NCAA Division III Championships: Day 1 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)
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Official Psych Sheet

10-time defending women’s champions Emory advanced 3 swimmers to ‘A’ finals following Wednesday’s prelims, a number that Denison was able to Match. Kenyon, meanwhile, also put 3 women into Wednesday’s ‘A’ finals. Given the relatively even playing field established on the women’s side per the ‘A’ finals seeding after prelims, the fight for the lead on day 1 will come down to depth in the ‘B’ finals as well as relays.

As for the men’s championship, Kenyon, Denison, and Emory are looking to create another exciting battle for the team title–at least following the first session of swimming.

Kenyon’s Crile Hart will be racing the 200 IM tonight, an event she holds the NCAA Division III Record in, meaning we could see at least one major record fall during day 1 finals. Rowan’s Kevin Gillooly is another to watch in the men’s 50 freestyle. In prelims, Gillooly posted a 19.58, putting Ollie Smith‘s 19.37 from 2018 within his sights. In the women’s 50 freestyle, Kenyon’s Emmie Mirus also came within sight of the NCAA DIII Record of 22.48, set by Emory’s Fiona Muir in 2018 in 22.48.

Men’s 500 free

• Division III Record: Arthur Conover (Kenyon- 2016): 4:18.35

Top 8 finishers:

1. Bryan Fitzgerald (KEN), 4:21.58
2. Graham Chatoor (NYU), 4:24.00
3. Thomas Pritchard (NYU), 4:24.37
4. Pat Pema (EMORY), 4:24.54
5. Kellen Roddy (JHU), 4:24.91
6. Mason Kebler (WASHU), 4:26.69
7. Collin Twiss (CGA), 4:27.52
8. Jamie Lovette (WILL), 4:27.93

Lucas Lang from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took an early lead in the ‘B’ final and did not let off the gas, keeping the lead until the end to finish in 4:25.67, taking over 3 seconds off of his morning prelims time.

Emory’s Pat Pema jumped out to an early lead up in lane 2, turning at the 100-yard mark in 49.12 and the 200-yard mark in 1:41.52. NYU’s Graham Chatoor and Bryan Fitzgerald began to make things interesting at the 250-yard mark, pulling nearly even with Pema. By 450 yard, Fitzgerald had passed Pema and Chatoor, pulling way ahead of the field to finish in 4:21.58. Pema would fade to 4th with a 4:24.54, while Chatoor would hold on for 2nd in 4:24.00 and NYU’s Thomas Pritchard would slip in for 3rd in 4:24.37.

Women’s 500 free

• Division III Record: Kendra Stern (Amherst-2011): 4:43.37

Top 8 finishers:

1. Taryn Wisner (DEN), 4:48.55
2. Kristen Cornish (JHU), 4:51.00
3. Tara Witkowski (DEN), 4:51.69
4. Jessica Gordon (AMHERST), 4:51.96
5. Alix O’Brien (DEN), 4:52.27
6. Claire Brennan (TUFTS), 4:53.53
7. Lydia Dacorte (WHE), 4:54.34
8. Maggie Menso (SCU), 4:54.89

Tufts junior Katelin Isakoff stormed out to an early lead in the consolation final of the women’s 500, turning in a 54.43 at the 100-yard mark. Isakoff would fall off to a more reasonable 59, 1:00, 1:00, 1:00, 59 pace for the next four 100s, but would still win the heat handily in a 4:54.20, taking more than 3 seconds off of her morning prelims time.

Denison had a strong showing the the ‘A’ final of the women’s 500, picking a win, a 3rd-place finish, and a 5th-place finish. It was Denison freshman Tara Wisner who won her first national title with a 4:48.55, 2.45 seconds ahead of runner-up Kristen Cornish, a freshman from John’s Hopkins. Cornish established the early lead at 100 yards and held onto it through the 200-yard turn, though by 250 Wisner had creeped ahead, turning in 2:51.30 to Cornish’s 2:52.45. In fact, another Denison freshman, Alix O’Brien, was in the mix at the 250-yard turn as well, turning 3rd in 2:53.56. O’Brien would eventually fade to 5th while Wisner would continue to out-pace the field.

Men’s 200 IM

• Division III Record: Andrew Wilson (Emory- 2017): 1:44.18

Top 8 finishers:

1. Garrett Clasen (CHI), 1:46.19
2. Max Chen (JHU), 1:46.79
3. Kyle Wu (JHU), 1:47.47
4. Kevin Hao (WASHU), 1:48.83
5. Noah Housekeeper (DEN), 1:48.70
6. Michael Bylander (UWEC), 1:48.90
7. Jacob Grover (WILL), 1:49.02
8. AJ Nybo (CLU), 1:49.33

Oliver Shalet from Williams and Ryan Grady from Whitworth exchanged blows in the consolation final of the 200 IM, with Grady having the lead at the 100- and 150-yard turns, only to witness a massive closing 50 from Shalet resulting in a tied race in 1:48.01, a time that could have gotten either man 4th in the ‘A’ final.

