2022 NCAA Division III Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2022 NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 16 – Saturday, March 19, 2022
• IUPUI IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, IN
• Defending Champs: Emory women (10x) & Denison men (2x) – (2019 Results)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream

The team races will continue to heat up during the third night of finals from the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships, with Kenyon clinging to a slim lead over Denison on the women’s side and Emory holding a decisive advantage for the men.

Check out the top 10 team scores through Thursday night finals below:

TOP 10 WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES – THRU DAY 2

1. Kenyon, 248
2. Denison, 245.5
3. Emory, 215
4. Williams, 149
5. Pomona-Pitzer, 134
6. Chicago / Tufts, 114
7. –
8. MIT, 104
9. CMS, 95
10. Johns Hopkins, 82.5

TOP 10 MEN’S TEAM SCORES – THRU DAY 2

1. Emory, 243
2. Denison, 171
3. Johns Hopkins, 170
4. Williams, 161
5. Chicago, 153
6. MIT, 138.5
7. CMS, 130
8. Kenyon, 121.5
9. John Carroll, 80
10. Wash U, 73

Friday’s evening session will feature finals in the 200 fly, 100 back and 100 breast, plus the men’s 1-meter diving final and then timed final heats in the 800 free relays.

Through the early heats, the Pomona-Pitzer men (6:34.49) and St. Kate’s women (7:26.04) hold the top time in the 800 free relays.

Men’s 200 fly – Final

• NCAA Record: 1:44.56, Brandon Lum (Wash U), 2017

Podium:

1.  Frank Applebaum, CMS- 1:44.01
2. Jesse Ssengonzi, Chicago- 1:46.02
3. Richie Kurlich, Denison- 1:46.06

Freshman Frank Applebaum broke the DIII record by just over half a second in the men’s 200 fly in a time of 1:44.01, over two seconds faster than the rest of the field. He led from start to finish, winning the race by a body length. Jesse Ssengonzi, the winner of the 100 fly individual race yesterday, took second. A strong 55.26 back half for Denison’s Richie Kurlich helped him surge into podium position to finish third just four-hundreths of a second behind Ssengonzi.

Women’s 200 fly – Final

• NCAA Record: 1:55.66, Logan Todhunter (Williams), 2012

Podium:

1.  Caitlin Marshall, NYU- 1:59.20
2. Clio Hancock, Emory- 2:00.66
3. Zoe Chan, TCNJ- 2:01.60

The women’s 200 fly was also won by a freshman, as NYU’s Caitlin Marshall, the top seeded heading into finals, was the only woman under two minutes in the 200 fly to win with a time of 1:59.20. There was a three woman race between Marshall, Clio Hancock, and Zoe Chan, as they were dead even for the majority of the race, but Marshall pulled away in the final 50 with a closing split of 31.12 compared to Hancock’s 31.78 and Chan’s 32.91 to take the win.

Men’s 100 back – Final

• NCAA Record: 46.62, Ben Lin (Williams), 2017

Podium:

1. Jack Wadsworth, Ithaca- 46.45
2. Tanner Fillon, Whitman- 46.89
3. Nic Tekielli, CMS- 46.99

Considering that the field was only separated by 0.7 seconds in prelims, it is not a suprise that everyone was even with each other in finals in the first 50. However, Jack Wadsworth, who lost a body-length lead to finish second to Bryan Fitzgerald in the 400 IM last night, redeemed himself to pull away in the back half of the race to win in a DIII record time of 46.45. His closing split of 23.76 made him the only man to close in under 24 seconds. Tanner Fillon of Whitman finished in second, and Nic Tekielli finished in third, and the top three seed from prelims stayed the same.

Women’s 100 back – Final

• NCAA Record: 53.46, Celia Oberholzer (Kenyon), 2013

Podium:

1. Jessica Flynn, NYU- 53.69
2. Megan Jungers, Emory- 53.82
3. Olivia Smith, Kenyon- 54.97

Emory’s Megan Jungers led for the first 75 meters of the women’s 100 back, having a 0.64 second lead over NYU’s Jessica Flynn at the halfway point. However, Flynn charged home in a 27.65 to outtouch Smith, and her split was faster than Smith’s 28.29 to win the race in a time of 53.69, just three tenths off of the DIII record. Flynn and Jungers were over a second ahead of the rest of the field, as Kenyon’s Olivia Smith was third with a time of 54.97.

Men’s 100 breast – Final

• NCAA Record: 50.94, Andrew Wilson (Emory), 2017

Podium:

1. Luke Rodarte, CLU- 52.71
2. Max Chen, Johns Hopkins- 53.20
3. Jason Hamilton, Emory- 53.49

Luke Rodarte led from start to finish in the men’s 100 breast, finishing with a time of 52.71. He dropped 0.58 seconds from his prelims time of 53.29, which had him seeded second coming into finals. Max Chen, the top seed who split 52.46 on the medley relay last night, was second in a time of 53.20 that was a bit faster than his prelims time of 53.22. Jason Hamilton was third with a time of 53.49.

Women’s 100 breast – Final

• NCAA Record: 59.77, KT Kustritz (Denison), 2018

Podium:

1. Edenna Chen, MIT, 59.79
2. Jordyn Wentzel, SCU- 1:00.72
3. Jennah Fadely, Kenyon- 1:00.75

Nobody could touch Edenna Chen in the women’s 100 breast, winning the race by nearly a second and becoming the second woman to be under a minute in the event. However, her time is still two-hundreths off of KT Kustritz’s record of 59.77.

As shown above, Chen and Kustritz paced their races very differently, with Chen taking it out in the first half while Kustrtiz closed out very strongly. However, Kustritz’s closing split was fast enough to give her the better time, as Chen was 0.24 seconds faster in the first half but Kustriz was 0.26 seconds faster on her back half.

