew Williams will have plenty of eyes on him this weekend as the top seed in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Conrad Shabb and Patrick Shultz also have many races where they are seeded in scoring position. Relays will be another strength for Claremont.  If they can move up a few positions in a few relays, they will be right in the hunt for a top 5 finish as a team.

St. Olaf – 8 Invites

Michael Gratz, a junior from St. Olaf will be a major team contributor as the top seed in the 200 IM and the third seed in the 100 freestyle. With several other swimmers with A and B final appearances, and several relays seeded within the top 8, this team should be very competitive. After scoring out the psych sheet, they are predicted to finish 7th as a team this year.

Wash U. MO – 8 Invites

The young team of Wash U. MO consists of Freshman Andrew Ellison, Michael Lagieski, and Justin Morrell, sophomores Reed Dalton and Kaisen Yao, and juniors Luke Dobben, Matthew Nutter, and Carter Turpin.  Dobben has the 2^nd highest seed in the 500 free followed by teammate Turpin at 5^th place.  Dobben is also seeded 16^th in the 200 Butterfly.  Dalton is seeded 13^th in the 100 butterfly.  The second highest seed in the 100 breastroke belongs to Lagieski and he is also seeded high in the 200 breaststroke at 4^th place.  The 1650 freestyle contains multiple Bears with Turpin at 5^th, Dobben at 7^th, and Ellison at 16^th.  The team is seeded 7^th in the 200 Medley Relay and 8^th in the 400 Medley Relay.

Amherst – 7 Invites 

Diving will be one of Amherst’s biggest strengths this week. Mark Idleman and Colin White are seeded 1st and 2nd in both the 1m and 3m springboard events. In addition to their divers, several relays are in scoring position and their junior Connor Sholtis is 11th in the 200 freestyle and 8th in the 100 freestyle.

DePauw – 7 Invites

DePauw’s 400 and 800 freestyle relays are both seeded top 8 this weekend. With a few relays coming into the meet that are not in the top 16, they will need to capitalize on these freestyle relays. Casey Hooker will be their biggest individual contributor. He is currently seeded 5th in the 200 freestyle and 6th in the 200 butterfly.

Keene St. – 7 Invites

Keene St. has a handful of relays in scoring positions. Their big points are going to come from their star senior Drew Ledwith. Ledwith is seeded first in the 500 freestyle as well as the 1650 freestyle and is on the bubble to score in the 200 freestyle. If he can secure two victories for Keene St., they should be in good shape after you consider their relays and other swimmers.

Calvin – 6 Invites

Senior Andrew Mitchell is joined by junior Alex Baumann, sophomores Johnson Cachran, Mitchell Schroder, and Aaron Venema, and freshman Brett Stoughton.  The Calvin team is seeded 15^th in the 400 Medley Relay and 800 Freestyle Relay.  Cochran is seeded 9^th in the 100 breaststroke.

Connecticut – 6 Invites

Connecticut has four relays seeded within the top 8 throughout the week. Individually, Loring Bowen is seeded 12th in the 200 backstroke. Samuel Gill should be the biggest contributor for the team. Currently, Gill sits 5th in the 100 butterfly, 2nd in the 100 backstroke, and 7th in the 100 freestyle.

Albion – 5 Invites

Representing the Brits are seniors Brian Fiorillo and Bradley Melpolder, sophomores Joshua Boren and Tom Parsons, along with freshman Derek Bosko.  Albion is seeded 16^th in the 800 freestyle relay and 12^th in the 400 freestyle relay.  The top seed for the 100 freestyle is held by Fiorillo.  He also is ranked 6^th in the 50 freestyle.

Trinity U. – 5 Invites

Three juniors, Stephen Culberson, Adam Thomas and Kevin Thomas, are joined by underclassmen Jonathan Hoffman and Jah Johnson to make up the Tigers’ NCAA team.  The team is seeded 8^th in the 200 freestyle relay and 16^th in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Culberson individually has the 2nd seed in the 100 freestyle and is ranked 3rd in the 50 free.

Wheaton IL – 5 Invites

Seniors Wills Francis, Timothy Walker, and Roger Wilkerson are joined by junior Jackson Raymond and freshman William McCauley at this years NCAA’s.  The team is seeded 16^th in the 200 freestyle relay.  Individual swims by McCauley and Francis are expected to score.  McCauley is seeded 13^th in the 400 IM and Francis is ranked 12^th in the 100 backstroke.

Gettysburg – 4 Invites

Four juniors are representing Gettysburg in Indianapolis this year. Stuart Cubison, Michael Harmon, Ashton Leyens, and Jason Potter were all invited. Harmon and Potter are both swimming individually. Harmon is 16th in the 200 IM and Potter is 4th in the 50 freestyle, and 6th in the 100 freestyle.

NYU – 4 Invites

The team of Jeremiah Crowley, Matthew Kendall, Daniel Tay, and Charles Wu make up NYU’s 200 medley Relay that is seeded 16^th.   Crowley is seeded 16^th individually in the 100 freestyle and Crowley is seeded 16th in the 50 freestyle.

