NCAA Division III Championships: NYU Up as Challengers Rattle off 1-2 Results
For the last 40 or so years, give or take, you’ve only needed to know three names in NCAA Division III swimming when it comes time for team trophies.
There’s Kenyon. There’s Emory. And there’s Denison.
This year at NCAA, the NYU women are threatening to upset that triumvirate.
While the three powers are clustered within three points in what seems like an intriguing battles, it’s currently for third, with NYU entering the Friday night session at the NCAA Division III Championships in Greensboro with the lead. Its 242 points is ahead of MIT’s 216, with Denison third in 175.
NYU’s women have never been higher than third, achieved last year. Before that, the Violets were fifth in 2019 and 2023. But they have a big night ahead, having gone 1-2 in the 200 fly and as the reigning champ in the 800 free relay. Kenyon, in fourth, counters with a 1-2-3 seeding in the 100 breast, while MIT pulled off a 1-2 in the 100 back.
Kenyon has won two of the last three titles, sandwiching Denison. Before that was a run of 10 straight for Emory. The three have won every NCAA Division III women’s title since Williams College’s triumph in 1983.
On the men’s side, Emory has won the last three, Denison the two before that, then some jockeying from the three after Denison in 2011 broke Kenyon’s title streak that dated back uninterrupted to 1980. But Emory started Friday mired in fifth, nearly 60 points back of Denison, which is 40 points up on Kenyon.
All the action from the Greensboro Aquatic Center on a pivotal double-relay night that featured a tie in the men’s medley relay:
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 17 1. Nyu 242 2. Mit 216 3. Denison 175 4. Kenyon 173 5. Emory 172 6. Chicago 93 7. Williams 89 8. Pomona-Pitzer 66 9. Hope 64 10. Swarthmore 53 11. Calvin 48 12. Tufts 46 13. C-M-S 41 14. Bowdoin 37 15. Case Western 27 16. Amherst 21 17. Ithaca 20 18. Johns Hopkins 16 18. Carleton 16 20. Trinity University (Tx) 13 21. Suny Geneseo 12 21. Albion 12 23. Rowan 9 24. Middlebury 7 25. Gettysburg 6 25. Wash U 6 27. Salisbury 5 27. Loras 5 29. Wheaton IL 4 29. Hamilton 4 29. Kean University 4 32. Colby 2 33. Chapman 1
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 18 1. Denison 166 2. Kenyon 126 3. Chicago 124 4. Nyu 121.5 5. Emory 116.5 6. Carnegie Mellon 105 7. Calvin 88 8. Centre 60 9. Mit 59 10. Conn College 58 11. Coast Guard 56 12. Rit 55 13. Bates 49 14. Williams 48 15. Tufts 45 16. Johns Hopkins 42 17. Wash U 39 17. Suny Geneseo 39 19. W&L 31 19. Tcnj 31 21. Hamilton 27 22. UC Santa Cruz 25 23. C-M-S 20 23. St. Mary's MD 20 25. Swarthmore 19 26. Hope 18 27. Rhodes 15 28. Pomona-Pitzer 14 28. Grinnell 14 30. Alfred State 12 31. Saint Vincent 11 32. Amherst 8 33. Case Western 7 34. John Carroll 6 35. Carleton 5 35. Augustana 5 37. Grove City 4 37. Trinity University (Tx) 4 39. St. John's 3 39. Asbury 3 41. Hobart 2 42. Whittier 1 42. Uw-Eau Claire 1
Women’s 200 medley relay
The night is book-ended by the specialties for each of the top two on the women’s side. MIT is first, and they backed it up by setting an NCAA record of 1:39.51, clipping .04 under the old mark to defend their title. Kate Augustyn, Sarah Bernard, Annika Naveen and Ella Roberson comprised the quartet.
NYU limited the damage to 10 points by finishing fourth. In between was Kenyon (in 1:40.26) and Denison (in 1:40.77). Kenyon, with its glut of breaststrokers, is poised to move Friday night.
