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Looking to capture their first conference crown in eleven years, the men of Denison traveled to Canton, Ohio for the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships with one of its strongest teams ever. It would, however, still be an uphill battle as the Big Red was going to have to overcome some strong and motivated Kenyon swimmers. The DU men defeated Kenyon at the dual meet earlier this season and this sure fueled their fire going into this year’s conference meet.

The team opened up a lead in the team standings with a victory in the 200 Freestyle Relay. Rory Scott led off the team in impressive fashion, touching the wall first at 21.39. Lowell Byers jumped in the water next and had a phenomenal split of 19.96. Jon Behnke extended the lead and then the rest was left up to John Geissinger. Geissinger, being unrested and unshaved, swam a very solid split of 20.45. He touched the wall in a final time of 1:22.32, which is a NCAA ‘A’ cut by half a second. This relay will only get faster in the coming weeks and will be in full force by the time they reach Miami.

The deepest part of the Big Red line-up lay in the freestyles and that was clearly evident in the 500 Freestyle. David Curtis led the way for DU, notching his first championship title of the weekend in a time of 4:33.38. Freshman Ben Terry had a fine showing in the first swim of his meet. He touched the wall in third place in a lifetime best of 4:37.54, a solid NCAA ‘B’ cut. Senior Wes Bubb was right behind Terry in 4:37.83, also a NCAA consideration time. Casey Browning and Andy Catlin led the way in the consolation final, finishing 10^th (4:42.32) and 11^th (4:44.59) respectively.

Chris Sellon’s lifetime best of 1:54.26 in the 200 IM was good enough for third place. This time is a NCAA consideration time, which hopefully will hold up come March. John Nemeth joined Sellon in the top heat as he finished sixth overall with a lifetime best of 1:55.75. The Big Red took the top 3 spots in the consolation final as Jake Lewing finished 9^th (1:56.47), followed by Andy Brabson in 10th (1:56.88) and Andrew Krawchyk in 11^th (1:57.79).

The Big Red men showed some definite power in the 50 Freestyle as they placed four men in the championship final. Byers took top honors for the Red as he finished second with a NCAA consideration time of 21.01. Jon Behnke finished right behind Byers in third (21.22). Geissinger and Scott rounded out the field in fifth (21.31) and eighth (21.60) respectively.

While the swimmers were getting warmed up for the medley relay, the DU divers took to the boards. Senior Stephen Julka, NCAC Diver of the Meet last year, began this year where he left off. He grabbed his first championship title in the 1m springboard event with a score of 425.30 points. His teammates Russ Bornschein and Cody Smith added some major points to the team score as they finished third (403.10) and fifth (370.25) respectively.

Day 1 concluded with a runner-up finish in the 400 Medley Relay as Behnke, John Nemeth, Byers and Geissinger combined for a 3:26.05. After the first day of competition, Denison held a 70 point lead over the Lords of Kenyon.

Day 2 began in exciting fashion as the 200 Medley Relay team of Behnke, Nemeth, Byers and Geissinger raced Kenyon stroke for stroke for the entire race. Without Geissinger being tapered and shaved, the Lords were able to just beat him to wall as the Big Red took second place in a time of 1:32.74. This time was just off the NCAA ‘A’ standard.

After struggling to get going in the morning preliminaries, the Big Red 400 IMers were able to put together some solid times in finals to take fourth, fifth and sixth positions. Lewing led the way for DU as he finished fourth in 4:06.76. He was followed closely Sellon (4:07.09) and Brabson (4:08.12).

Not to be outdone in his best event, Byers swam a lifetime best in route to his win in the 100 Butterfly. He broke 49 seconds for the first time and touched the wall in a NCAA ‘A’ time of 48.90. The winning ways continued for the Big Red on Friday as Curtis finished on top of the podium in the 200 Freestyle. His winning time was 1:40.69 and he will be a really contender in this event once NCAA’s rolls around in a few weeks. Terry and Catlin joined Curtis in the finals and placed third (1:43.56) and fourth (1:43.76), respectively.

Two newcomers to the Big Red added some points to the team total in the 100 Breastroke. Nemeth finished fourth overall, just ducking under the 59 second mark for the first time this season. His time of 58.60 is a NCAA consideration cut. Krawchyk rounded out the top eight as he finished eighth in a time of 59.72 (from prelims).