Union – 4 Invites

Senior Zachary Wahl is joined by junior Andrew Welch, sophomore Benjamin Nadareski, and freshman John Enquist.  Union has a 400 Medley Relay seeded 14^th and Welch is sitting at 10^th in the 100 backstroke. Union has several other races on the verge of scoring. 

Redlands – 2 Invites

Junior Jeffery Depew is seeded 11^th in the 200 IM and his teammate, David Ortyn, is also seeded 11^th in the 200 Butterfly for his senior season.

Tufts – 2 Invites

Michael Winget and William Metcalfe will be representing Tufts University at this years NCAA’s.

USMMA – 2 Invites

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is sending freshman Stone Hewitt to his first NCAA’s along with junior teammate Kevin Lindgren.  Lindgren’s highest seed is 4^th in the 200 backstroke and finished second at last year’s NCAA Championships.  Teammate Hewitt is 13th in the 100 breaststroke.

Whitworth – 2 Invites

The Pirates are sending Wesley Tatum and Wesley Walton to NCAA’s this year.  Tatum’s is 11th in the 100 butterfly and Walton is 10th in the 200 backstroke.

Albright – 1 Invite

Albright senior Ralph Porrazzo is seeded 8^th in the 200 backstroke and 15^th in the 100 backstroke.

 Bates – 1 Invite

Matthew Gagne seeded highest in the 100 butterfly at 20^th.

Behrend – 1 Invite

Seeded 13^th in the 100 Backstroke is Behrend’s junior, Daniel Simon.

Berry – 1 Invite

Senior Graydon McCrite will be representing Berry at this years NCAA’s in the 50 freestyle.

Birmingham Southern – 1 Invite

Duncan Bonney is a sophomore, seeded 2^nd in the 200 IM, 4^th in the 100 breaststroke, and 14^th in the 200 breaststroke.

Case Western – 1 Invite

Senior Sean Nickley is ranked 13^th in the 200 breaststroke for Case Western.

Coast Guard – 1 Invite

Christian Brindamour will be representing the Coast Guard as the top seed in the 50 freestyle.

Grinnel – 1 Invite

Michael Brus is seeded well throughout the weekend. He is seeded 3^rd in the 200 backstroke, 6^th in the 100 backstroke, and 14^th in the 200 freestyle. He was the 2013 National Champion in the 200 backstroke and currently holds the NCAA Record in that event. 

Gustavus – 1 Invite

Dante Colucci is a sophomore from Gustavus and is ranked 11^th in the 100 backstroke.

 IWU – 1 Invite

Senior Marcus Duval is seeded 9^th in the 400 IM for Illinois Wesleyan University.

 John Carroll – 1 Invite

Senior David Holvey is ranked highest at 17^th place in the 50 freestyle.

 Lake Forest – 1 Invite

Lake Forest sends freshman Samuel Freedberg to his first NCAA’s. His highest seed is 20^th in the 400 Individual Medley.

Mary Washington – 1 Invite

Junior Hugh Anderson is the defending national champion and NCAA record holder in the 400 IM. This year he is seeded second in that event and is the top seed in the 200 butterfly.

McDaniel – 1 Invite

Sophomore swimmer Bradley brooks is seeded best in the 500 free at 12^th place.

Middlebury – 1 Invite

Ian Mackay is a senior and will be swimming the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 100 butterfly.  He is seeded highest in the 100 butterfly at 8th.

Occidental  – 1 Invite

Occidental sends Steven Van Deventer, the second seed in the 200 breaststroke, to NCAA’s.  Van Deventer is also ranked 6^th in the 100 Breaststroke. Van Deventer was the 2013 NCAA Champion in the 200 breaststroke. 

Ohio Northern – 1 Invite

Seeded 10^th in the 200 fly, senior Jordan Breitigam will be representing Ohio Northern.

Rose-Hulman – 1 Invite

Orion Martin is a sophomore from Rose-Hulman.  His is seeded 9th in the 100 butterfly going into the meet.

Springfield – 1 Invite

Michael Normoyle will be representing Sringfield in three events.  His highest seed is 16^th in the 200 Breaststroke.

St. Thomas – 1 Invite

St. Thomas will be sending Michael Lanz to NCAA’s.  He is the 2nd seed in the 100 butterfly and 5^th in the 200 butterfly.

SUNY Geneseo – 1 Invite

Junior John Nasky is seeded 14th in the 1650 freestyle. 

UWEC – 1 Invite

Senior Alex Card will be representing UWEC, seeded 12^th in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes.

Westminster – 1 Invite

Westminster junior Steven Brooks is ranked highest in his 100 backstroke, seeded 14th.

Whitman – 1 Invite

Junior Karl Mering will be representing Whitman at this years NCAA’s. Mering is seeded first in the 100 fly and 2^nd in the 200 fly. Last year Mering finished 6th in the 100 butterfly and 3rd in the 200 butterfly. 

 Whittier – 1 Invite

Whittier is sending junior Filip Dajkovich to NCAA’s this year.  He will be swimming the 50 free and is seeded 7th.

 York College – 1 Invite

York College is sending Sophomore Kyle Walthall to Indianapolis. His highest seed is the 100 Breaststroke at 11^th.

Standings

After scoring out the psych sheets, Kenyon is the favorite to win again this year. Denison, Emory, MIT, and Johns Hopkins round out the top 5 positions.