SHENANDOAH, Texas -- Emory’s depth once again proved to be the difference as the Eagles soared to their sixth consecutive team championship at the 2015 NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships which wrapped up Saturday evening at the Conroe ISD.
Emory finished with 603 points to win its eighth overall team championship -- all of which have occurred in the past 11 years. Denison scored 457.5 points and finished as runner-up for the first time since back-to-back second-place finishes in 2010 and 2011. Rounding out the top five, Williams was third with 434 points, Kenyon was fourth with 404 points and Johns Hopkins was fifth with 250 points.
Despite winning only one individual championship and one team relay, Emory swarmed the awards stand throughout the meet with 26 individual All-America performances as well as 14 more honorable mention efforts. All five of the Eagles’ relay teams earned All-American status.Williams' Sarah Thompson, who was named the Female Swimmer of the Year, made it three consecutive national titles in the 1,650 freestyle, breaking the Division III record by just under four seconds with a finishing time of 16:21.44. With the victory, Thompson becomes the fourth women’s swimmer to win the 1,650 three consecutive years, and, after having won the 500 free on Thursday, is just the eighth female to sweep both events in the same year. Additionally, the championship is the sixth individual title of her career (200 free and 1,650 in 2013; 500 free and 1,650 free in 2014; 500 free and 1,650 in 2015).
Johns Hopkins' Ana Bogdanovski picked up her third individual national title of the meet and fifth in her career with a victory in the 100 freestyle. The senior touched the wall in a time of 49.31. With victories in the 50, 100 and 200 free, Bogdanovski becomes just the eighth swimmer to sweep those three events in a single national meet and the first to do it since 2006. Finishing in second place was Carolyn Kane of Denison in a time of 50.17, and Emma Waddell of Williams was third in 50.56.
In the closest individual race of the evening session, Williams' Olivia Jackson, who finished 10th in the event a year ago, picked up her first individual title with a winning swim of 1:57.24 in 200 backstroke. It was her third All-American swim of the meet (she finished sixth in the 200 IM and ninth in the 100 back). Teammate and Katherine Bennett finished in second -- just .01 seconds behind in 1:57.25.
Stevens senior Brittany Geye book-ended her career in the 200 breaststroke by picking up her second career victory in the event in a time of 2:14.66. She also won the event as a freshman in 2012. Geyer completed the breaststroke sweep for the meet after winning the 100 the previous evening and has now booked three of the four individual national titles in program history.
The Denison women won their first 400 freestyle relay since 2009 (and second all-time) as Rima Jurjus, Carolyn Kane, Ashley Yearwood and Mary Van Leuven posted a winning time of 3:21.49. Kenyon placed second in a time of 3:22.47 and Williams was third in 3:22.90.
In additional voting that took place following the championship meet, Williams’ Steve Kuster was selected as Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year and Wellesley’s Zach Lichter was named Women’s Diving Coach-of-the-Year.
Wellesley’s Maura Sticco-Ivins, who won the 3-meter competition and finished as runner-up on the 1-meter board, was named Female Diver of the Year.