Chicago’s Garrett Clasen demonstrated a lot of easy speed over the opening 50 of butterfly, turning in a 22.75, closely pursued by John Hopkins’ Kyle Wu, who turned in 22.94. Clasen broadened the lead on backstroke, splitting a 26.93 to turn at 100 yards in 49.68. Max Chen from Johns Hopkins was the only swimmer under 30 on the breaststroke, putting up a 29.88 to Clasen’s 30.22, though Clasen would hold on to win in 1:46.19, o.60 ahead of Chen.

Women’s 200 IM

• Division III Record: Crile Hart (Kenyon-2020): 1:58.04

Top 8 finishers:

1. Crile Hart (KEN), 1:57.76*
2. Jordyn Wentzel (SCU), 1:57.82*
3. Augusta Lewis (CMS), 2:01.21
4. Sophia Verkleeren (WILL), 2:01.29
5. Molly Craig (WILL), 2:01.44
6. Clio Hancock (EMORY), 2:02.47
7. Kinsey Brooks (UMW), 2:02.71
8. Kate Augustyn (MIT), 2:03.44

MIT’s Edenna Chen took the ‘B’ final of the women’s 200 IM in 2:03.38, just a hair faster than her morning swim. While Chen won the heat, the most interesting race in the consolation final goes to Denison Sophomore Esme Wright who finished 4th in the heat in 2:03.81 but split 27.17 on the fly (6th), 33.51 on the back (8th), turning in 1:00.68 at the 100, the only swimmer not under 1 minute, but then produced a monster 34.49 breaststroke split, the fastest in the field, and a 28.64 freestyle split, also the fastest in the field, to have a 1:03.13 over the final 100–of course, the fastest in the field–making up huge deficits created by Chen, Jamee Mitchum, and Abby Claus to storm home and make for an exciting finish to the ‘B’ final.

The ‘A’ final of the women’s 200 IM did not disappoint. Kenyon’s Crile Hart lowered her own NCAA Record with a 1:57.76, claiming the national title in the process. The race was close with Jordyn Wentzel from St. Kate’s who also swam faster than Hart’s former record time, touching in a 1:57.82 for 2nd. Overall, Hart and Wentzel were the only women in the field under 2 minutes in the race. Hart took the race out in a break-neck 54.26 at the half-way point, producing a 25.15 fly split and a 29.11 backstroke split. Wentzel got to work on the breaststroke, clocking a 33.28 to Hart’s 35.07, touch Hart still held a 0.88 lead at 150. Wentzel nearly reeled her in with a monster 27.61 freestyle split to Hart’s 28.43, though it wasn’t quite enough to capture gold. Still, perhaps the most exciting race of day 1 of the DIII NCAA Championships.

Men’s 50 free

• Division III Record: Oliver Smith (Emory- 2018): 19.37

Top 8 finishers:

1. Kevin Gillooly (ROWAN), 19.50
2. Nicholas Goudie (EMORY), 19.76
3. Chris Schiavone (F&M), 19.96
4. Trey Ike (DEN), 19.97
5. Julian Iturbe (CAL), 20.02
6. Nathan Barry (BATES), 20.07
7. David Fitch (KEN)/Kyri Chen (MIT), 20.13
8. —

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps picked up another consolation final win with Nic Tekieli who posted a 19.98, taking nearly a quarter-second off of his prelims swim.

Rowan 5th-year Kevin Gillooly blasted a 19.50 to get within 0.13 of Ollie Smith’s 2018 record and take the national title by a full quarter-second. In total, four men in the ‘A’ final cracked 20. There was a tie for 7th place between Division III record holder in the 100 butterfly David Fitch from Kenyon and MIT’s Kyri Chen, with both men hitting the wall in 20.13, earning 11.5 points each.

Women’s 50 free

• Division III Record: Fiona Muir (Emory – 2018): 22.48

Top 8 finishers:

1. Taylor Leone (EMORY), 22.772
2. Emmie Mirus (KEN), 22.77
3. Alexandra White (KEN), 22.92
4. Caroline Maki (EMORY), 22.94
5. Taylor Robey (NAZ), 22.96
6. Avery Turney (PP), 23.00
7. Ella Riccio (BOWD), 23.03
8. Alex Turvey (PP), 23.19

Jillian Cudney gave Tufts its second consolation win of the evening with a 23.18, knocking a full 0.23 from her prelims swim.

Emory’s Taylor Leone captured gold in the women’s 50 freestyle with a 22.27, just 0.05 ahead of Kenyon’s Emmie Mirus. Kenyon nabbed more crucial points with a 3rd-place finish from Alexandra White, while Emory’s Caroline Maki got in for 4th. Overall, Emory comes out of the ‘A’ final with 35 points to Kenyon’s 33 points. Emory gets a further leg up with a 15th-place finish from Cailen Chinn, giving them 37 points overall in the women’s 50 freestyle.

