The NCAA Division III Nationals has become an impressively fast meet that features teams with long-standing winning traditions constantly being challenged by rising programs from all directions. Last year the men’s meet featured ten individual and two relay NCAA Records broken. Fans followed Kenyon as they fought off Denison, the only team to have taken a title from Kenyon since 1980 with their 2011 and 2012 championships, downing them 468-383 for the title.
The Emory women also had to hold strong to defeat Denison 603-457.5, earning their sixth NCAA Division III title in a row. Last year’s meet featured one individual and one relay record set, but this year already we have seen a National Record go down in one event before the national meet entries were even due.
While the OFFICIAL psych sheet will not be released until Monday, and there are bound to be some changes, the Division III process does not lead to as many dramatic drops and adds as other divisions, making this a great sneak peek at the national meet.
Women’s UNOFFICIAL psych sheet
Women’s Invited Swimmers by Team
Men’s Invited Swimmers by Team
The Women’s teams with the most athletes on their rosters are Emory with 18, Kenyon with 17 and Williams with 15. When picking through the psych sheet it is hard to choose any team with a clear advantage as there are so many races where the depth of outstanding times will make a lot of game-changing races up for grabs by teams who need the points to make a difference. Denison, who only has 10 athletes eligible, is currently the top seed for three of the relays, but as a foreshadow of the battle to come, their 200 medley relay is entered only .06 ahead of Williams, 1:42.50 to 1:42.56.
Highlights for the women include several individual events that promise fantastic match-ups as well. Returning record holder Kirsten Nitz, who brought the 100 fly mark to 52.64 in 2014, is the second seed behind Emma Waddell from Williams who is coming into the meet with 53.37. Wisconsin Eau-Clair freshman Samantha Semczyszyn, who broke the national record for the 200 breaststroke just days ago, has Amherst’s Emily Hyde entered only .02 behind her. Their match-up in the 100 breast promises to be exciting as well, with Semczyszyn entered dangerously close to the National Record at 1:00.90 compared to Hyde’s 1:00.99.
Besides Semczyszyn, there are two other athletes entered with top seeds in more than one event. DePauw’s Angela Newlon is listed atop the 500 (4:48.61) and 1650 (16:29.59.) Emma Paulson from St. Thomas leads the 50 freestyle (22.86) and 100 backstroke (54.61.)
For the men’s list, Kenyon and Denison lead the athlete count with 17 each. Johns Hopkins and MIT each have 14, making them legitimate contenders, while Emory and and Calvin College each boast 11. Kenyon is the top seeded team for the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays, but all of the relays have several teams packed together at the top of the list with times that imply that every relay will be close and have a lot on the line.
Highlights from the psych sheet include returning National Record Holder Andrew Greenhalgh (4:20.60) entered as the top seed in the 500 freestyle at 4:23.00, along with 2015 record breaker Benjamin Lin from Williams (47.03) defending his title with a top-seeded 47.93. Washington University’s Reed Dalton (47.10) also returns to defend his record breaking 2015 title swim in the 100 fly, but is entered as the second highest seed by .01 behind Michael Lanz from St. Thomas who claims the top spot with 47.97. Dalton is not the only returning men’s record holder with a second seeded time as Arthur Conover from Kenyon, who broke the mile record in 2015 with 15:01.24, is also entered behind Emory’s Christian Baker in the 1650 freestyle and his top-seeded 15:20.79.
The only male swimmer with multiple top-seeds is Evan Holder from Johns Hopkins. The junior is ranked first in the 200 IM (1:46.82,) the 200 freestyle (1:37.10,) and the 200 breaststroke (1:58.59.)
The Men’s and Women’s NCAA Division III Championships are scheduled for March 16-19 in North Carolina at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
Another question to those following Div 3 swimming closely. Do the Kenyon Ladies have a legitimate shot to beat Emory this year? I see that Emory is bringing 18 swimmers and Kenyon has 17 but that does not include their diver the defending national champion.
Also Williams has a very strong team. What is the highest finish for NESCAC team at Nationals? They appear to be legit top 3 team.
Both the Williams men’s team and the Williams women team were third last year. Williams women have been second a few times in the past couple years, and won it in the 80’s.
Kenyon and Denison may be tied in swimmers invited but Denison will likely have three divers invited to Greensboro after this weekend’s diving. That give could give them six more scoring opportunities than Kenyon. A difference maker?
True, but it seems that Kenyon’s swimmers each tend to have more events they can/will score higher in. I’d like to say this year will be a close one, but Denison has not impressed me enough yet to show that they will put up a fight.
Lets go Keenan! It is time to earn the title of sprinter.
Let’s go Kenyon college!!