Event 19 Women 200 Yard Medley Relay ================================================================================== School Prelims Finals Points ================================================================================== === Championship Final === 1 MIT 1:40.44 1:39.51 40 1) Augustyn, Kate SR 2) Bernard, Sarah FR 3) Naveen, Annika JR 4) Roberson, Ella SO 25.15 53.61 (28.46) 1:17.49 (23.88) 1:39.51 (22.02) 2 Kenyon 1:40.28 1:40.26 34 1) Eisenbeis, Gwen JR 2) Fadely, Jennah SR 3) Ford, Celia SR 4) Geboy, Sydney SR 25.65 52.58 (26.93) 1:17.58 (25.00) 1:40.26 (22.68) 3 Denison 1:41.01 1:40.77 32 1) Park, Jasmine SO 2) Tofflemire, Riley SO 3) Palmroos, Maja SR 4) Kadlecik, Grace SR 25.99 53.96 (27.97) 1:17.99 (24.03) 1:40.77 (22.78) 4 NYU 1:41.84 1:40.91 30 1) Ranile, Nicole JR 2) Li, Anna SR 3) Xayaveth, Hope SO 4) Oldham, Isabel SR 25.86 54.23 (28.37) 1:18.00 (23.77) 1:40.91 (22.91) 5 Emory 1:41.80 1:40.94 28 1) Jungers, Megan 5Y 2) Cohen, Katie SO 3) Greeneway, Allison FR 4) Kennedy, Ava SR 25.83 54.32 (28.49) 1:18.83 (24.51) 1:40.94 (22.11) 6 Pomona-Pitzer 1:42.11 1:41.97 26 1) Yoon, Izzy FR 2) Coppo, Francesca SO 3) Calvi, Gabriella SR 4) Mello, Valerie SR 26.03 54.83 (28.80) 1:19.91 (25.08) 1:41.97 (22.06) 7 Chicago 1:42.24 1:42.28 23 1) Georgopoulou, Ioanna SR 2) Soosai, Alicia JR 3) Xu, Emily JR 4) Zhao, Karen SR 26.42 54.87 (28.45) 1:19.79 (24.92) 1:42.28 (22.49) 7 Calvin 1:42.46 1:42.28 23 1) Merkel, Emma SO 2) Bajwa, Elise SO 3) Farrell, Maggie 5Y 4) Sonday, Sydney SR 27.23 55.59 (28.36) 1:19.77 (24.18) 1:42.28 (22.51)
Men’s 200 medley relay
It’s a tie! Tufts qualified first and was .07 slower at night in 1:26.72, and they had to play catchup to Emory, which touched in an identical time. Eric Lundgren, Everett Adams, Armaan Sikka and Soeren Euvrard were the Tufts’ four, Euvrard needing a 19.77 on the end to claw back three tenths on Emory.
The reigning champion Eagles (Tufts was ninth last year) used a hellacious 20.69 from Jeff Echols on fly. Nolan Lahmann, Henry Bonnault and Dylan Yin were the rest of the team. Yin’s anchor of 20.07 was the seventh fastest in the A final.
Carnegie Mellon finished third, .05 up on Denison. Bates was seventh despite a 19.15 from Max Cory coming home.
