NCAA Division III Championships: Day 4 Prelims 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
• Day 1 Finals
• Day 2 Finals
• Day 3 Finals

The final morning of the 2022 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships could make-or-break teams in the race for the title.

On the women’s side, the top 3 of Kenyon, Emory, and Denison are separated by only 4.5 points heading into the final day of competition.

The last day of the meet will see Kenyon senior Crile Hart, already a record-breaker this week, swim the 200 backstroke, trying to defend her title from 2019. She’ll have company though, as one of three women who have already been sub-1:58 this season.

The men’s side has a little less doubt in the team scoring, with Emory entering the day holding an 81-point lead over Denison, but record-watch is still on: in the 200 back, Kenyon sophomore Yurii Kosian is seeded within a second of the D3 record, and four swimmers are seeded within a second of the 100 free record. With two individual and a relay national record going down on Friday night, the meet is primed for more fireworks to close on Saturday.

Top 10 Women’s Teams Going Into Saturday:

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. CMS – 118.5

Top 10 Men’s Teams Going Into Saturday:

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. CMS – 172
9. Wash U – 112
10. John Carroll – 89

Women’s 100 Free – Prelims

• NCAA D3 Record – Kendra Stern, Amherst, 2010 – 48.98
• 2019 Champion – Fiona Muir, Emory, 49.37

A-Finals Qualifiers:

1. Taylor Leone, Sr, Emory – 50.16
2. Alex Turvey, So, Pomona-Pitzer – 50.32
3. Caroline Maki, Jr, Emory – 50.34
4. Avery Turney, Fr, Pomona-Pitzer – 50.51
5. Emmie Mirus, Sr, Kenyon – 50.53
6. Tara Culibrk, Jr, Denison – 50.72
7. Alexandra White, Jr, Kenyon – 50.75
8. Ellen Hofstede, Jr, Gustavus – 50.77

With 5 of the 8 finalists coming from Emory, Denison, and Kenyon, the three squads in the team battle took care of business in prelims. That includes Emory senior Taylor Leone, who dropped half-a-second from her seed time and lifetime best of 50.67, done at the UAA Championships, to qualify first.

Among the interlopers are a pair of underclassmen from Pomona-Pitzer: Alex Turvey, the fastest in the country coming into this season, cruised to a 2nd seed in 50.32, while her freshman teammate Avery Turney almost matched her seed time to qualify 4th in 50.51.

In between them was another Emory lifetime best, Caroline Maki in 50.34.

With another swimmer, Cailen Chinn, beating her seed to qualify 10th and into the B final, this event is advantage Emory: based on seed going into the evening, they would score 43 points. That’s as compared to just 26 for Kenyon and 13 for Denison, though both of those teams did about what they could do. Emory had a miss here too: Samantha Kass, seeded 13th, slipped out of the B-Final by finishing 19th in 51.35. Emory had a whopping 7 entries in this race, showing off their overall depth at this meet.

Men’s 100 Free – Prelims

• NCAA D3 Record – Oliver Smith, Emory, 2018 – 42.98
• 2019 Champion – Trey Kolleck, Emory – 43.31

A-Finals Qualifiers:

1. Tobe Obochi, So, MIT – 43.44
2. Kevin Gillooly, 5Y, Rowan – 53.64
3. Nicholas Goudie, So, Emory – 43.79
4. Julian Iturbe, 5Y, Calvin – 43.91
5. James McChesney, So, TCNJ – 44.03
6. Trey Ike, Jr, Denison – 44.09
7. Nat Davenport, 5Y, Johns Hopkins – 44.14
8. Nathan Berry, Jr, Bates – 44.17

In a veteran field that saw a trio of 5th years qualify for the A-Final, it was a sophomore Tobe Obochi who qualified first for the men’s 100 free A-Final in 43.44. That time, a personal best, broke his own MIT school record of 43.82 that was set earlier this year at the NEWMAC Championships. The previous record of 43.92 that was set by Wyatt Ubellacker in 2013.

Rown’s Kevin Gillooly (43.65) and Emory’s Nicholas Goudie (43.79) also swam personal bests to qualify 2nd and 3rd in the event.

The #2 seed coming into the meet, TCNJ’s James McChensey, added two tenths to his qualifying time, but still slid into the A-final in 5th place. Top seeded Liam McDonnell of John Carroll also added time to his seed, but he was unable to make the A-final: he placed 14th and moves into a very tight B final that saw 9-16 qualifiers within .33 of each other.

