After three consecutive national runner-up finishes, Denison University men's swimming and diving is back on top of the mountain. For the seventh year in a row and the ninth time in program history, the Emory Women's won the title, 84 points ahead of second place Kenyon College who finished with 476.
The Big Red captured the program's third NCAA Division III national championship on Saturday in Greensboro, N.C. by riding a runaway locomotive of emotion that peaked on Friday and carried through Saturday night's finals.
Denison finished the 20 event championship with 455.5 points, outdistancing second-place Kenyon College by 37 points. Denison entered the final day leading the Lords by 33 points powered by Friday night's 800 freestyle relay win and continued dominance on the diving boards.
On Saturday, Jack Lindell put the finishing touches on one of the finest individual performances in Division III history. He captured his fourth national championship of the meet by winning the 200 backstroke in 1:46.10. It was looking as if Lindell might have been out of gas after so many stellar swims, but a final 50 split of 26.48 allowed him to nip Matthew Williams of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at the wall by .01.
Lindell opened the meet with a national record time in the 200 IM and followed that with a victory in the 400 IM on Thursday. Last night, he swam on the winning 800 freestyle relay. He is the seventh swimmer to win three individual event national titles in the same meet since 2000. He is also just the 10th individual to win three individual national titles and one relay championship at the same meet. Lindell joins Denison Hall of Famer Aaron Cole '00 in the exclusive 4-timer club. Cole accomplished the feat in 2000.
Following Lindell in the 200 backstroke was an unsung hero of the weekend, sophomore Jason Wesseling. His 100 back time in Friday's prelims of the 100 backstroke got the ball rolling. He capped off his meet with an eighth-place finish in 1:51.57. Wesseling posted four All-American swims for the Big Red.
Senior sprint freestylers Ryan Fleming and Conrad Wuorinen continued their strong swimming in the 100 freestyle finals. Fleming hit the wall in 44.90 to finish eighth overall while Wuorinen placed third in the consolation heat in 44.95 to take 11th, overall. After the 400 freestyle relay, both Wuorinen and Fleming's career All-American totals had hit 14 and 18, respectively.
Swimming just over 70 miles from his hometown of Raleigh, Brunk qualified for the 200 breaststroke finals by placing 16th. He would finish eighth in the consolation heat in 2:04.62, adding to his total of three previous All-American swims. Brunk's anchor on Friday night's 800 free relay will go down in Denison swimming lore.
Saturday's opening race was the 1,650 freestyle which saw senior PJ Fallon etch his name on Denison's All-American wall by placing 10th in 15:48.46. Ben Burdick followed in 12th place in 15:52.05.
In the morning, DU's 400 free relay posted the fastest time at 2:58.45. Kenyon did not qualify for the championship final after a time of 3:01.21 in prelims. That placed them 12th and sent them to the consolation final. Despite not being afforded the opportunity to swim against their rivals, Denison's foursome of Fleming, Wuorinen, Stuart Hohm and Max Howes logged a fourth-place showing in 2:59.65.
It marks the 19th Division III Championship in the history of the Emory Athletics program, with women's swimming and diving claiming titles in 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and now 2016, women's tennis winning championships in 1996, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2014, men's tennis earning NCAA Championships in 2003, 2006 and 2012, and volleyball winning the Division III Championship in 2008.
The Eagles had a NCAA Championship meet performance for the ages as the team tied a school record with six event national championships in a single NCAA Championship meet including a perfect 5-for-5 in the relay events, something that has never been accomplished before in school history. Emory also set two school record times and one Division III national record, had 24 All-America winners: 19 individuals and five relays and another 15 All-America Honorable Mention certificates. Head Coach Jon Howell was named the Collegiate Swimmers Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Women's Swimming Coach of the Year after the meet for the fifth time in his career.
In the final event on Saturday, the 400 Freestyle Relay team of freshmen Fiona Muir, Meg Taylor and juniors Marcela Sanchez-Aizcorbe and Marissa Bergh swam a blistering 3:21.37 to seal the championship for Emory. Sanchez-Aizcorbe and Bergh assisted on four of the Eagles' five relay national championships meanwhile this marked the third for Muir and second for Taylor at the 2016 Championships.
This is Denison's third men's swimming and diving national championship. The previous two titles came in 2011 and 2012. The Denison women also captured the 2001 national championship. This is Denison's 11th consecutive top-3 national finish and the program's 33rd straight year of finishing in the top-10 in the nation. Denison won five event titles championships this year to go along with 33 All-American performances.
In the post-meet awards ceremony, Denison took home plenty of hardware. Lindell was named the National Swimmer of the Year and Lewis was voted National Diver of the Year. Gregg Parini was named the Men's Swimming Coach of the Year for the sixth time on the men's side and 10th overall.