Event 20 Men 200 Yard Medley Relay ================================================================================== School Prelims Finals Points ================================================================================== === Championship Final === 1 Tufts 1:26.65 1:26.72 37 1) Lundgren, Eric SR 2) Adams, Emmett SR 3) Sikka, Armaan JR 4) Euvrard, Soeren SR 22.00 45.64 (23.64) 1:06.95 (21.31) 1:26.72 (19.77) 1 Emory 1:27.01 1:26.72 37 1) Lahmann, Nolan SR 2) Bonnault, Henri JR 3) Echols, Jeff SR 4) Yin, Dylan SR 22.22 45.96 (23.74) 1:06.65 (20.69) 1:26.72 (20.07) 3 Carnegie Mellon 1:27.04 1:27.22 32 1) Deshpande, Arnav JR 2) Lanuza, Christian SR 3) Morford, Brayden SO 4) Peitler, Matt FR 22.40 46.98 (24.58) 1:07.62 (20.64) 1:27.22 (19.60) 4 Denison 1:27.76 1:27.27 30 1) Bevill, Benjamin FR 2) Venos, Elijah SR 3) Narcelles, Christian SR 4) Hensel, Nickolas FR 22.27 45.91 (23.64) 1:07.90 (21.99) 1:27.27 (19.37) 5 NYU 1:27.45 1:27.46 28 1) McQuaid, Teddy FR 2) Nechydyuk, Max FR 3) Watanakun, Ajay SR 4) Wehbe, Greg SO 22.00 46.84 (24.84) 1:08.13 (21.29) 1:27.46 (19.33) 6 Chicago 1:28.21 1:27.80 26 1) Chan, Armand JR 2) Xia, Chris FR 3) Catton, Benjamin 5Y 4) Benderskii, Igor SO 22.83 47.23 (24.40) 1:08.20 (20.97) 1:27.80 (19.60) 7 Bates 1:27.97 1:27.83 24 1) Johnson, Tim SO 2) Somridhivej, Marrich JR 3) Oppenheim, Nate FR 4) Cory, Max JR 22.96 47.01 (24.05) 1:08.68 (21.67) 1:27.83 (19.15) 8 Wash U. 1:28.25 1:27.94 22 1) Wolford, Kyle 5Y 2) Rockaway, Justin SR 3) Bick, Austin 5Y 4) Sibley, Danny SR 21.86 46.62 (24.76) 1:07.71 (21.09) 1:27.94 (20.23)
Women’s 200 butterfly
NYU made good on its 1-2 position in in prelims. The next best thing for the Violets to Caitlin Marshall repeating as champion is junior Nicole Ranile jumping past the senior into the top spot. Ranile, fourth last year, went 1:57.72. Marshall’s time of 1:58.18 was .32 faster than her winning time from last year. Reina Gomez added to it by winning the B final in 2:01.39, but the Violets would’ve preferred that in the morning to get into the A final, Gomez posting the fifth-fastest time at night and finishing fifth last year.
Denison’s Emily Harris is third for the second straight year, in 2:00.33. Maeve Kelley of Amherst followed, with Kenyon getting points from Amelia Stevenson in fifth.
Event 21 Women 200 Yard Butterfly ========================================================================= Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === Championship Final === 1 Ranile, Nicole JR NYU 1:59.85 1:57.72 20 25.99 55.51 (29.52) 1:26.08 (30.57) 1:57.72 (31.64) 2 Marshall, Caitlin SR NYU 1:59.89 1:58.18 17 26.47 55.99 (29.52) 1:26.30 (30.31) 1:58.18 (31.88) 3 Harris, Emily JR Denison 2:00.35 2:00.33 16 26.69 56.62 (29.93) 1:27.89 (31.27) 2:00.33 (32.44) 4 Kelley, Maeve SO Amherst 2:01.49 2:00.90 15 27.22 57.96 (30.74) 1:29.23 (31.27) 2:00.90 (31.67) 5 Stevenson, Amelia SO Kenyon 2:02.12 2:01.97 14 27.70 58.92 (31.22) 1:30.26 (31.34) 2:01.97 (31.71) 6 Swartwood, Belise FR MIT 2:02.30 2:02.21 13 27.42 58.55 (31.13) 1:30.16 (31.61) 2:02.21 (32.05) 7 Mayfield, Mackenzie JR C-M-S 2:02.36 2:03.55 12 27.42 58.13 (30.71) 1:30.24 (32.11) 2:03.55 (33.31) 8 Hale, Alise SR SUNY Geneseo 2:02.55 2:03.58 11 27.22 58.26 (31.04) 1:30.51 (32.25) 2:03.58 (33.07)
Men’s 200 butterfly
Justin Finkel is the 200 fly champion again, lower his NCAA record by a half-second to 1:42.64. He had won in 1:43.21 last year. Finkel outdueled a00 fly champ Cooper Costello of Chicago. Connecticut College’s Finkel won the 500 free and was third in the 100 fly.
