By Andy Ross
Every team has one. Every school has that one other school that they refuse to cheer for. The one school that they cannot stand to watch win. The one school that they bust their butt every single day to beat. The one school that is circled on the schedule from the first day of practice. The one school where everyone brings their A-game. The one school where season records are thrown out the door, reputations are on the line, and bragging rights are at stake.
5. Kenyon-Denison Men
Anyone who is familiar with NCAA Division III men's swimming knows that the Kenyon Lords are the cream of the crop. They won 31 straight national championships from 1980-2010.
In 2010, Kenyon had their largest margin of victory in the NCAA championships beating the Denison Big Red 696-272 in Minneapolis, even after Denison beat Kenyon in their conference championship meet. A frustrated Denison team left Minneapolis with a goal: to be the 2011 national champions. With the help of incoming freshmen Spencer Fronk, Al Weik, and Carlos Maciel, the Big Red had a legitimate team to upend the Lords from Kenyon.
Their first meeting came at a dual meet on November 6, 2010, in Granville, Ohio, which the Kenyon Lords won,132-111. The two teams met again at the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships in Canton in February with the Denison Big Red victorious by 202 points over Kenyon for their third straight conference crown. But as Lord coach Jim Steen had done for so many years, his Kenyon team were saving their A-game for when it really mattered: the NCAA Championships that would be held in Knoxville, Tenn.
After the first night of competition at the NCAA's, it was Kenyon sprinters David Somers and Collin Ohning put the Lords in the lead thanks to a one-two finish in the 50 free. They added a win in the 200 medley relay from Michael Mpitsos, Ohning, James Chapman, and Somers. Kenyon had the lead with 106 points while Denison sat a close second with 85.
After the second day of racing, Kenyon extended its lead to 258-217 thanks to a win in the 400 medley relay by Mpitsos, Ohning, Chapman, and Ian Stewart-Bates. If Denison was going to beat Kenyon, it would have get help from diving. Kenyon had no divers competing at the meet and Denison had two. Gabe Dixson had placed fourth in the one-meter on night two, while Cody Smith placed 11th to keep Denison close.
The third night of competition was where things started to get interesting. Denison picked up its first win of the weekend with Robert Barry winning the 100 backstroke. Denison had three 'A' finalists including Barry as well as two 'B' finalists while Kenyon had two in the 'A' heat and one in the 'B' heat. The Big Red also picked up a win in the 800 free relay thanks to Maciel, Fronk, Daniel Thurston, and Weik. This was the first night in which Kenyon had not had a champion. Going into the final day, Kenyon led 362.5-327.5.
The Big Red started Saturday finals off with a bang. Freshman Al Weik claimed the win in the 1650 breaking the NCAA DIII record by eight seconds. Kenyon placed three in the top eight in the 100 free with Somers placing second, Stewart-Bates placing third and Ohning in seventh. The 200 back was a huge momentum swinger as Quinn Bartlett and Robert Barry claimed first and second for the Big Red. Sean Chabot also placed eighth and Michael Desantis finished 11th for Denison, cutting Kenyon's lead was down to four points with the 200 breast, three-meter diving, and the 400 free relay left. Ian Bakk and Andrew Butler tied for sixth in the championship final of the 200 breast for Kenyon and James Lewing won the consolation heat for Denison. The Lords suffered a huge blow when Lars Markin was disqualified in the consolation heat, costing them two points which would come to haunt them later on. The divers for Denison came up huge with Dixson placing fourth and Smith placing fifth giving the Big Red a nine-point lead heading into the 400 free relay.
Kenyon was favored to win the relay and if the Lords won it, the Big Red could not finish lower than third if they wanted to end the Lords' reign. The Knoxville crowd was electric during the race. Ian Stewart-Bates led off for Kenyon and gave them an early lead with Denison in second after Carlos Maciel's lead off. David Somers went in for the Lords and Michael Barczak for the Big Red. Somers extended the lead splitting a 43.91, the fastest split in the whole race while Denison was in third. Collin Ohning went in for Kenyon and senior Andrew Krawchyk went in for Denison. At the final exchange, Kenyon still had the lead with Denison sitting in fourth. Michael Mpitsos was anchoring for Kenyon and it was freshman Spencer Fronk for Denison. With the whole natatorium on their feet, Denison was in fourth with a 50 to go, but Fronk found another gear and passed Emory the final 25. Kenyon touched first going 2:56.63. MIT was second. Denison was third. The Big Red were national champions.
For the first time since 1979, a school other than Kenyon were NCAA DIII champions in men's swimming. The 31-year streak was over and Gregg Parini's Big Red captured their first national championship in school history. In fact, since Kenyon's run started, Denison took the conference crown four times. But Denison could not get by their in-state, in-conference, arch-nemesis from Gambier -- until 2011.
Denison took the national title crown again in 2012, defeating Kenyon by 81 points in Indianapolis. Kenyon has regained the national title crown the last two years, including a thrilling eight point win this past March in Indianapolis.
Since 2006, Kenyon and Denison have placed first and second at NCAA's seven out of nine times. These two schools from the North Coast Athletic Conference have made the DIII meet one to watch as it is no longer a one-team show on the men's side, but a battle that will go on until the end.