In the 100 Backstroke, it was the Byers and Behnke show in the championship final. Byers, fresh out of the 100 Butterfly final, put together another great race and finished second overall in a time of 51.56. After attempting numerous times to break 52 seconds, Behnke was finally able to squeak under and finish in 51.90, which was good enough for fourth place.

After many successful swimming events thus far, the divers were back in action in their last event of the championships. This time Bornschein led the way for the Big Red as he finished second overall on the 3m board with a score of 408.35 points. Julka was right behind in third with 402.65 points and Smith was fifth with 366.45 points. The Denison divers were a fixture of excellence all weekend and definitely helped boost our team point total.

Day 2 closed in a similar way as Day 1. Without some of the Big Red’s big guns, the 800 Freestyle Relay team of Catlin, Lewing, Terry and Curtis cruised to the wall in second place with a time of 6:52.43. While Kenyon was able to make up some ground during Friday’s final, the Big Red men still had a 30 point lead going into the last day of competition.

Day 3 began with Wes Bubb swimming a season best time by a large amount in route to his second place finish in the 1650 Freestyle. Bubb finished in a NCAA consideration time of 16:02.22 and is on pace to break his own best time by the time nationals rolls around next month. Terry finished right behind Bubb with a solid swim of his own, finishing in a best time of 16:12.72, which is a NCAA ‘B’ cut. In the exhibition heats earlier in the afternoon, Matt Newton set a lifetime best, going 16:15.85.

In the 200 Backstroke, Charlie Baldwin had a phenomenal swim in the preliminary heats as he cruised to a new personal best of 1:53.56. In addition, Catlin, usually known as a freestyler, joined Baldwin in the final heat as the pair finished fifth and seventh respectively.

The 100 Freestyle bore a strong resemblance to the 50 two days earlier. Geissinger recorded a third place time of 45.96. Curtis was not far behind Geissinger as he touched the wall in 46.21. This time for Curtis is his fastest ever unshaved by a large margin as he just keeps improving and improving in that event. Behnke finished seventh (47.09) and Krawchyk was eighth (47.40) to round out the top eight for Denison.

After a great deal of pacing and stroke work this season, the breastrokers made a strong statement as they placed three in the championship final of the 200 Breastroke. Nemeth swam a lifetime best time of 2:06.78, which placed him third overall. Brabson also swam a solid race finishing fifth (2:09.54) and Lewing was seventh (2:10.00).

Now that all the individual swims were in the books, the men got together for one last freestyle relay. Having witnessed a heartbreaker in the women’s relay just moments before, the Big Red men were focused and full of purpose. The Lords and Big Red swam stroke for stroke for the first three 100’s and then it was up to the senior leader, Lowell Byers, to bring it home for Denison. After a flying start and spectacular underwater kick, Byers came up well ahead of Michael Machala of Kenyon. Byers was able to hang on and notch another championship crown for DU, as the team finished with a time of 3:01.70, a NCAA ‘A’ cut.

While the team fell just short on the scoreboard, the Big Red were able to record numerous event wins during the course of the weekend. Many swimmers stepped up and had some great and inspiring swims. The team will now focus all of its attention on the upcoming NCAA Championships

Women’s NCAC Championships

February 14-16, 2008

One year after being soundly beaten by almost 90 points in the conference championships, the Big Red women resolved to make a better showing at this year’s meet. A loss to rival Kenyon in the dual meet earlier during the season fueled the women’s desire to make this championship a very close meet.

Denison started off the weekend with a big bang in the 200 Freestyle Relay. The team of Kate Rich, Kristen Hohl, Annamarie Novinger and Olivia Zaleski notched the first victory of the meet for the Big Red finishing in a NCAA ‘A’ cut of 1:35.53. Hohl and Zaleski led the way for the women as Hohl split 23.21 and Zaleski was not far behind in 23.29.

After that amazing relay performance, it was now time for a first look at the women’s middle distance and distance freestylers as the 500 Freestyle was up next. Sophomore Jenny Cunningham led the way for the Big Red as she finished sixth in 5:09.19. She was followed very closely by her teammates, Annamarie Novinger (5:10.08) in seventh and Taylor Blake in eighth (5:11.05). In addition, Kacey Centrella and Lauren McKenna both improved on their morning performances as Centrella finished 10th (5:10.31) and McKenna finished 12th (5:16.23).

