INDIANAPOLIS -- Friday night at the 2014 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship had a bit of a different feel for Big Red fans, comparatively speaking. On Wednesday and Thursday, Denison got off to strong starts powered by Al Weik in the 500 freestyle and 400 individual medley.
On Friday, Denison had to play the waiting game as the first two events of the night passed by without a qualified Big Red entry.
While Denison watched, Kenyon moved into first place in the team standings after a 10th-place finish in the 200 fly, and a seventh and 13th place showing in the 100 backstroke.Through the opening two events of the night, Kenyon pulled in front by 16 points as the Big Red prepped to begin their night in the 100 breaststroke.
That's where junior Damon Rosenburg would post time of 54.65 that would place him fourth in the championship final. The victory went to freshman Michael Lagieski from Washington who set a meet record with a time of 54.10. After a fifth-place and 11th-place finish in the 100 breast for Kenyon, the Lords picked up another five points on Denison as the attention turned to the 1-meter board.
After a 54-point showing by DU's four divers in Wednesday's 3-meter event, expectations were high. Under tremendous pressure to regain the points lead, Denison's trio of 1-meter finalists, Ben Lewis, Connor Dignan and Max Levy came through with a 43-point effort, led by Lewis' runner-up finish.
In the six-dive final, Lewis capped off his series with a high score of 63.70 on his last attempt moving him into second-place, just 1.20 points behind the eventual champion, Johann Schmidt from Tufts.
In fourth-place, Levy ended with a score of 58.50 resulting in a total of 508.50. Wednesday's 3-meter champion, Dignan, had an opportunity to finish in the upper half of the standings thanks to a pair of stellar dives on his fourth and fifth attempts. On his sixth and final attempt, Dignan showed slight hesitation on his take off which affected his timing. The result was an incomplete dive, which held Dignan's score at 465.20, placing the junior eighth on the podium.
DU closed out the night with a second-place finish in the 800 freestyle relay. Led by Carlos Maciel, Spencer Fronk, Joe Brunk, and Weik, DU hit the wall in 6:33.39, finishing just over two seconds behind Johns Hopkins. The runner-up spot picked up 34 points for Denison. The Lords placed fourth which gave DU a four-point advantage in the event.
Through 15 of 20 events, Denison has scored 374 points. They are in front of the Lords by 28 points heading into Saturday's final five events. Emory occupies third-place with 202.5 points and Johns Hopkins, is fourth with 183 points.
Saturday's finals will include the 1650 freestyle, the 100 freestyle, the 200 backstroke, the 200 breaststroke and the 400 freestyle relay.
