March 22, 2009

Kenyon beat runner-up Emory and third-place Denison in both the men's and women's standings and the Kenyon men have now won 30 consecutive NCAA Division III championships.  The Kenyon women have won three in a row and 23 overall. (See below for Kenyon recap)

Women's Diver of the Year - Erica Deur (Calvin)
Men's Diver of the Year - Nicholas Halbach (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy)
Women's Swimmer of the Year - Liz Horvat (Emory)
Men's Swimmer of the Year - John Thomas (John's Hopkins)

Women's Diving Coach of the Year - Aaron Paskvan (Calvin)
Men's Diving Coach of the Year - Kevin Ryan (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy)
Women's Swimming Coach of the Year - Jon Howell (Emory)
Men's Swimming Co-Coaches of the Year - Dave Hauck & Bob Hauck (St. Olaf)

2009 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Champions
*NCAA Division III record | (R) – repeat champ

WOMEN
500 Freestyle – Liz Horvat (So., Emory) 4:47.04*
200 IM – Tina Ertel (Jr., Kenyon) 2:02.31
50 freestyle – Elizabeth Carlton (Sr., Kenyon) 22.80
3-meter diving – Kelly Sponholz (Sr., SUNY-Fredonia) 516.50*
200 medley relay – Denison 1:41.20 (R)
200 freestyle relay - Emory 1:32.08* (R)
400 IM - Liz Horvat (So., Emory)  4:16.17*
100 butterfly - Logan Todhunter (Fr., Williams) 53.54*
200 freestyle - Kendra Stern (So., Amherst) 1:47.67 (R)
400 medley relay - Denison 3:43.42*
200 butterfly - Logan Todhunter (Fr., Williams) 1:58.80
100 backstroke - Olivia Zaleski (Jr., Denison) 54.80
100 breaststroke - Tracy Menzel (Sr., Kenyon) 1:02.76
1-meter diving - Erica Deur (Sr., Calvin) 496.05*
800 freestyle relay - Emory 7:21.05*
1650 freestyle - Liz Horvat (So., Emory) 16:30.17*
100 freestyle - Kendra Stern (So., Amherst) 49.37* (R)
200 backstroke - Carolyn Barer (Sr., Kenyon) 2:00.15
200 breaststroke - Alisa Vereshchagin (Fr., Kenyon) 2:14.71
400 freestyle relay - Denison 3:21.97*

MEN
500 freestyle – Alex Fraser (So., Amherst) 4:21.95*
200 IM – Nelson Westby (Sr., St. Olaf) 1:48.82 (R)
50 freestyle – Zachary Turk (Fr., Kenyon) 19.93
200 medley relay – Kenyon 1:28.45* (R)
200 freestyle relay - Kenyon 1:19.15* (R)
400 IM - Alex Beyer (Jr., Washington Univ.) 3:51.45*
100 butterfly - Matthew Harris (Sr., Kenyon) 47.86 (R)
200 freestyle - David Curtis (Sr., Denison) 1:37.20 (R)
1-meter diving - Nicholas Halbach (So., U.S. Merchant Marine Academy) 524.70
400 medley relay - Kenyon 3:15.58* (R)
200 butterfly - Matthew Harris (Sr., Kenyon) 1:46.74 (R)
100 backstroke - John Thomas (Jr., Johns Hopkins) 48.65
100 breaststroke - Pavel Buyanov (So., Staten Island)  54.27* (R)
800 freestlyle relay - Denison 6:32.91* (R)
1650 freestyle - Keegan Borland (Jr., Kenyon) 15:19.98 (R)
100 freestyle - Caleb Courage (Sr. Grove City) 43.62
200 backstroke - John Thomas (Jr,. Johns Hopkins) 1:46.71* (R)
200 breaststroke - Nelson Westby (Sr., St. Olaf) 1:59.26
3-meter diving - Nicholas Halbach (So., U.S. Merchant Marine Academy) 536.35
400 freestyle relay - Kenyon 2:56.22* (R)

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Courtesy of Kenyon

MINNEAPOLIS (March 21, 2009) Over the last four days, the Kenyon College Lords won eight events, set four national and eight College records, and captured their thirtieth straight NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving title. The Lords' extraordinary streak is the longest in the history of the NCAA, including all of its programs and all of its divisions.

Kenyon's streak was launched in 1980 and is older than those who sustain it. It may be an accomplishment that will never again be attained. In fact, the next longest streak, in any NCAA division, was set at 17 by the Kenyon women's swim team (1984-2000). The next longest active streak belongs to the Methodist University women's golf team, which has won 11 straight Division III titles (1998-2008).

Saturday night at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, the Lords capped off the four-day national competition with a trophy presentation and one more celebratory dip in the pool. The Lords finished the championship meet with 604 first-place points. Emory University was runner-up with 402 points and Denison University held on to third place with 308.5 points.

Before all the hoopla could take place, Kenyon had to close the deal and it did so with two final championship swims. In Saturday night's first event, the 1,650-yard freestyle, Kenyon junior Kegan Borland (Vandergrift, PA/Saint Joseph) successfully defended his 2008 title by clocking in at 15:19.98.

Following that showing, freshman Zack Turk (Strongsville, OH/St. Edward) captured a third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle by hitting the wall in 44.18. Sophomore Michael Mpitsos (Newport, OR/Newport) then added another Lords' third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:47.92. That set the stage for the grand finale.

In the championship's final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Lords finished things off in style. The relay squad of Turk, David Somers (North Potomac, MD/Quince Orchard), Matthew Harris (Laurel, MD/DeMatha), and Michael Machala (Twin Falls, ID/Twin Falls) held off a late charge from Denison and clocked in with a winning and NCAA-record time 2:56.22. The win for Harris, a senior, finalized his career totals at 15 NCAA titles and 21 All-America awards.

In all, the Lords won four of the five relay events and four individual events. In addition to Borland's victory in the 1,650-yard freestyle today, Turk won the 50-yard freestyle Wednesday night and Harris swept the butterfly events on Thursday and Friday.