Women’s 200 Back – Prelims

• NCAA D3 Record – Crile Hart, Kenyon, 2018 – 1:5A5.67
• 2019 Champion – Crile Hart, Kenyon – 1:56.62

A-Finals Qualifiers

1. Sophia Verkleeren, Fr, Williams – 1:58.82
2. Kate Augustyn, Fr, MIT – 1:58.84
3. Crile Hart, Sr, Kenyon – 1:57.62
4. Sara Kraus, Fr, Hope – 1:59.59
5. Sophie Cassily, Fr, Bates – 1:59.84
6. Megan Jungers, So, Emory – 1:59.94
7. Jamee Mitchum, Jr, CMS – 2:00.06
8. Olivia Smith, Jr, Kenyon – 2:00.22

Four of the top five qualifiers in the women’s 200 backstroke were freshmen. That was led by a top qualifier of Sophia Verkleeren, who took almost two seconds off her lifetime best to go 1:58.52.

Verkleeren came out of high school with a personal best of 2:02.22 in the 200 back, and has dropped three-and-a-half seconds in her freshman season. That’s a much bigger drop than she’s seen, for example, in the 200 IM, where she finished in 4th place earlier in the meet.

MIT freshman Kate Augustyn also dropped time to qualify 2nd in 1:58.84. She has also had a dramatic two-and-a-half second drop this season.

While those two are the top seeds, everyone will still be chasing Kenyon’s Crile Hart in finals. She’s both the defending champion and the D3 record holder, and with wins and best times in the 200 IM and 100 fly already this week, she’s going to be hard to catch. Remember that she dropped big chunks in finals in both of her previous races this week, so don’t read too much into the 3rd seed: she’s still the favorite.

Hope freshman Sara Kraus might be the most impressive of the fast-rising rookies: she was primarily a breaststroker/IMer out of high school and had a best time of only 2:07.1 in the 200 back.

In terms of the team battle, Kenyon got 2 into the A final, while Emory has 1 and another in the B-final (Savannah Sowards, 9th). Denison was shut out of the scoring here (they weren’t actually projected to score), which probably pushes them out of the team battle on Saturday evening.

For a comparison of how fast this field is: in 2019, it took 2:02.17 to make the A-final. This year, it took 2:02.22.

Men’s 200 Backstroke – Prelims

• NCAA D3 Record – Curley Harrison, Kenyon, 2015 – 1:43.49
• 2019 Champion – Byrne Litschgi, Chicago – 1:44.04

A-Finals Qualifiers:

1. Yurii Kosian, So, Kenyon – 1:43.43 (NEW NCAA D3 RECORD)
2. Tanner Filion, Jr, Whitman – 1:43.60
3. Jack Wadsworth, Fr, Ithaca – 1:44.07
4. Spencer Pruett, Jr, Kenyon – 1:45.18
5. Alex McCormick, So, Wash U – 1:46.25
6. Dylan Wachenfeld, Sr, Johns Hopkins – 1:46.26
7. Eric Lundgren, Fr, Tufts – 1:46.37
8. Ali Kolenovic, So, Stevens – 1:46.50

Kenyon sophomore Yurii Kosian took more than a second off his seed time and dipped under the NCAA Division III record in prelims of the men’s 200 backstroke.

His 1:43.43 broke the old record of 1:43.49 that was set by fellow Kenyon Lord Curley Harrison in 2015.

Whitman junior Tanner Fillion very-nearly dipped under that old record as well, qualifying 2nd in 1:43.60.

Ithaca’s Jack Wadsworth qualified 3rd in 1:44.07. He previously won the 100 backstroke in a new D3 record of 46.45 and finished 2nd in the 400 IM. He is his team’s only individual scorer of the meet so far.

Women’s 200 Breast – Prelims

• NCAA D3 Record – Jordyn Wentzel, St. Kate’s, 2022 – 2:10.66 (at her conference championship)
• 2019 Champion – KT Kustritz, Denison – 2:12.33

A-Final Qualifiers:

1. Jordyn Wentzel, Sr, St. Kate’s – 2:12.37
2. Amanda Wager, So, Williams – 2:13.61
3. Jennah Fadely, Fr, Kenyon – 2:14.63
4. Kinsey Brooks, So, Mary Washington – 2:15.67
5. Augusta Lewis, Sr, CMS – 2:16.07
6. Edie Bates, Sr, Emory – 2:16.08
7. Taylor Rohovit, Fr, Johns Hopkins – 2;16.42
8. Charlotte Wishnack, Fr, Williams – 2:16.78

St. Kate’s senior Jordyn Wentzel cruised to the top seed in prelims of the 200 breaststroke. Her 2:12.37 was 1.7 seconds slower than her D3 record set in the spring, but without much challenge to make the A-final, there wasn’t much pressure to go fast in prelims either. She has been faster than her seed time in both the 200 IM and 100 breast already this meet, though she finished in 2nd place in both events.