Jordyn Wentzel took second, and a strong finish by Jennah Fadely put her in third, three-hundreths of a second behind Wentzel.

Men’s 1-meter Diving Final

• NCAA Record: 578.70, Connor Dignan (Denison), 2014

Podium:

1. Israel Zavaleta, Kenyon- 576.40
2. Trent Makowiec, SUNY Geneso- 539.00
3. Lucas Bumgarner, Emory- 523.70

Israel Zavaleta, who also won the 3-meter diving final, won the men’s 1-meter diving final with a score of 576.40, just two points off of the DIII record. His appearance was the first time that Kenyon had a diver at this meet since 1997. Trent Makowiec was second with a score of 539.00, and 2019 runner-up Lucas Bumgarner was third with 523.70 points.

Men’s 800 free relay – timed final

• NCAA Record: 6:29.27, Johns Hopkins, 2013

Podium:

1. Emory- 6:28.69
2. MIT- 6:30.79
3. Johns Hopkins- 6:32.20

Emory broke a nine-year DIII record tonight to close off the men’s portion of the meet, with Pat Penna, Logan D’Amore, Jason Hamilton, and Nicholas Goudie combining with a time of 6:28.69. They are the first relay to break the 6:29 barrier in this relay. Penna opened in 1:37.42, although the fastest flat start belonged to Bryant Fitzgerald of Kenyon who went 1:37.38 to open. MIT’s Jaden Luo, who swam a 1:36.17 in the second leg compared to D’Amore’s 1:37.83, gave MIT a lead at the halfway mark of the race. Hamilton split 1:37.83 to put Emory back on top, and Nicholas Goudie charged home in a blistering 1:35.37 split to give the eagles the win, the fastest of the field by 0.8 seconds. MIT fell to second in 6:30.79, and a late charge from Johns Hopkins anchor Noah Corbitt (1:37.27) put Johns Hopkins in third with a 6;33.25.

Williams, who came in as the top seed entering the meet, finished fourth with a 6:33.25, adding from their entry time of 6:31.93. Jamie Lovette, the DIII record holder in the 200 free, anchored in 1:36.64 but was not fast enough to catch up with the result of the field.

Women’s 800 free relay – timed final

• NCAA Record: 7:14.98, Emory, 2017

Podium:

1. Tufts- 7:19.17
2. Denison- 7:19.25
3. Williams- 7:24.50

The women’s 800 free relay was an incredibly tight one between Tufts and Denison, with Tufts winning by just eight-hundreths of a second. Denison’s Tara Culibrk gave her team with a 1:49.83 flat start, and Taryn Wisner continued their lead to split 1:48.72 to give the Big Red a four second lead over Tufts. However, a 1:48.85 split from Tufts’ Claire Brennan, the individual 200 free winner, cut Denison’s lead in half. That split was followed by Mary Hufziger‘s 1:48.31 field-leading anchor leg, which allowed Tufts to take the win. By comparison, Denison split 1:49.83/1:48.72 on the first 800 compared to Tufts’ 1:50.27/1:51.74, but Tufts was 1:48.85/1:48.31 compared to Denison’s 1:50.39/1:50.31 on the back half. Williams finished over five seconds behind the top two with a time of 7:24.50.

Men’s Team Scores After Day 3:

  1. Emory                             338   2. Denison                           257
  3. Johns Hopkins                     248   4. Williams                          234
  5. Chicago                           223   6. Kenyon                          216.5
  7. Mit                             186.5   8. Claremont MS                      172
  9. Wash U MO                         112  10. John Carroll                       89
 11. Carnegie Mellon                    72  12. Rowan                              70
 13. Pomona-Pitzer                      62  14. Nyu                                61
 15. Calvin                             57  16. UW Eau Claire                      47
 17. Franklin & Marshall                45  18. Cal Lutheran                       44
 19. Ithaca                             39  20. Tufts                              36
 21. Suny Geneseo                       34  21. Tcnj                               34
 23. Trinity University                 29  23. Whitman                            29
 25. Bates                              24  25. Rhodes College                     24
 27. Whitworth                          22  28. Caltech                            21
 29. Westminster                        20  30. Coast Guard                        18
 31. Springfield College                14  32. Swarthmore                         12
 33. Conn College                        9  34. Birmingham Southern                 6
 35. Hope College                        5  36. Franklin College                    3
 36. Catholic UA                         3  38. Colby                               2
 38. Bowdoin                             2  40. Carthage                            1
 40. Roger Williams                      1  40. Gustavus                            1

Women’s Team Scores After Day 3:

 1. Kenyon                            311   2. Emory                             307
  3. Denison                         306.5   4. Williams                          223
  5. Tufts                             156   6. Chicago                           155
  7. Pomona-Pitzer                     151   8. Mit                               132
  9. Johns Hopkins                   130.5  10. Claremont MS                    118.5
 11. St. Kate's                        103  12. Amherst                           101
 12. Nyu                               101  14. Bates                            90.5
 15. Conn College                       54  16. Bowdoin                            49
 17. Wheaton MA                         43  18. Wash U MO                          33
 19. Hope College                       26  20. Nazareth                           25
 21. Mary Washington                    24  22. Tcnj                               16
 22. Ithaca                             16  24. Carnegie Mellon                  14.5
 25. Wittenberg                         14  26. Illinois Wesleyan                  13
 27. Caltech                            11  28. Albion                           10.5
 29. Trinity University                  9  30. Gustavus                            8
 30. Middlebury                          8  32. Colby                               7
 33. Ursinus                             6  33. Centre                              6
 35. Colorado College                    4  36. Uw-Stevens Point                    2
 37. Wellesley                           1  37. Whitworth                           1
 37. Suny Cortland                       1