Men’s 200 Medley Relay

• NCAA Record: Emory (2017): 1:26.14

Top 8 finishers:

1. Emory, 1:27.08
2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 1:27.38
3. Chicago, 1:27.51
4. Denison, 1:27.73
5. John Carroll, 1:27.85
6. Williams, 1:27.92
7. MIT, 1:28.02
8. Trinity, 1:28.70

Johns Hopkins dominated the consolation final, swimming a 1:27.51–as fast as Chicago went in the ‘A’ final for 3rd–taking nearly 1.5 seconds from their prelims time. Hopkins senior Max Chen put them over the top with a 23.88 breaststroke split, faster even than anyone in the ‘A’ final. Franklin & Marshall, who finished 15th overall, boasted the fastest freestyle split of the entire field by way of 5th year Chris Shiavone who put up a 19.40.

Emory won the ‘A’ final in a 1:27.08, nearly a second short of their NCAA and program record. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was constantly lurking and would finish just 0.30 behind in 1:27.38. Though they would fade to 5th, John Carroll established an early lead on the backstroke thanks to a blazing 21.45 backstroke split from Liam McDonnell. McDonnell was the only swimmer in the field under 22 and the fastest backstroker overall by 0.58.

Fastest splits:

• Backstroke – 21.45 – Liam McDonnell (John Carroll), 5th
• Breaststroke – 23.88 – Max Chen (Johns Hopkins), 9th
• Butterfly – 20.60 – Marco Conati (CMS), 2nd
• Freestyle – 19.40 – Chis Shiavone (F&M), 15th

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

• NCAA Record: Denison (2019): 1:40.11

Top 8 finishers:

1. Kenyon, 1:39.59*
2. Emory, 1:39.89*
3. MIT, 1:40.81
4. Williams, 1:40.91
5. Pomona-Pitzer, 1:41.99
6. Denison, 1:42.28
7. Bowdoin, 1:42.29
8. Chicago, 1:42.83

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps grabbed another consolation final win to close out the evening, taking the 200 medley relay in 1:43.55, just a whisker ahead of Johns Hopkins who touched 10th in a 1:43.57.

The ‘A’ final would see both teams from Kenyon and Emory break the 2019 NCAA Record set by Denison, each going under 1:40 for the first time in Division III history. Kenyon would get to the wall first in 1:39.59 while Emory would be 0.30 behind to touch in 1:39.89. The next closest finishers, MIT, were nearly a full second back in 1:40.81. The women’s 200 medley relay was the second time this evening fans got to see a record broken by two different competitors–remember that earlier in the women’s 200 IM both Crile Hart and Jordyn Wentzel swam under Hart’s NCAA Record, posting times of 1:57.76 and 1:57.82, respectively.

Though Wentzel would not swim on the medley relay this evening, Hart did post a massive 23.57 butterfly split for Kenyon, the fastest in the field. Unlike the men’s medley relay, the fastest splits for each of the 4 legs of the race were concentrated between the 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-place teams. Perhaps most notably, MIT’s Edenna Chen dropped a 27.29 on the breaststroke, the fastest in the entire field by 0.93, representing the widest margin between every discipline leader and the next-fastest swimmer.

Fastest splits:

• Backstroke – 25.38 – Megan Jungers (Emory), 2nd
• Breaststroke – 27.29 – Edenna Chen (MIT), 3rd
• Butterfly – 23.57 – Crile Hart (Kenyon), 1st
• Freestyle – 22.18 – Emmie Mirus (Kenyon), 1st

Team Points Update — Women

  1. Kenyon                            100   2. Denison                            94
  3. Emory                              91   4. Williams                           59
  5. Mit                                52   5. Pomona-Pitzer                      52
  7. Claremont MS                       41   8. Tufts                              37
  9. Bowdoin                            36  10. Johns Hopkins                      32
 11. St. Kate's                         28  12. Chicago                            22
 13. Wheaton MA                         18  14. Amherst                            16
 15. Bates                              15  16. Hope College                       14
 16. Nazareth                           14  18. Mary Washington                    12
 19. Nyu                                10  20. Middlebury                          8
 21. Colby                               7  22. Ursinus                             6
 23. Albion                              5  24. Wash U MO                           4
 25. Uw-Stevens Point                    2

Team Points Update — Men

  1. Emory                             101   2. Denison                            95
  3. Williams                           74   4. Johns Hopkins                      71
  5. Kenyon                           65.5   6. Chicago                            64
  7. Claremont MS                       56   8. Mit                              37.5
  9. Nyu                                33  10. Wash U MO                          29
 11. John Carroll                       28  12. Calvin                             24
 12. Franklin & Marshall                24  14. Carnegie Mellon                    23
 15. Trinity University                 22  16. UW Eau Claire                      21
 16. Pomona-Pitzer                      21  18. Rowan                              20
 19. Bates                              17  20. Westminster                        13
 20. Tufts                              13  22. Coast Guard                        12
 23. Rhodes College                     11  23. Cal Lutheran                       11
 25. Suny Geneseo                        9  26. Whitworth                           8
 27. Birmingham Southern                 6  28. Tcnj                                5
 28. Springfield College                 5  30. Swarthmore                          3
 30. Franklin College                    3  32. Colby                               2
 32. Bowdoin                             2  34. Gustavus                            1