Costello finished second in 1:43.42, up from fifth last year. Avery Clapp of Johns Hopkins is third for the second straight year in 1:44.82. Marco Minai of Washington University St. Louis was fourth.
Event 22 Men 200 Yard Butterfly ========================================================================= Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === Championship Final === 1 Finkel, Justin SR Conn College 1:45.44 1:42.64 20 22.98 49.34 (26.36) 1:15.59 (26.25) 1:42.64 (27.05) 2 Costello, Cooper SO Chicago 1:44.36 1:43.42 17 22.71 48.67 (25.96) 1:15.63 (26.96) 1:43.42 (27.79) 3 Clapp, Avery JR Johns Hopkins 1:46.17 1:44.82 16 23.33 49.92 (26.59) 1:16.75 (26.83) 1:44.82 (28.07) 4 Minai, Marco SO Wash U. 1:46.33 1:45.21 15 23.57 50.86 (27.29) 1:18.02 (27.16) 1:45.21 (27.19) 5 Thorsen, McKee SO Emory 1:46.31 1:46.00 14 23.45 50.21 (26.76) 1:18.01 (27.80) 1:46.00 (27.99) 6 Huang, Kyle SO Pomona-Pitzer 1:46.83 1:46.75 13 23.45 50.62 (27.17) 1:18.42 (27.80) 1:46.75 (28.33) 7 Reice, Noah SO Coast Guard 1:46.73 1:47.75 12 24.04 51.37 (27.33) 1:19.60 (28.23) 1:47.75 (28.15) 8 Drumm, John JR Case Western 1:47.02 1:48.96 11 24.16 51.95 (27.79) 1:20.28 (28.33) 1:48.96 (28.68)
Women’s 100 backstroke
After serving notice with two relays wins, Kate Augustyn got her first win in the 100 back. Her time is the exact same 53.41 that she won last year, though she lowered that NCAA record to 53.29 in season.
It fell to teammate Sydney Smith to provide the bonus, then, which she did by going 54.48, up from third in prelims to second for an MIT 1-2, pulling the Engineers within 16 points of NYU. Smith was sixth last year.
Loras fifth-year Anna Durak was third in 54.66. Elisabella Forest of Chicago denied Kenyon’s Gwen Eisenbeis a chance to move up from fifth.
The best swim of the B final, by Emory’s Megan Jungers, was 54.71, which was fourth-fastest of the night session, but it only gets her and the Eagles ninth. Jungers was fourth last year.
Event 23 Women 100 Yard Backstroke ========================================================================= Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === Championship Final === 1 Augustyn, Kate SR MIT 53.76 53.41 20 25.88 53.41 (27.53) 2 Smith, Sydney SO MIT 54.61 54.48 17 26.58 54.48 (27.90) 3 Durak, Anna 5Y Loras 55.36 54.66 16 26.29 54.66 (28.37) 4 Forest, Elisabella SR Chicago 54.46 55.09 15 26.62 55.09 (28.47) 5 Eisenbeis, Gwen JR Kenyon 54.96 55.24 14 26.47 55.24 (28.77) 6 Wilson, Braelyn FR Kean University 55.10 55.25 13 26.76 55.25 (28.49) 7 Pennington, Elizabeth JR Rowan 54.99 55.49 12 27.01 55.49 (28.48) 8 Yang, Irene JR Williams 55.35 56.10 11 26.94 56.10 (29.16)
Men’s 100 backstroke
Carnegie Mellon’s Brayden Morford added his second individual gold medal of the meet, going 46.61 to wrest the win away from Kenyon’s Djordje Dragojlovic. The Kenyon junior, who won it last year in 46.90 with Morford second, went 47.18.
Washington’s Kyle Wolford was third in 47.22. Eric Lundgren of Tufts finished fourth, followed by three freshmen.
