In the final home meet and last dual meet before the end of the season, the Lords and Ladies of Kenyon faced off against the Wittenberg University Tigers. On the women’s side, they celebrated some strong performances and finished on top, 234-57. On the men’s the Lords swept the events, en route to a 247-53 victory.
Starting with the 200 medley relay, the Ladies kicked off a dominant meet as well, claiming the top three spots (though only the top two score). Kenyon’s C relay featured senior Hannah Cooper and sophomore Jenner McLeod who posted the top splits on their respective legs of the relay (butterfly for Cooper: 26.02; free for McLeod: 23.64) and pulled their relay ahead of Kenyon’s B relay by almost two seconds. Wittenberg claimed fourth.
In the 1000, Alexa Korsberg had a big day, posting the fastest time and taking her first individual win of the season with a 10:37.92. Teammate Julie Dierker was the runner up, and Nikki Mccollum of Wittenberg took third.
Continuing the momentum, Haley Townsend led a pack of five Ladies to a 1-5 sweep of the 200 freestyle, easily winning by over three seconds with a 1:55.87. Runner up for the Ladies was Ellie Crawford, followed by Amelia Loydpierson.
In the 100 backstroke, senior Cooper showed up and claimed the victory, running down teammate Megan Morris to steal the touch-out. Cooper’s final time was 59.60. Morris finished in 59.88 as the only other woman under the minute mark. Erika Jensen took the third spot for the Ladies to round out the top three.
The 100 breaststroke showcased Katie Kaestner, as she posted a 1:06.01 to win, Teammate Julia Wilson was out with Kaestner, but her back half was a second slower, leaving her in the runner up position. For the Tigers, Julia Valentine claimed third.
In another display of Ladies’ power, Mariah Williamson led five ladies in a 1-5 rout, clocking a 2:05.43 to post the top time by nearly seven seconds ahead of teammate Kanchi Desai. Finishing third was Cecina Babich Morrow.
McLeod returned to the pool with a vengeance for the individual 50 freestyle. She clocked a 24.39 to lead a quartet of ladies to the wall. Runner up was Laura Duncan, with senior Celia Oberholzer touching third.
Women’s diving featured the talents of Maria Zarka, who holds the pool record and has won at the NCAA meet two years running on 3 meter. Zarka posted a 221.40 to claim the 1 meter diving event. Katie Black and Megan Leach finished second and third, respectively, for the Tigers. In the 3 meter event – Zarka’s specialty – she claimed victory by over 50 points, posting a 267.90 to win. Black finished second.
Back from abroad, Hannah Lobb destroyed the competition during the 100 freestyle, posting a 52.99 to win by nearly two seconds. Runner up was Babich Morrow with Dierker in third for the Ladies.
Oberholzer returned to the pool with a vengeance to capture the 200 backstroke, posting a 2:08.70 as she ran down fellow senior Alyssa LaFrenierre on the back half to claim victory. In third was Desai.
The 200 breaststroke featured a young pair of Ladies, with Crawford holding off teammate Wilson to claim the win. Crawford posted a 2:25.25. Wilson was runner up in 2:25.79. Third for the Tigers was Valentine.
Williamson put in another impressive showing in her final home meet of the season, putting together a strong 500 (5:03.81) to take the top spot by over 13 seconds as she led a quartet of Ladies. Runner up was Emma Stewart-Bates, with Sarah Lloyd finishing third.
Senior Cooper took yet another win for the Ladies in the 100 butterfly with a 57.99. Teammate and fellow senior Jourdan Cline finished in runner up position with Jensen in third.
In the 200 IM, Kaestner took over again to post a 2:08.15 for victory, leading four Ladies to the wall on the way. Natalie Parker was second with Kelsey Ewing taking third.
In the final event of the day – the 200 freestyle relay – the Ladies organized relays (partly) based on classes. The top relay (B) featured all juniors. Kenyon’s runner up relay (C) was composed of four sophomores. The A relay, featuring four graduating seniors claimed third, while Kenyon’s D relay of freshmen came in fourth.
On the men’s side of things, the Lords were just as dominant as the Ladies. They began the meet with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay over the third place Tigers. All four of the A relay team posted the fastest splits in their respective legs of the race, including top splits from seniors Kevin Magee (backstroke: 24.12) and Austin Caldwell (freestyle: 20.13).