Rich was the top DU scorer in the 200 IM with a runner-up finish. Her time of 2:07.42 (from prelims) was just off the NCAA ‘A’ standard. She was joined in the top heat by two Big Red seniors. Ginny Walsh finished fourth overall in 2:10.03 followed by Savannah Mortensen in seventh, in 2:13.03. Kathy Faingold and Bethany Sabourin led a 1-2 finish in the consolation final as Faingold touched the wall in 2:10.88 and Sabourin in 2:13.01.

Perhaps one of the most exciting individual events in the women’s meet this weekend was the 50 Freestyle. After prelims, Hohl led the way (23.89) and Zaleski was sitting in sixth overall (24.56). After finals, it was quite a different story. Hohl touched the wall in first with Zaleski not more than a few hundredths of a second behind to finish right behind her. Both women notched NCAA ‘A’ cuts as Hohl finished in 23.63 and Zaleski in 23.66.

While the swimmers were taking a break from the action, the Big Red divers were busy on the boards. At the end of the day, freshman Sammie Salas took home her first ever conference championship as she won the 3m springboard event. Salas scored a total of 371.65 points. Her fellow teammate, Lizzie Litwak added 22 points to the team total as she finished eighth overall with 260.40 points.

The first day of competition ended with a dogfight in the 400 Medley Relay as the top two relays swam neck and neck the entire race. Anna Comella gave DU a slight lead with a 59.66 backstroke leg. Ksenia Golovkina added to this lead with a very solid 1:04.38 breastroke leg. Zaleski then put in a fine swim of 57.24 in the fly leg and Hohl brought it home for the Big Red in 51.09. This relay team notched a NCAA ‘A’ standard with a winning time of 3:52.37.

The second day of competition began where the first day left off. This time the women found themselves in a dogfight in the 200 Medley Relay. The team of Sabourin, Golovkina, Zaleski and Hohl traded blows with Kenyon for the entire race. Sabourin got the relay off to a good start with a 28.39 backstroke split. Golovkina made up some ground with a very solid 29.24 breastroke leg. Zaleski left no doubt as she blazed past Kenyon and provided Hohl with some smooth water in the freestyle leg. Zaleski split 25.15 in the butterfly and Hohl ended with a 23.13 freestyle split. The relay touched the wall in a time 1:45.91, notching another NCAA ‘A’ cut.

After a fourth place showing in the 200 IM on the previous day, Walsh returned to the championship final heat of the 400 IM. Walsh raced Adrienne Amador of Kenyon down to the last stroke, but came up just a bit short, finishing second overall in 4:34.25. This was Walsh’s first solid NCAA ‘B’ cut this season. Walsh was joined in the championship final by fellow senior, Kacey Centrella. Centrella improved on her morning swim and touched the wall seventh overall in 4:42.95. Freshman Lauren Pipkin was the winner of the consolation final in a time of 4:43.16.

The 100 Butterfly proved to be a strong event for the Big Red women as they took 4 of the top eight spots. Zaleski had the swim of her life in the preliminary heats and even had the strength to improve on that time in finals. She won the event at night in a new meet record and NCAA ‘A’ cut of 55.31. This swim places her second all time in Division III swimming history. In her first swim of the evening, Rich placed third overall, touching the wall in 57.70. She was followed by two seniors, Christine Wissink in sixth (58.91) and Comella in seventh (59.36).

The winning ways continued for the Big Red as Novinger notched her first conference championship of the meet in the 200 Freestyle. She fought off Kati Meirs of Kenyon the whole race and in the end, Novinger just beat her to the wall finishing in 1:53.75, which just missed the NCAA ‘A’ standard. Having just got out of the water from the 100 Butterly, Rich followed that swim up with a fifth place finish here (1:56.64). Hohl finished just behind rich in sixth in a lifetime best of 1:56.92. Brittany Oxley also set a new lifetime best in the consolation final, finishing 10^th in 1:58.59.

Already having the momentum going in their direction, the Big Red breastrokers kept it going in the 100 Breastroke. Freshman Ksenia Golovkina ran down Tracy Menzel in the last few yards and won her first ever conference crown. Her winning time was 1:04.95 and this will improve her seed time going into NCAA’s next month. Faingold and Wissink joined her in the championship final and both had solid swims of their own. Faingold finished fourth (1:07.17) and Wissink was just behind her in fifth (1:07.33).

