The Denison men and Kenyon women both held the top spots in their respective team standings following day three action at the 2016 NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships. The DU men have accumulated 1,392.50 points after winning six event titles on Friday night, while the Kenyon Ladies won four events on the night and stand atop the team standings with 1,322 points.
Kenyon maintained its hold on second-place in the men's standings with 1,223,5 points, followed by DePauw (786), Wabash (636.5), Wooster (605), Wittenberg (464.5), Ohio Wesleyan (415.5), Allegheny (400), Oberlin (362.5) and Hiram (140). On the women's side, Denison sits in second with 1,177 points, followed by DePauw (790.5), Wooster (648), Oberlin (531), Wittenberg (529), Allegheny (438.5), Ohio Wesleyan (343) and Hiram (212).
The Denison men opened competition on Friday night by winning the 200 medley relay for the fourth year in a row with an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:29.97. History was made in the men's 400 IM as Denison junior Jack Lindell (Edina, MN/Edina) touched the wall first in an NCAA "B" cut time of 3:54.31. After also winning the 200 IM on Thursday night, Lindell became the first men's swimmer to win both the 200 IM and 400 IM at the NCAC Championships since Kenyon's Craig Hummer accomplished the feat in 1987. The first NCAC meet record of the night was surpassed in the men's 100 fly as Denison senior Andrew Rich (McMurray, PA/Peters Twp.) won the event for the second year in a row with a "B" cut time 48.13. Rich is the first men's swimmer to win back-to-back 100 fly titles since DU's Aaron Cole posted two-straight wins from 1999-2000, with his '99 time of 48.47 standing as the NCAC record for the last 17 years. Kenyon picked up its first title of the night in the 200 free as senior Joey Duronio (Chapel Hill, NC/Chapel Hill) topped the field with an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:38.68. It was another impressive showing in the men's 100 breast as Wabash senior Zechariah Banks (Carmel, IN/Carmel) collected the program's fourth NCAC individual event title in history with a NCAA "B" cut time of 55.35. The Denison men returned to the top of the podium in the 100 back as sophomore Jason Wesseling (Hudsonville, MI/Jenison) outreached the field with a "B" cut time of 49.85. One of the tightest finishes of the night saw Denison senior Ben Lewis (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) edge junior teammate Max Levy (Sammamish, WA/Skyline) by two points in the one-meter diving competition, 549.45-547.45. Lewis bookended his career with NCAC titles after also claiming the one-meter crown in 2013. DU extended its lead on the final men's event of the night with an NCAA "B" cut time of 6:37.30 in the 800 free relay.
On the women's side, the Big Red opened up night three action by racing to the wall first in the 200 medley relay in an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:42.50. Kenyon freshman Marysol Arce (Chicago, IL/St. Ignatius) picked up her first-career NCAC individual event title in the women's 400 IM with an NCAA "B" cut time of 4:23.95, while Denison junior Carolyn Kane (Deephaven, MN/Minnetonka) successfully defended here NCAC crown in the women's 100 fly in an NCAA "B" cut time of 56.23. In the women's 200 free, Kenyon freshman Abby Wilson (Westerville, OH/Columbus Acad.) also earned her first-career NCAC individual event title with a "B" cut time of 1:50.10. Kenyon sophomore Julia Wilson (Bethesda, MA/Sidwell Friends), who won the 200 IM on Thursday night, posted her second title of the meet on Friday with an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:02.54 in the 100 breast. In the final women's individual event of the night, Denison senior Ashley Yearwood (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda/Baylor School) won the 100 back with an NCAA "B" cut time of 56.48, giving her the second individual event title of her career after also winning the 50 free in 2013. The Kenyon Ladies closed out the meet strong by breaking the pool- and NCAC-record in the 800 free relay with a winning time of 7:26.31.
