NCAA Division III Championships Preview: Denison Women, Emory Men Seeking to Stay on Top
Last season in Division III swimming, the Denison women captured their second-ever national championship, defeating runner-up Emory by 79.5 points to return to the top spot for the first time since 2001. The men’s meet, meanwhile, went to Emory for the second year in a row, with the Eagles upping their point total by more than 100 from the previous year while edging powerhouse program Kenyon by 36.5 points.
This year’s team competitions should look similar, although we cannot forget about Kenyon’s quest to return to the top. The women’s team has 24 titles in program history, the last of which came in a four-point triumph over 10-time defending champion Emory in 2022, while the men’s team has won a whopping 34 titles…but none since 2015.
The Division III Champs run this week, March 20-23, in Greensboro.
In the women’s team’s run to a championship last year, Denison won only one event, the 800 freestyle relay, but the Big Red return almost all their key contributors, including three out of four relay swimmers in Taryn Wisner, Esme Wright and Annie Pfeufer. At last season’s meet, Wisner and Tara Witkowski went 2-3 in both the 500 free and 1650 free, with Emily Harris taking fifth to complete a huge effort in the 500. Wisner was second and Pfuefer seventh in the 200 free, while Witkowski and Wright went 5-6 in the 400 IM. Drue Thielking, sixth in the 200 breast as a freshman last year, should make contributions again in 2024.
Emory, on the other hand, loses most of its key contributors from last year’s runner-up team, although 1-meter diving champion Ariana Khan, 100 backstroke runner-up Megan Jungers and multi-event contributor Penny Celtnieks should all contribute this year. Kenyon, which finished only two points behind Emory at last year’s meet, will be led by 100 and 200 breaststroke defending national champion Jennah Fadely as well as returning contributors Sarah Hoffman, Molly Haag and Gabrielle Wei.
The veteran talent should make the women’s meet a speedy one. All but four 2023 individual winners are back this year, including Johns Hopkins’ Kristin Cornish (500 and 1650 free), Williams’ Sophia Verkleeren (200 IM and 200 back), NYU’s Kaley McIntyre (50 free), Chicago’s Alesha Kelly (200 fly) and Amherst’s Sydney Bluestein (3-meter diving).
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The men’s defending champion Emory Eagles graduate national champions Pat Pema (500 free) and Jason Hamilton (200 breast), but Jake Meyer returns in position to take over as the country’s top D3 breaststroker. He won the 100 last year and was runner-up to Hamilton in the 200 while providing the breaststroke leg on Emory’s national-record-setting 200 medley relay. Ryan Soh and Jeff Echols, who swam back and fly on that relay, return, as do 400 IM 3-4 finishers Crow Thorsen and Ryan Gibbons, freestyler Nick Goudie and breaststroker Henri Bonnault.
The pursuers from Kenyon bring back sprinter Djordje Dragojlovic, who was the national champion in the 100 free last year while anchoring Kenyon to victories in the 400 medley and 400 free relays. Dragojlovic also placed fourth in the 100 back—where he is the top returning finisher—and sixth in the 100 free. Kenyon also returns diver Israel Zavaleta, winner on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, while Marko Krtinic is the reigning national winner in the 100 fly.
Emory and Kenyon finished well ahead of their closest competition last year, but we should note that the University of Chicago returns both of its top performers from last season, 200 IM national champion Garrett Clasen and butterfly specialist Jesse Ssengonzi, who was second in the 100 and third in the 200. Denison, led by IMer Patrick Daly and freestyler Lucas Conrads, could factor into the team competition, while the team from Tufts features backstroker Eric Lundgren and butterflyer Ethan Schreier.