2019 NCAA Division III Women’s Championships – Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2019 NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 20 – Saturday, March 23, 2019
• Swimming: prelims 10am, finals 6pm; Diving: 2pm
• Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Emory (9x) (results)
• Digital Program
• Official Psych Sheet
• Live Video
• Live Results │ Diving Results
• Championship Central

Day Three

Women’s 200 Yard Butterfly – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 1:55.66 3/23/2012 Logan Todhunter, Williams

Finals Qualifiers:

1. Sterling Dixon, Bowdoin – 2:02.47
2. Molly Craig, Williams – 2:02.69
3. Amy Socha, Tufts – 2:03.02
4. Hannah Eastman, Chicago – 2:03.28
5. Zoe Whelan, Denison – 2:03.32
6. Honore Collins, NYU – 2:03.43
7. Hanna Mahaffey, MIT – 2:03.59
8. Maria Turcanu, Emory – 2:03.85
9. Veronica Wolff, Williams – 2:03.88
10. Cindy Dong, Occidental – 2:04.22
11. Anne Dassow, Grove City – 2:04.24
12. Hadley Ackerman, Chicago – 2:04.31
13. Kerry Kelly, Union – 2:04.46
14. Clio Hancock, Emory – 2:04.53
15. Alexandra Dixon, Emory – 2:04.59
16. Emma Nicklas-Morris, Carnegie Mellon – 2:04.64

Kenyon sophomore Alexis Vetrano won heat 1 in 2:09.12, a .51-improvement over her seed time. Hadley Change Ackerman of Chicago dropped 1.56 to win heat 2 in 2:04.31, winning by nearly a body length over Tufts senior Colleen Doolan (2:05.24, -.45).

Sterling Dixon of Bowdoin opened the circle-seeded heats with 2:02.47, coming to the wall ahead of Chicago senior Hannah Eastman (2:03.28, -1.39) and Union junior Kerry Kelly (2:04.46).

Molly Craig of Williams went 2:02.69, improving her seed time by .86, to win the penultimate heat. Tufts sophomore Amy Socha was just behind in 2:03.02, while Denison junior Zoe Whelan was third in 2:03.32. Defending champion Anne Dassow of Grove City went 2:04.24.

Honore Collins of NYU, who has already won both the 200 IM and 400 IM at these championships, won the final heat in 2:03.43. Williams junior Veronica Wolff came in second (2:03.88) ahead of Occidental freshman Cindy Dong (2:04.22).

Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 53.46 3/22/2013 Celia Oberholzer, Kenyon

Finals Qualifiers:

1. Crile Hart, Kenyon – 55.16
2. Sedera Zbranak, RIT – 55.38
3. Micah Otazu, Kenyon – 55.40
4. May Li, NYU – 55.58
5. Sarah Jin, Pomona-Pitzer – 55.63 / Angela Ling, Pomona-Pitzer – 55.63
6. –
7. Caroline Murphy, Wesleyan – 55.68
8. Caroline Olson, Emory – 55.70
9. Meghan Peel, Hope – 55.78
10. Angela Le, Denison – 56.09
11. Maeve Wilber, Conn College – 56.23
12. Caitlin Foley, Kenyon – 56.37
13. Megan Beaulieu, RPI – 56.42
14. Kaitlyn Griffith, Kenyon – 56.46
15. Brynna Sentel, Franklin – 56.53
16. Casey Kirby, Denison / Anna Moore, Albion – 56.60

Jocelyn Crawford of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps dropped 2.38 seconds from her entry time to win heat 1 by a country mile with 56.73. Franklin sophomore Brynna Sentel won by nearly a body length in heat 2 going 56.53 (-1.13). Chicago sophomore Gillian Gagnard was 57.57 for second. Denison junior Angela Le took .51 off her seed time and led the Big Red to a 1-2 finish in heat 3 with 56.09. Teammate Casey Kirby touched second with 56.60 (-.04). Vassar freshman Jessilyn Ecklund came to the wall in 56.67 (-.12) for third.

RIT senior Sedera Zbranak chopped nearly a second off her seed time to clock a winning 55.38 in heat 4 to open the circle-seeds. She finished prelims in the 26th position last year. Pomona-Pitzer senior Angela Ling came in second with 55.63, just .07 ahead of Emory junior Caroline Olson (-.35). Olson placed 3rd last year; Ling was 5th.

NYU senior May Li won heat 5 with 55.58 (-.04), just edging Wesleyan junior Caroline Murphy (55.68). A year ago Murphy finished 4th and Li was 7th. Connecticut senior Maeve Wilber improved her seed time by .16 to touch third in 56.23. A year ago she was 20th in prelims.