To cap off the dual meet season, sophomore Arthur Conover improved his season-best 1000 time to a 9:34.76. That leaves him fourth on the top times list in the NCAA for Division III, always keeping in mind that the 1000 is not an event contested at the National Championship. In the 1650 – which is a contested event, Conover holds the top time at 15:09.48, just a few seconds shy of the NCAA record. Conover led a quartet of Lords to the wall in the 1000, with runner up and third place being David Perez and Matt Leenhhouts, respectively.
Caldwell claimed the top finish in the 200 freestyle in his final home meet for the Lords. He posted a 1:40.14, the top time by nearly four seconds, leading a quartet of Lords to the top. Runner up was Gabriel Bellott-McGrath with Ambert Sawaya in third. Caldwell currently owns the top time in DIII with a 1:37.11 posted in December. It is one of very few A cuts that has been achieved this season.
Magee returned to the pool to win the touch-out in the 100 backstroke, running down Ryan Funk to take the win. Magee’s final time was 52.85. He is the 10th fastest 100 backstroker in DIII with a season best time of 49.86. In third for the Lords was Ryan Carson.
Danny Jurgens led the breaststroke contingent for the Lords, claiming the top spot in the 100 breast by roughly half a second ahead of teammate Ian Reardon. Jurgens’ final time was 58.37. Third place went to AJ Burt of the Wittenberg Tigers.
Senior Harrison Curley stepped out of his comfort zone and tried on the 200 butterfly for size in this final dual meet of his collegiate career. His 1:54.49 was good for the win, and he led four other Lords to the wall for a 1-5 sweep of the event. In second was Matthew Cooper with Christian Josephson in third.
Percy Gates took charge of the 50 freestyle, winning by almost one and a half seconds. His final time was 21.30, with teammate Nate Novak as the runner up. Jared Crum was third for the Wittenberg Tigers.
Diving also went the way of the Lords. With some new freshmen talent and sophomore skills, the Lords put three divers in the top four. Derek Hoare claimed the top spot in 1 meter with a 260.30 with teammate Heath Carmichael coming in second. Patrick Rittenhouse of Wittenberg was third. On 3 meter, the order of the top three was the same, with Hoare finishing with a point tally of 240.45.
Caldwell continued to prove how dominant a force he is in the sprint freestyle events with another victory in the 100 freestyle (45.37). That’s not terribly faro ff his season best of 44.81 which ranks him as the 6th fastest in DIII so far this year. The runner up was Joey Duronio, also ranked in the top 8 nationally in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events. Third for the Lords was Alex Seaver.
Ian Reardon is better known for his breaststroke than his backstroke skills, but he took it out and held on to nail down the win in the 200 backstroke anyway. Reardon’s final time was 1:54.99 as he led four other Lords to a 1-5 sweep in the event. Runner up was teammate Oscar Anderson with Mark Newell in third.
Trevor Manz posted a top showing in the 200 breaststroke for the Lords. Manz is ranked third in the 100 and 200 breastroke, 200 IM and has the top 400 IM time in Division III at this time. His time in the dual meet was 2:07.86 (season best of 2:00.12). Wittenberg’s Burt was runner up with Nicholas Gutsche of Kenyon in third.
Conover returned to the pool for thee 500 freestyle and had another exciting race, this one coming down to the touch-out. Conover’s final time of 4:42.28 was just a tenth ahead of teammate Perez. Conover held off Perez in the final 50 to claim the win. In third was senior Jacob Hegge for the Lords.
The 100 butterfly fell to Funk, who posted a 50.42. That’s not too far off the season best of 49.22 posted in December that has Funk ranked 11th nationally. Senior Curley was runner up with Gates in third.
In another 1-4 rout, Manz claimed the top spot in the 200 IM with a 1:54.10, finishing with a commanding lead nearly four seconds before teammate Duronio touched the wall for a runner up finish. Leenhouts was third.
In the final race of the meet, the 200 freestyle relay, the senior team – Kenyon’s A relay – was disqualified. Kenyon’s B relay of juniors claimed the victory. The C relay team of sophomores was second while Kenyon’s D relay of freshmen took third.
For complete meet results, click here.
The Lords and Ladies are finished with the dual meet season, but will be back in the water and ready for action from Wednesday, February 11th to Saturday, February 14th. This will be the NCAC Conference Championship, hosted in Granville, OH by Denison University.