NCAA Division III Championships, Night 4: Is a Saturday Lead Change in the Cards?
Entering the final day of the NCAA Division III Championships, 20 points separate NYU and MIT in the women’s standings.
The teams are evenly poised on the final night of the meet at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, with NYU likely to win the 100 free but MIT pushing three into the A final, NYU with two potential scorers set in the 1,650 and the teams set to battle it out in the closing 400 freestyle relay as the top two seeds, entering the meet and in prelims.
We will see a new NCAA champion, with Kenyon 50 points back of NYU despite three A finalists in the 200 breaststroke. But will we see it come down to the final relay?
On the men’s side, Denison, last the champion in 2019, is in pole position for its sixth NCAA title, leading defending champ Emory by 47.5 points with a big score awaiting after going 1-2 in prelims of the 200 breast and three potential scores in the mile.
Scores entering the final night of competition:
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 28 1. Nyu 368 2. Mit 348 3. Kenyon 315 4. Denison 278 5. Emory 267 6. Williams 167 7. Chicago 147 8. Pomona-Pitzer 123 9. Hope 88 10. Swarthmore 77 11. Calvin 71 12. Tufts 56.5 13. C-M-S 56 14. Amherst 50 15. Johns Hopkins 49 16. Bowdoin 37 17. Case Western 33 18. Suny Geneseo 29 19. Wash U 28 20. Rowan 21 20. Loras 21 22. Colby 20 22. Ithaca 20 24. Albion 18.5 25. Kean University 17 26. Carleton 16 27. Trinity University (Tx) 15 28. Springfield 12 29. Bates 9 30. Middlebury 7 31. Gettysburg 6 32. Salisbury 5 33. Hamilton 4 33. Wheaton IL 4 33. Wooster 4 36. Chapman 3
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 29 1. Denison 298 2. Emory 250.5 3. Chicago 211 4. Nyu 190.5 5. Kenyon 183 6. Carnegie Mellon 157 7. Tufts 131 8. Wash U 106 9. Mit 103 10. Williams 98 11. Calvin 97 12. Centre 96 12. Coast Guard 96 14. Bates 87 15. Rit 82 16. Conn College 81 17. Johns Hopkins 75 18. W&L 61 19. Suny Geneseo 59 20. Tcnj 54 21. C-M-S 38 22. Hope 30 23. Rowan 28 24. Hamilton 27 24. St. Mary's MD 27 24. Pomona-Pitzer 27 27. Alfred State 26 28. UC Santa Cruz 25 29. Case Western 22 30. Swarthmore 19 31. Grove City 17 31. Rhodes 17 33. Bridgewater 16 34. Cal Lutheran 15 35. Grinnell 14 35. St. John's 14 37. Amherst 12 38. Saint Vincent 11 39. Carleton 10 40. John Carroll 6 40. Uw-Stevens Point 6 42. Augustana 5 43. Trinity University (Tx) 4 44. Asbury 3 44. Ithaca 3 46. Uw-Eau Claire 2 46. Hobart 2 48. Whittier 1
Women’s 1,650 freestyle
Winner of the 500 free, Bowdoin freshman Natalie Garre added an emphatic record in the mile, winning in 16:17.84. That obliterates the record set in 2015 by Williams’ Sarah Thompson at 16:21.44. Garre’s time was nearly 17 seconds quicker than the winner in 2024 and 10.5 seconds ahead of the field.
Now for the team race: A second-place finish for Kenyon’s Bengisu Caymaz, said reigning champion, temporarily jumps the Owls to second place in the team standings, three ahead of MIT. NYU’s lead is 40 over MIT. Caymaz’s teammate Molly Haag was third.
NYU made out as well as it could’ve hoped, though. It entered seeded ninth and 12th and got fourth and ninth. Swimming out of the morning, Caitlin Marshall laid down a strong time to finish fourth, a spot back from last year. Teammate Aanya Wala was ninth. Denison’s Quinn Brown was fifth.