Kenyon sophomore and defending champion Crile Hart, who narrowly missed the meet record last year, posted the top time of the morning while winning heat 6 in 55.16. Her teammate Micah Otazu took .92 off her entry time to go 55.40 for second in the heat. Otazu is another one, like Wilber and Zbranak, who didn’t qualify for finals in 2018 but did this year. Pomona-Pitzer senior Sarah Jin, 6th last year, came to the wall in 55.63.

There was a tie for 16th place between Denison’s Kirby and Albion senior Anna Moore. Both swam 56.60 in heats. The swim-off was a thrilling race, in which the pair traded stroke-for-stroke for four laps. At the end, Kirby touched out Moore by .24 with 56.50. She will compete again tonight in lane 8 of the consolation final while Moore will be first alternate.

Women’s 100 Yard Breaststroke – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 59.77 3/23/2018 KT Kustritz, Denison

Finals Qualifiers:

1. KT Kustritz, Denison – 1:00.19
2. Sam Senczyszyn, UW Eau Claire – 1:01.11
3. Katherine Mesaros, Denison – 1:01.25
4. Jordyn Wentzel, St. Kate’s – 1:01.62
5. Makena Markert, Kenyon – 1:02.44
6. Ashley Daniels, Emory – 1:02.46
7. Caroline White, Williams – 1:02.71
8. Andrea Perttula, Kenyon – 1:03.11
9. Nina Fitzgerald, Amherst – 1:03.51
10. Eden Bates, Emory – 1:03.56
11. Emily Hageboeck, W&L – 1:03.68
12. Jamie Siegler, Whitworth – 1:04.20
13. Zoe Walker, Emory – 1:04.26
14. Gwyneth Ledrick, John Carroll – 1:04.48
15. Lily Kurtz, Tufts / Stephanie Li, Wash U. MO – 1:04.52
16. –

Chicago sophomore Margaret Wolfson improved her entry time by .74 to win heat 1 in 1:05.58. Denison freshman Olivia Lantry followed with 1:04.54 in heat 2, improving her time by .26.

Denison junior Katherine Mesaros, 4th last year and 8th as a freshman in 2017, won the first circle-seeded heat with 1:01.25. She took 1.15 seconds off her seed time to log her first-ever sub-1:02. St. Kate’s freshman Jordyn Wentzel was second in the heat with 1:01.62, improving by .13. Emory freshman Eden Bates was third in 1:03.56.

Eau Claire senior Sam Senczyszyn, who was national champion in this event as a freshman and a sophomore, won the penultimate heat with 1:01.11. Kenyon sophomore Makena Markert came in second with 1:02.44, .02 ahead of Emory senior Ashley Daniels (-.45).

Defending champion and NCAA Division III record-holder KT Kustritz, a junior at Denison, won the final heat by over a body length. She stopped the clock at 1:00.19. Williams junior Caroline White was second with 1:02.71. Kenyon freshman Andrea Perttula was just behind with 1:03.11.

Women’s 800 Yard Freestyle Relay – Slower Heats

• NCAA Record: 7:13.51 3/23/2018 Emory (Muir, Wawer, Taylor, Cheng)

Top 8 From Morning Heats:

1. Amherst – 7:29.65
2. Wash U – 7:31.70
3. Birmingham Southern – 7:32.86
4. Kate’s 7:33.42
5. MIT – 7:34.21
6. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps – 7:35.15
7. Johns Hopkins – 7:35.48
8. Bates – 7:36.99

Women’s 1 Meter Diving – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 515.90 3/25/2011 Danica Roskos, TCNJ

Finals Qualifiers:

1. Lindsey Ruderman (Amherst) 464.25
2. Agnes Lo (Chicago) 457.90
3. Elizabeth Cron (Chicago) 454.10
4. Deborah Wen (MIT) 439.95
5. Anna Belson (Ithaca) 432.25
6. Samantha Reichman (Geneseo) 421.60
7. Allison Fitzgerald (Denison) 421.00
8. Jacqueline Palermo (Amherst) 414.10
9. Nicki Bailey (Kalamazoo) 407.60
10. Anna Girlich (Chicago) 402.10
11. Morgan Matranga (MIT) 399.75
12. Kiersten Coates (Geneseo) 398.80
13. Blake Zhou (MIT) 389.45 / Madeline Carlson (Kenyon) 389.45
14. –
15. Alice Saparov (Chicago) 388.25
16. Sierra Skaza (Springfield) 387.20