Event 24 Men 100 Yard Backstroke ========================================================================= Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === Championship Final === 1 Morford, Brayden SO Carnegie Mellon 47.39 46.61 20 22.76 46.61 (23.85) 2 Dragojlovic, Djordje JR Kenyon 47.84 47.18 17 22.54 47.18 (24.64) 3 Wolford, Kyle 5Y Wash U. 47.38 47.22 16 22.78 47.22 (24.44) 4 Lundgren, Eric SR Tufts 47.36 47.27 15 22.80 47.27 (24.47) 5 McQuaid, Teddy FR NYU 47.45 47.31 14 22.63 47.31 (24.68) 6 Kim, Nathan FR MIT 48.07 47.88 13 23.20 47.88 (24.68) 7 Spicer, Zachary FR Emory 48.05 48.03 12 23.15 48.03 (24.88) 8 Watson, Jack 5Y Rowan 48.07 48.91 11 23.40 48.91 (25.51)
Women’s 100 breaststroke
It’s Kenyon’s turn, as Jennah Fadely and Gabriella Wei went 1-2 for the Owls. Freshman Kelsey Van Edlick was .03 from making it a clean sweep, Denison’s Drue Thielking probably getting a few shoulder taps from some other schools for that service.
Fadely, who went 59.80 last year and holds the NCAA record at 59.62 on an in-season time, went 1:00.13 to win by nearly a second over Wei, who was third last year. Van Eldik was 1:01.34. The Owls move within 47 points of NYU, whose lead over MIT shrunk to 10 points thanks to Sarah Bernard finishing eighth.
Event 25 Women 100 Yard Breaststroke ========================================================================= Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === Championship Final === 1 Fadely, Jennah SR Kenyon 1:00.61 1:00.13 20 27.98 1:00.13 (32.15) 2 Wei, Gabriella SR Kenyon 1:00.98 1:01.08 17 28.36 1:01.08 (32.72) 3 Thielking, Drue JR Denison 1:01.78 1:01.31 16 28.78 1:01.31 (32.53) 4 Van Eldik, Kelsey FR Kenyon 1:01.29 1:01.34 15 28.80 1:01.34 (32.54) 5 Wishnack, Charlotte SR Williams 1:02.03 1:01.69 14 29.04 1:01.69 (32.65) 6 Cohen, Katie SO Emory 1:02.37 1:02.65 13 29.30 1:02.65 (33.35) 7 Lamb, Nina SR Springfield 1:02.16 1:02.77 12 28.90 1:02.77 (33.87) 8 Bernard, Sarah FR MIT 1:02.31 1:02.80 11 29.52 1:02.80 (33.28)
Men’s 100 breaststroke
It’s strengthen in numbers for Denison, whose 2-7-11 finish counters the 1-10 from Emory and stretches its lead to 36.5 points. The Eagles’ Henri Bonnault got the win in 52.61, .27 up on Denison’s Elijah Venos. Venos was fourth last year, Bonnaut seventh. Patrick Daly of Denison finished seventh, sliding down three spots from the morning and note quite maximizing return.
Five A finalists and two in the B final broke 54.
Event 26 Men 100 Yard Breaststroke ========================================================================= Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === Championship Final === 1 Bonnault, Henri JR Emory 53.11 52.61 20 24.49 52.61 (28.12) 2 Venos, Elijah SR Denison 53.64 52.88 17 24.78 52.88 (28.10) 3 Erb, Zachary SO Bridgewater 53.19 53.73 16 25.07 53.73 (28.66) 4 Hall, Lincoln SR Cal Lutheran 54.12 53.87 15 25.27 53.87 (28.60) 5 Somridhivej, Marrich JR Bates 54.16 53.97 14 24.97 53.97 (29.00) 6 Einolf, Caleb JR Grove City 54.21 54.11 13 25.14 54.11 (28.97) 7 Daly, Patrick SR Denison 54.06 54.16 12 25.18 54.16 (28.98) 8 Adams, Emmett SR Tufts 54.21 54.64 11 25.17 54.64 (29.47)
Men’s 1-meter diving
Women’s 800 freestyle relay
Men’s 800 freestyle relay