Event 30 Women 1650 Yard Freestyle
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Name Year School Seed Finals Points
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1 Garre, Natalie FR Bowdoin 16:31.90 16:17.84 20
26.31 54.97 (28.66)
15:49.47 ( ) 16:17.84 (28.37)
2 Caymaz, Bengisu SO Kenyon 16:36.97 16:28.38 17
26.57 55.27 (28.70)
15:29.50 (30.05) 15:59.31 (29.81) 16:28.38 (29.07)
3 Haag, Molly JR Kenyon 16:50.16 16:38.62 16
27.04 56.22 (29.18)
15:40.97 (30.60) 16:10.62 (29.65) 16:38.62 (28.00)
4 Marshall, Caitlin SR NYU 16:57.83 16:47.12 15
26.84 1:26.44 (59.60)
15:46.78 (30.57) 16:17.30 (30.52) 16:47.12 (29.82)
5 Brown, Quinn JR Denison 16:53.16 16:49.57 14
27.83 57.63 (29.80)
15:48.91 (31.34) 16:19.47 (30.56) 16:49.57 (30.10)
6 Dunn, Madeleine JR Tufts 16:49.76 16:50.82 13
27.88 57.82 (29.94)
15:51.09 (30.98) 16:21.41 (30.32) 16:50.82 (29.41)
7 Codd, Lily JR Williams 16:49.60 16:53.04 12
27.71 57.40 (29.69)
15:52.66 (30.97) 16:23.52 (30.86) 16:53.04 (29.52)
8 Chatoor, Jada SR Emory 16:55.83 16:54.55 11
27.52 57.43 (29.91)
15:54.30 (30.76) 16:24.82 (30.52) 16:54.55 (29.73)
Men’s 1,650 freestyle
It’s 2-3-5 for Denison to stretch the advantage north of 80 points. Tyler Distenfeld finished second, followed by freshman George Goins with Lucas Conrads fifth. He had been third last year.
The title again goes to Lucas Lang of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. He went 15:18.01, within a second of last year’s time and two seconds clear of Distenfeld. NYU’s Connor Vincent was fourth after finishing second last year.
Event 31 Men 1650 Yard Freestyle
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Name Year School Seed Finals Points
=========================================================================
1 Lang, Lucas SR C-M-S 15:22.23 15:18.01 20
23.56 50.06 (26.50)
13:28.28 (28.27) 13:56.47 (28.19)
14:24.43 (27.96) 14:51.85 (27.42) 15:18.01 (26.16)
2 Distenfeld, Tyler SR Denison 15:26.51 15:20.19 17
24.49 51.51 (27.02)
14:26.64 (27.47) 14:53.92 (27.28) 15:20.19 (26.27)
3 Goins, George FR Denison 15:26.44 15:22.54 16
24.69 51.78 (27.09)
14:29.52 (28.11) 14:57.20 (27.68) 15:22.54 (25.34)
4 Vincent, Connor SR NYU 15:22.96 15:22.75 15
24.01 50.67 (26.66)
14:28.67 (28.27) 14:56.35 (27.68) 15:22.75 (26.40)
5 Conrads, Lucas SR Denison 15:30.54 15:28.21 14
24.84 52.08 (27.24)
14:31.73 (28.90) 15:00.41 (28.68) 15:28.21 (27.80)
6 Langlois, Thomas SO Whittier 15:33.32 15:29.21 13
25.74 53.97 (28.23)
14:33.44 ( ) 15:29.21 (55.77)
7 Anderson, Carter SR Williams 15:27.43 15:31.97 12
25.18
14:34.96 ( ) 15:03.79 (28.83) 15:31.97 (28.18)
8 Lyman, Sean SR Coast Guard 15:30.07 15:32.73 11
24.29 51.25 (26.96)
14:36.57 (29.02) 15:05.38 (28.81) 15:32.73 (27.35)
Women’s 100 freestyle
Make it three titles this week for Kaley McIntyre, including her second in the 100 free. Which is more important: The NCAA record, lowering her in-season 48.58 by .05 to 48.53, or the points to counter a 3-4-6 finish by MIT? Either way, the Violets are 14 points to the good.
Pomona-Pitzer’s Valerie Mello held onto her second seed in 49.50, followed by the MIT duo of Annika Naveen and Alex Turvey, the latter second last year. Both broke 50 seconds. Sydney Smith slid a spot from prelims to sixth, with Avery Vogen jumping up.
