Denison And Kenyon Women Tied After Night 1 Of North Coast Athletic Conference Champs

2024 North Coast Athletic Championships

• February 14-17, 2024
• SCY (25 yards)
• Granville, Ohio
• Live Results
• Teams: Kenyon, Denison, Wabash (men only), Wooster, Oberlin, DePauw, Ohio Wesleyan, Hiram, Wittenberg

Some of the top Division III teams are competing at the North Coast Athletic Confernece Championships this week. Notably, the Denison women won the Division III NCAA team title last March.

Women’s Recap

The Denison women won the Division III NCAA team title opened the night with a win in the 800 free relay. The team of Quinn Brown, Taryn Wisner, Esme Wright, and Emily Harris swam to a final time of a 7:17.61. That time was about a second off of their wining time from NCAAs last year as they swam a 7:16.25 then to win by over five seconds. Brown led the relay off for Denison in a personal best time of a 1:49.96, her first time under the 1:50 mark. Harris anchored the relay in a huge 1:47.84 split, the only sub-1:49 split of the field.

Kenyon finished second in a 7:19.69, a time that was much faster than their 10th place finish of a 7:30.55 last March.

The 200 medley relay came down to the wire as Kenyon was only 0.03 seconds faster than Denison. The team of Caleigh Wukitch, Jennah Fadely, Celia Ford, and Sydney Geboy earned the win for Kenyon. Wukitch led off in a 25.82, the fastest 50 back by half a second while Fadely (26.93) swam the fastest 50 breast split by over a second. The team touched in a time of a 1:40.94.

Denison battled back on the second half of the race as Phoebe Ferguson had the fastest fly split by over a second with a 23.68 and Grace Kadlecik had the fastest free split of the field with a 22.53. Denison touched in a 1:40.97, over a second faster than their time from 2023 NCAAs.

Day 1 Scores:

1. Kenyon/Denison 132
2. –
3. DePauw/Wooster 118
4. –
5. Oberlin 112
6. Wittenberg/Ohio Wesleyan 106
7. –
8. Hiram 100

Men’s Recap

The Kenyon men had the lead right from the start as Djordje Dragojlovic led off in a 1:37.72, less than a second ahead of Denison’s Sam Myaard who led off in a personal best time of a 1:38.42 for Denison. Kenyon extended their lead as they won by a second and a half touching in a 6:34.09 while Denison touched in a 6:35.69. Notably, both teams were faster tonight than they were at NCAAs last year as Kenyon swam a 6:36.99 at NCAAs to finish 6th while Denison swam a 6:40.71 to finish 11th.

Kenyon’s relay also consisted of Yurii Kosian, Noah Hargrove, and Ethan Manske. All four men were under the 1:39 mark.

Kenyon and Denison also battled it out in the 200 medley relay. Kenyon’s relay of Kosian, Aleksa Dobric, Marko Krtinic, and Daniel Brooks won in a final time of a 1:28.45. Kosian led off in a 22.33, the only sub-23 split of the field.

The Denison men touched in a 1:28.86, faster than their time from 2023 NCAAs. Notable splits came from Elijah Venos on the breaststroke leg and Patrick Daly on the free leg. Venos split a 23.79, the fastest of any breaststroke leg by almost a full second as Kenyon’s Dobric swam the second-fastest split with a 24.56. Daly anchored Denison’s relay in a 19.84, the only sub-20 split of the field.

Kenyon and Denison also battled it out in diving as Kenyon went 1-4 and Denison went 2-3. The Wabash men had three in the ‘A’ final and five divers overall (compared to Kenyon and Denison’s two each) which gives them the overall lead on the day.

Day 1 Scores:

1. Wabash 230
2. Kenyon 204
3. Denison 185
4. Wooster 169
5. Oberlin 155
6. Ohio Wesleyan 106
7. Wittenberg 100
8. DePauw 54
9. Hiram 50