After 12 total events, the Kenyon women and Denison men have swum out to early leads at the 2014 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships. The Ladies won three of the evening's six women's events and finished atop the day two leaderboard with 575 points, while the Big Red men won three of the night's five men's events to finish day two with 670 points.
The Denison women, which won two events on the evening, sit in second place with 535 points, followed by DePauw (327), Wooster (228), Oberlin (222), Wittenberg (220), Allegheny (200), Ohio Wesleyan (153) and Hiram (58).
The Kenyon Lords, who won two events on day two, currently sits in second with 561 points, followed by DePauw (313.5), Wabash (240), Oberlin (214), Wittenberg (196), Ohio Wesleyan (177.5), Allegheny (157), Wooster (81), Hiram (44).
In the men's competition, Denison opened the night by winning the 200 freestyle relay with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:21.19. Kenyon took the top three places in the 500 freestyle, led by freshman Alex Seaver (Eugene, OR/Marist) who touched first in the race with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 4:28.91. The Big Red picked up their first individual event victory of the evening in the 200 IM with senior Carlos Maciel (Recife, Brazil/Colegio Marista Sao Luis) reaching the wall first with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:49.71. In addition, Maciel eclipsed his own NCAC meet record in the 200 IM (1:50.03) during Thursday morning's preliminaries with a time of 1:49.67. DU kept its momentum rolling into the 50 freestyle as sophomore Ryan Fleming (Lincoln, MA/Lincoln Sudbury Regional) topped the championship field with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 20.45. The night concluded on the men's side with the Kenyon Lords setting the NCAC meet record in the 400 medley relay with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 3.16.43.
The Denison women opened the evening by earning an NCAA 'B' cut in the 200 freestyle relay after reaching the wall first in a time of 1:32.93. The first NCAC record of the night fell in the women's 500 freestyle as DePauw freshman Angela Newlon (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) touched in an NCAA 'B' cut time of 4:50.91, surpassing the league's previous benchmark of 4:51.18 set by Denison's Hilary Callen in 2010. Denison senior Natalie Lugg (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) also logged a record-setting swim in the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 2:03.06, topping the previous conference record of 2:04.02 set by DU junior Michelle Howell (Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque Acad.) in 2013. Howell again claimed All-NCAC honors in the event this year by finishing second overall with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 2:06.18. The Kenyon Ladies picked up their first event win of the evening in the 50 freestyle as junior Jourdan Cline (Charlotte, NC/Charlotte Country Day) touched the wall with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 23.41. In the final women's individual event of the night, Kenyon sophomore Maria Zarka (Kanoehe, HI/Kalaheo) earned her first conference championship on the three-meter board with an NCAA Regional qualifying score of 456.65. The Ladies added to their lead in the final event of the evening with a winning time of 3:44.88 in the 400 Medley Relay.
The 2014 NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships continue through Saturday evening. Preliminary events start at 10:00 a.m. both days, while finals begin at 6:30 p.m.