Event 32 Women 100 Yard Freestyle
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Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 McIntyre, Kaley JR NYU 49.06 48.53 20
23.20 48.53 (25.33)
2 Mello, Valerie SR Pomona-Pitzer 49.86 49.50 17
23.65 49.50 (25.85)
3 Naveen, Annika JR MIT 50.12 49.95 16
23.77 49.95 (26.18)
4 Turvey, Alex 5Y MIT 49.97 49.96 15
24.18 49.96 (25.78)
5 Vogen, Avery SR Denison 50.38 50.56 14
24.11 50.56 (26.45)
6 Smith, Sydney SO MIT 50.23 50.68 13
24.41 50.68 (26.27)
7 Aballea, Nina SO Pomona-Pitzer 50.38 50.90 11.5
24.56 50.90 (26.34)
7 Kadlecik, Grace SR Denison 50.41 50.90 11.5
24.43 50.90 (26.47)
Men’s 100 freestyle
After finishing second in the 50 free, Max Cory picked up the win for Bates, the junior going 42.88. That is a tenth of a second ahead of the NCAA record.
He was well ahead of Calvin’s David Bajwa in 43.25. Bajwa finished .07 ahead of Kenyon’s Djordje Dragojlovic, last year’s champ, who went 43.32. Chicago’s Sebi Vernhes, an A in 2024, finished fourth. The winner of the 200 free, Colin Twiss of Coast Guard Academy was seventh.
Event 33 Men 100 Yard Freestyle
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Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Cory, Max JR Bates 43.05 42.88 20
20.23 42.88 (22.65)
2 Bajwa, David SR Calvin 43.62 43.25 17
20.87 43.25 (22.38)
3 Dragojlovic, Djordje JR Kenyon 43.89 43.32 16
20.24 43.32 (23.08)
4 Vernhes, Sebi SR Chicago 44.01 43.59 15
20.82 43.59 (22.77)
5 Peitler, Matt FR Carnegie Mellon 43.76 43.63 13.5
20.77 43.63 (22.86)
5 Hill, Jack SO Denison 43.83 43.63 13.5
20.97 43.63 (22.66)
7 Twiss, Colin SR Coast Guard 43.96 43.86 12
21.12 43.86 (22.74)
8 Taft, Nathaniel SO Hamilton 43.80 44.38 11
21.23 44.38 (23.15)
Women’s 200 backstroke
In a rematch of last year’s title bout, Kate Augustyn again got the better of Sophia Verkleeren. The MIT senior went 1:55.85, brushing within two tenths of the NCAA record set in 2018 by Crile Hart. Augustyn won in 1:55.98 last year. Williams’ Verkleeren was second in 1:56.68, the duo nearly two seconds clear of the field.
Augustyn’s points bring MIT one solitary point behind NYU for the team lead.
Rowan’s Elizabeth Pennington, who won the B final last year, was second in 1:58.64. Sara Kraus of Hope finished fourth, with Chicago’s Elisabella Forest fifth.
Event 34 Women 200 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Augustyn, Kate SR MIT 1:57.83 1:55.85 20
27.11 56.56 (29.45)
1:26.26 (29.70) 1:55.85 (29.59)
2 Verkleeren, Sophia SR Williams 1:57.44 1:56.68 17
27.85 56.90 (29.05)
1:26.02 (29.12) 1:56.68 (30.66)
3 Pennington, Elizabeth JR Rowan 1:58.59 1:58.64 16
28.03 57.98 (29.95)
1:28.15 (30.17) 1:58.64 (30.49)
4 Kraus, Sara SR Hope 2:00.20 1:59.22 15
28.03 58.22 (30.19)
1:28.66 (30.44) 1:59.22 (30.56)
5 Forest, Elisabella SR Chicago 1:58.62 1:59.48 14
27.37 57.24 (29.87)
1:28.28 (31.04) 1:59.48 (31.20)
6 Yoon, Izzy FR Pomona-Pitzer 1:59.78 1:59.63 13
27.64 57.95 (30.31)
1:28.63 (30.68) 1:59.63 (31.00)
7 Lee, Ken FR Johns Hopkins 2:00.68 2:00.06 12
27.76 57.76 (30.00)
1:28.62 (30.86) 2:00.06 (31.44)
8 Xu, Savannah JR Carnegie Mellon 2:00.56 2:01.49 11
27.71 57.85 (30.14)
1:29.26 (31.41) 2:01.49 (32.23)
Men’s 200 backstroke
Women’s 200 breaststroke
Men’s 200 breaststroke
Women’s 3-meter diving
Women’s 400 freestyle relay
Men’s 400 freestyle relay
