NCAA Division III Championships, Day 3 Prelims: Denison Title Chase Hits Snag with Relay DQ
Through two days of the NCAA Division III Championships, Denison looked on the fast track to a second straight title.
The Big Red might still be, but the road got tougher with a disqualification in the 200 medley relay to start Friday’s session at the IU Natatorium.
Denison held a 47-point edge heading into the session over Chicago, but no relay points will tighten that gap quick. Denison won by 140 points last year, so they have room to space. But this will be a new test.
Division III Championships Team Scores
All the action from prelims:
Men’s 200 medley relay
Denison entered as the third seed and finished in a time that would’ve been quicker than last year’s champion. But that was wiped away by Nick Hensel jumping by .04 on the anchor leg.
That wasn’t the only eye-catching DQ. Tufts, last year’s co-champion with Emory, was DQed. The Jumbos were seeded just 11th. SUNY Geneseo also got the DQ, for a second straight year.
Among the legal finishers, Emory led the way in 126.52 with the team of Colin Zexeter, Henri Bonnault, Patrick Horton and Connor McHugh. Kenyon was second in 1:26.67, with Carnegie Mellon third, the place it finished last year.
Top seed Bates was fourth, with second seed NYU fifth. TCNJ, Johns Hopkins and Salisbury round out the top eight.
Women’s 200 medley relay
There was no such drama in the women’s medley relay, with all 26 teams through safely. Kenyon led the way, the top seed going 1:40.57, .01 up on Emory. Denison was third in 1:40.66. Those were the top three seeds entering, and their clustering within .09 seconds nearly a second ahead of anyone else seems definitive.
NYU will be plenty happy with jumping to fourth. The Violets, leading the team competition, were seeded 10th. Chicago is fifth, followed by Colby, Washington University and Williams. Reigning champ MIT, seeded 11th, barely made it back in 16th.
Men’s 200 butterfly
Cooper Costello defended his top seed with a time of 1:45.33 that is well off his 1:42.91 in-season. expect the University of Chicago junior to have plenty left at night.
Washington’s Marco Minai continues a strong meet by finishing second in 1:46.43. There’s a cluster of four swimmers within .23 seconds, with Whittier’s Honza Zika, Coast Guard’s Noah Reice, McKee Thorsen of Emory and Avery Clapp of Johns Hopkins. Costello was second last year, Clapp third, Minai fourth, Thorsen fifth and Reice seventh. John Drumm was eighth last year and is in that position again after prelims.
One miss is from Ryan Nunez of Williams. The third seed entering the meet and B final winner last year, he finished 18th.
With the DQ, Emory could have a chance to move. They have Thorsen fifth, plus two B finalists. Chicago has a B finalist to go with Costello.
Women’s 200 butterfly
NYU’s Nicole Ranile bounced back quickly from the medley relay duty to lead the way in the 200 fly. She went 1:59.87. The only swimmers with a sub-2-minute seed time, she is the defending champ in 1:57.72 from last year.
Emory’s Elodie Mitchell was second in 201.36. Kenyon has two A finalists, led by Amelia Stevenson in third. She was fifth last year. Denison’s Emily Harris (fourth after prelims) and Amherst’s Maeve Kelly (seventh) are returning medalists. Sofia Giordano of Kenyon bested MIT’s Mary Felix for the last A final spot in eighth.
Men’s 100 backstroke
Reigning champion Brayden Morford came through prelims in third place, safely through in a 47.27 that matched his in-season seed time. He won in 46.61 last year.
Charles Platt of Calvin led the way in prelims in 46.95. He was ninth last year and entered as the third seed. NYU’s 1-2 seed pairing both made finals, Teddy Cross in first and Teddy McQuaid in sixth. CMU has a second swimmer in Arnav Deshpande in fifth.
In the team race, Denison has only one scorer in the first three races of the night, with Ben Bevill 16th. Emory only has 15th-place Colin Zexter. Chicago has no one.
Women’s 100 backstroke
NYU’s title chase could get a massive boost if freshman Maeve O’Donnell could repeat her prelims performance by winning. She was first in prelims at 54.11. Even jumping from seventh to a guaranteed A final spot is a huge result for the title-hunting Violets.
Emory’s Penny Celtnieks was second in 54.37, with teammate Sami Thiele eighth (after a swim off with Olivia Chow of Kean). Kenyon’s Gwen Eisenbeis, the top seed entering, qualified third in 54.62. Denison and Williams have an A finalist each, Williams with a B finalist. Second seed Elizabeth Pennington of Rowan is in the A final in seventh, as is Kean’s Braelyn Wilson, the third seed entering, in fourth.
MIT’s Sydney Smith, the fifth seed and last year’s runner-up, finished 13th.
Men’s 100 breaststroke
It’ll be a battle at the top, with Bates’ Marrich Somridhivej defending his top seed in 52.62. Emory’s Henri Bonnault, the reigning champ, was second in 53.01. His chance to help the Eagles score in the team race could help drive him.
Third was Connecticut College’s Carrick Shea in 53.55, with Caleb Einolf of Grove City and Zachary Erb of Bridgewater also in the 53s. Chicago pushed Ethan Taylor into the A final in sixth. Liam Nelson is a rare scorer for Denison on the night in eighth.
Erb was third last year, Smoridhivej fifth, Einolf sixth.
Women’s 100 breaststroke
Kelsey van Eldik is looking to make the most of a rare event in which NYU doesn’t have a scorer, the Kenyon sophomore backing her top seed with a top time of 1:00.41. Emory’s Katie Cohen was second in 101.91. Denison has the third and fourth times from Drue Thielking and Riley Toffelmire. Thielking was third last year, a spot up on Van Eldik.
Denison has two A and two B finalists. Kenyon has a B finalist to complement van Eldik.