Williams sophomore Amanda Wager qualified 2nd in 2:13.61, followed by Kenyon freshman Jennah Fadely.

Kenyon and Emory each put one swimmer in the A final and one swimmer in the B final of this event, continuing their slug-fest for the title. Of note, the 100 breast winner and near-record breaker Edenna Chen of MIT added two seconds from her seed and will race in the B-final on Saturday.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Prelims

• NCAA D3 Record- 1:50.80, Andrew Wilson, Emory, 2017
• 2019 Winner- 1:57.34, Jason Hamilton, Emory

A-Final Qualifiers:

1. Jason Hamilton, Emory (1:57.27)
2. Michael Bylander, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire (1:57.74)
3. Brandon Stride, Johns Hopkins (1:58.48)
4. Kevin Hao, Wash U (1:58.52)
5. Jacob Grover, Williams (1:58.52)
6. Roderick Huang, MIT (1:58.63)
7. Kyle Wu, Johns Hopkins (1:58.68)
8. Ryan Grady, Whitworth (1:58.88)

After winning this event in 2019, Jason Hamilton of Emory went the fastest time of the morning. His prelims time is faster than his winning time from 2019. Hamilton was 3rd in the 100 breaststroke earlier in the meet. Johns Hopkins got two swimmers into the A-Final tonight with Brandon Stride and Kyle Wu. Stride shaved .77 seconds off his seed time to qualify 3rd tonight.

Roderick Huang of MIT dropped .88 from his seed time to take the 6th A-Final spot. On the psych sheet, he was seeded 12th.

Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay – Prelims

• NCAA D3 Record- Kenyon, 2:53.59, 2012
• 2019 Winner- Denison (2:57.52)

A-Final Qualifiers:

1. MIT (2:56.07)
2. Emory (2:57.53)
3. Calvin (2:57.95)
4. Williams (2:58.13)
5. Denison (2:58.15)
6. Chicago (2:58.70)
7. Rowan (2:59.33)

MIT posted the top time of prelims out of heat 4, led by Tobe Obochi’s split (43.33), which was the fastest in the competition. Obochi is the top qualifier for the 100 freestyle final. In his individual prelims swim, he posted a 43.44. This is a new personal best from his individual swim, re-breaking his own MIT school record. Prior to today, his record was 43.82 seconds, set earlier this year at the NEWMAC Championships.

Emory qualified 2nd, .15 off their seed time. Calvin dropped 1.22 seconds from its seed time to secure the 3rd qualifying spot for tonight’s A-final. 1.88 seconds separate the top-three teams heading into the final. Denison could also be in the mix for the title tonight as they added 1.92 seconds from their seed time, but still qualified for the final 5th.

Kenyon added 1.91 seconds from their seed time and finished 9th this morning, locked out of the A-final by .05 seconds.

Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay – Prelims

• NCAA D3 Record- Emory, 3:18.46, 2018
• 2019 Winner- Kenyon (3:20.05)

A-Final Qualifiers:

1. Pomona-Pitzer (3:23.07)
2. Denison (3:23.38)
3. Emory (3:24.07)
4. Kenyon (3:24.27)
5. Chicago (3:24.79)
6. Tufts (3:24.79)
7. MIT (3:25.40)
8. St. Kate’s (3:25.59)

After qualifying two swimmers for the A-Final, Alex Turvey and and Avery Turvey, Pomona-Pitzer posted the top time of the morning, with Avery Turvey posting the lone sub-50-second split of the field (49.87).

There was a re-swim for heat four of the 400 freestyle relay after a noise went off before the buzzer, causing the lead-off swimmers to dive in early. No one was able to stop the athletes, and most sprinted the entire first leg. As a result, the re-swim took place after the first heat of the men’s mile. Denison, Kenyon, and MIT all participated in the re-swim to secure spots in the A-final. After the re-swim, Trinity University was 16th after being seeded 10th, Wash U was 17th after being seeded 16th, Bowdion was 20th after being seeded 13th, Calvin was 21st after being seeded 22nd, and Southwestern was 25th after being seeded 19th. All teams who participated in the re-swim added time from the psych sheet, except for Denison who dropped .01.