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Kenyon Men, Emory Women Lead D3 By 58

Oh lord, they’re back.

Kenyon that is.  The little college in Gambier, Ohio that captured thirty-one consecutive Men’s NCAA Division III titles is well on its way to winning its thirty-second title overall.  About the only thing that didn’t go the Lords’ way the swim-off in the 200 freestyle.  Though Curtis Ramsey didn’t make it back top eight it was all good considering teammates Austin Caldwell and Ian Stewart-Bates went 1-3 in the event.

For everything that went Kenyon’s way, it went against Denison.  The defending national champions failed to make the championship final in the 200 Freestyle Relay, missed opportunities to move up and even lost one of their most hallowed meet records.    

By night’s end, with 286 points Kenyon had opened up a 58 point lead over defending national champion Denison.  MIT, bolstered by Wyatt Ubellacker’s record-breaking performance in the 100 fly sits third with 204 points while Johns Hopkins (179) and Emory (160) find themselves battling for the last trophy.

On the women’s side Emory extended its lead to 312.5, 58 points ahead of Kenyon 254.  Denison sits in third with Denison 198 points, 1/2 point ahead of Williams.  Williams got a pair of wins on the night.  Caroline Wilson ended the individual portion of the meet with her third title in the 400 IM.  Wilson has not been as quick as a year ago, but her performance was as dominating as any.  She outsplit the field in three of the four strokes to finish in 4:14.27, just a second off of her record from a year ago.  

Hugh Anderson became Mary Washington’s first NCAA Champion when he captured the 400 IM with a record-time of 3:50.55.  Anderson went out fast with a 51.1 fly split and never let up.  Anderson put the race away by the time they turned to freestyle.  Even a 51.0 freestyle split wasn't able to overcome the UMW Sophomore who just a year ago won the consolation heat of this event.

Wheaton freshman Kirsten Nitz captured her second title of the meet with her win in the 100 butterfly.  In doing so Nitz denied Kenyon’s Hannah Saiz a national title.  Saiz destroyed her Kenyon school record – lopping over a second off of her previous best with a 53.20 but again finished second.   

Saiz wasn’t done on the night, however.  Moments later she was swimming the 200 freestyle where she finished fifth.  Sarah Thompson, who finished second to Wilson yesterday in the 500 freestyle, captured the 200 freestyle.  Emory's Anna Dobben took control of the race from the start, opening up a one second lead on the the field before Thompson made her move.  Heading into the final 25 Dobben still had the edge, but she was unable to hold off the Williams Sophomore.    

Aaron Cole gave out the awards for the men's 100 butterfly. It wasn't all the Denison legend gave up on the night.  That's because MIT's Ubellacker took the Denison legend's longstanding record in the 100 butterfly.  Ubellacker slipped under the record with a 47.34 in the morning and dipped under it a second time at night with a 47.41.  

Emory and Kenyon each took home women's relay titles on the night.  Emory captured the 200 free relay.   Dobben overtook Kenyon's Hillary Yarosh in the final 10 meters to get the win in 1:32.93.  In the men’s 200 free relay, the Kenyon quartet of Ian Stewart-Bates, Austin Caldwell, Curtis Ramsey and Ian Richardson swam the fastest 200 free relay ever swum in Division III without Zach Turk on it.  

Kenyon destroyed the women's 400 Medley Relay record.  Celina Oberholzer, Katie Kaestner, Hanna Saiz and Haley Townsend lopped two seconds off of Williams' record from a year ago., and were over four seconds ahead of runner-up Johns Hopkins and third-place Emory.  Saiz will have one more opportunity to earn an individual title.  She takes the top seed into the 100 butterfly.

Kenyon capped their busy day with another near-record in the 400 Medley Relay.  Jon Rooker, Alexander Beckwith, Jimmy Chapman and Ian Stewart-Bates edge Johns Hopkins for the win.  Rooker, Chapman and Stewart-Bates were all a part of Kenyon’s last title team and their performance reflected the urgency the Lords have shown in the first two days.   Hopkins was looking for its first relay-win since 2007 while MIT was looking to replicate their 200 Medley Relay title.  Neither team could hold off Ian Stewart-Bates who anchored in 43.14.  

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