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.

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)

Racking up five event wins, one national and ten College records over the last four days, the Kenyon College Ladies produced their 23rd NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving championship title. No other women's program in all three divisions of the NCAA has won more team titles than the Ladies.

Kenyon has now captured the last three NCAA swimming titles. Prior to that, the Ladies won 20 of 21 championships, including a record-run of 17 straight team titles from 1984 through 2000. The Ladies registered their 23rd title Saturday night on the strength of 560 team points accumulated throughout the four-day championship meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. Emory University wound up in second place with 466.5 points and Denison University took third place with 413 points.

During the final night of competition, senior Carolyn Barer (Edina, MN/St. Patrick's) and freshman Alisa Vereshchagin (Solon, OH/Solon) won back-to-back titles in the 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard breaststroke, respectively. Barer, who concluded her Kenyon career with three national event titles and 11 All-America awards, won the backstroke competition in a College record time of 2:00.15. Vereshchagin duplicated the feat in the breaststroke by turning in a College record time of 2:14.71.

Before those two title swims, the Ladies received a fifth-place performance in the 1,650-yard freestyle from last year's champion, Kati Meirs (Cream Ridge, NJ/Peddie). The Kenyon sophomore turned in a time of 17:03.08. Right after that, Kenyon junior Tina Ertel (Halle, Germany/Sportgymnasium Halle) posted a time of 51.29 in the 100-yard freestyle. That was good for eighth place and her 19th career All-America award.

Kenyon uncharacteristically did not win any of the five relay events during the course of the championship, but did have five different individual event champions. In addition to Barer's and Vereshchagin's titles, Kenyon received championship swims from Tina Ertel (Halle, Germany/Sportgymnasium Halle) in the 200-yard individual medley, from Elizabeth Carlton (Cheyenne, WY/Cheyenne Central) in the 50-yard freestyle, and from Tracy Menzel (Greencastle, IN/Greencastle) in the 100-yard breaststroke. Carlton, a senior, closed out her collegiate career with nine titles and 20 All-America awards. Menzel, also a senior, capped off a career that included three titles and 16 All-America awards.