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By Jaclyn Luscomb
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 23. FRIDAY night concluded the third leg of the 2012 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, with just one more day to follow; but that does not mean that things slowed down at the IU Natatorium at IUPUI. Four new NCAA Division III records were set tonight, proving that the meet showed no signs of slowing down and the athletes are still energized.
Logan Todhunter, a senior from Williams College, swam remarkably to win the women's 200 butterfly with a time of 1:55.66. Todhunter accomplished more than just that with this race however, not only was it her fourth consecutive time winning the event at this meet, but she smashed her NCAA Division III own record from 2010.
In the process, Todhunter tied two Kenyon swimmers, Patricia Abt, Kenyon (50 free 1984-85-86-87, 100 free 1984-85-86-87, 200 free 1984-85-87), and Carla Ainsworth, Kenyon (50 free 1993-94-95, 100 free 1992-93-94-95, 200 free 1992-93-94-95) for the NCAA Division III record for the most career individual wins with 11 national titles. The win also gave Todhunter a career sweep of the 100 fly, something that only eight other swimmers have done in their career at the NCAA Division III level:
Patricia Abt, Kenyon (50 free 1984-85-86-87, 100 free 1984-85-86-87); Amy Heasley, Kenyon (200 fly 1985-86-87-88); Jeannine Gury, Kenyon (200 breast 1986-87-88-89); Jessica Berkowitz, Kenyon (1,650 free 1991-92-93-94); Carla Ainsworth, Kenyon (100 free 1992-93-94-95, 200 free 1992-93-94-95); Lindsay Payne, Williams (100 breast 2002-03-05-06); Brittany Sasser, Amherst (100 back 2005-06-07-08, 200 back 2005-06-07-08); Kendra Stern, Amherst (100 free 2008-09-10-11, 200 free 2008-09-10-11)
The night began with the men's and women's 200-yard butterfly with repeat champions in each. Patrick Augustyn, a senior out of Emory University, took home the championship titles in the men's 200 butterfly with a winning time of 1:45.43. Augustyn was also the winner of the men's 100 butterfly on Thursday night and plans on competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials later this year. Augustyn also won this event last year. Miller Douglas, a junior from Emory who placed third in the 400 IM last night, nabbed second place with a time of 1:46.73. Jackson Humphrey of Denison finished third (1:49.14).
The men's 100-yard-backstroke champion, Robert Barry, broke the existing NCAA DIII record set by Paul Ellis last night in the 400 medley relay. Barry, a senior from Denison, swam a 47.56 in the relay last night and won the event tonight in a time of 47.76. Ross Spock, a sophomore out of Emory placed second (48.75) and Sean Chabot, a sophomore from Denison, placed third with a time of 48.86.
The women's 100-backstroke title went to Margaret Rosenbaum, a senior from Hamilton College, who won with a time of 55.30. Anna Dobben, a junior from Emory University, placed second with a time of 55.42, while Celeia Oberholzer, a freshman from Kenyon, placed third (55.44). Both the men's and women's winners in the 100-yard-backstroke defending their titles.
Rory Buck, a senior from Whitworth University, took home the men's 100-yard-breaststroke championship title with a time of 54.71. Collin Gladys, a senior from the University of Redlands, placed second (55.16) and Christopher Manning, a senior from Kalamazoo College, finished third with a time of 55.31.
Alisa Vereshchagin, a senior out of Kenyon College, earned the women's 100-yard-breastroke title. Vereschchagin swam the race long and strong, utilizing her pullouts and finished with a time of 1:02.43. Caitlyn Lehberger, a senior from Westminster College, placed second with a time of 1:02.57. Danielle Ellingson came in strong at third place with a time of 1:02.68. Ellingson is a senior from UW LaCrosse.
The 800 freestyle relay men's championship team from Denison University was composed of Sean Chabot, Carlos Maciel, Spencer Fronk and 500-freestyle winner Allen Weik. The team pulled together to win in an incredible time of 6:30.40, destroying the previous 2009 NCAA DIII record held by Denison at 6:32.91. Kenyon placed second (6:31.78) and John Hopkins University finished third with a time of 6:35.57.
The women's 800-freestyle-relay champions are the team of Caroline Wilson, Logan Todhunter, Sarah Thompson and Carolyn Geller from Williams College. These four women also won the 400-medley-relay last night. They won tonight with a time of 7:18.15, breaking another NCAA DIII record previously held by Denison. Emory swam to second place (7:20.46) and Kenyon finished third (7:25.64).
The top three divers on the men's one-meter board are Johann Schmidt, a sophomore from Tufts University with 527.35 points, Gabe Dixon, a junior from Denison, with 506.30 points and Phil Devine, a senior from UWO with 504.80 points.
Team standings after Friday night are as follows:
Emory leads the women with 436 points, Williams is in second with 354 points and Denison is in third with 309 points. Emory is on track to win their third consecutive women's national title. For the men, Denison is currently leading with 471 points, Kenyon is at second with 359 points and Emory trails in third with 287 points.
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