Concluding Day 2 with a solid performance, the Big Red grabbed second place in the 800 Freestyle Relay. The team of Zaleski, Rich, Cunningham and Hohl touched the wall in a final time of 7:43.80. After many outstanding performances in the first two days of competition, the Big Red women found themselves only one point behind last year’s national champions. Day 3 was sure to be a dogfight and the Big Red was not going to go down silently.

Day 3 started off with the distance swimmers strutting their stuff in the 1650 Freestyle. Freshman Taylor Blake swam a lifetime best time, which led her to a third place finish overall (17:39.57). This swim was Blake’s first NCAA consideration time. Cunningham did her job as well as she added 26 points to the team score with a fourth place finish in this event (17:52.36).

The 200 Backstroke added some points to the Big Red’s total score as three seniors competed in the championship final. Comella led the way for DU as she finished fifth (2:09.09), followed by Mortensen in sixth (2:09.11) and Walsh in seventh (2:09.24). Mortensen’s morning time of 2:07.92 was significantly faster than her time from December and will hopefully get her to NCAA’s at Miami next month.

Just like the 50 Freestyle, Hohl and Zaleski delivered a 1-2 punch for the Big Red in the 100 Freestyle. Hohl won her second title of the meet, touching the wall in 51.80. Zaleski was just behind in 52.21. Novinger also put up a solid swim in this event, finishing sixth overall in 53.57.

Golovkina again faced off with Menzel in the 200 Breastroke and again came up victorious in 2:23.22. This time is faster than Golovkina swam in December and will likely contend for a national title in a few short weeks. Faingold had an impressive swim of her own in this heat as she touched the wall third in 2:24.90, which is a solid NCAA ‘B’ cut.

The Red again flexed its muscle in the butterfly by placing four swimmers in the top eight of the 200 Butterfly. Wissink was the top finisher for DU as she finished second in a season best time of 2:08.19. Centrella, McKenna and Pipkin all added major points to the team total as they finished fourth (2:09.60), seventh (2:12.34) and eighth (2:13.56) respectively.

With the team championship coming down to the wire, the Big Red divers were ready to help the team out in a major way. In the 1m competition, Salas garnered her second conference title with a winning score of 366.05 points. Litwak improved on her eighth place finish on the 3m board and took fifth place on the 1m board, scoring 285.25 points. Over the course of the weekend, the Big Red divers delivered in a big way and contributed many points to the team effort.

After all the individual swimming and diving events were in the books, the team title came down to the 400 Freestyle Relay. The team of Rich, Hohl, Novinger and Zaleski knew the challenge and they accepted it. Rich led the relay off with a solid split of 53.73. Hohl then jumped in the water and put the Big Red right back into contention with a very impressive split of 50.57. Novinger was third and swam to a 52.78 split of her own. After several stellar swims over the course of the weekend, Zaleski jumped in and raced Kenyon’s Brittany Hurd the entire 100 yards. In the end, Hurd was able to get her hand on the wall first, just hundredths of a second before Zaleski. This relay team earned a NCAA ‘A’ time with this swim and will be a force to be reckoned with come March.

While the Big Red women fell just short of last year’s national champions this weekend, they swam a great meet and had numerous impressive and exciting swims. The team is back at school and in the water training so they are ready to go and swim even faster next month at the national championships at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Competition starts on March 13 and a new national champion will be crowned on March 15, 2008.

Denison at University of Pittsburgh

(with Duquesne, Clarion, Carnegie Mellon)

February 2, 2008

In their final tune-up before the NCAC Conference Championships, the Big Red swimming and diving teams traveled over to the University of Pittsburgh this past Saturday for a meet against some very impressive competition. The Big Red competed against Pitt and Duquesne (both Division I teams) as well as Clarion (Division II) and Carnegie Mellon (Division III). Seeing and being part of some fast swimming was a good thing for the teams, as this is what they will face in only a few short days and weeks until conference and nationals.

Before the swim team even reached Pittsburgh, the divers were already hard at work on the boards. Although the Big Red was diving against some very solid competition from the other colleges, they were able to hold their own and post some very respectable scores. In the women’s 1m competition, Sammie Salas finished sixth overall (198.95) and Lizzie Litwak was just behind in seventh (189.80). In the 3m event, Salas put together six solid dives as she finished in sixth again scoring 222.10 points. In the men’s 1m competition, freshman Cody Smith finished fifth overall (220.65), followed by Russ Bornschein (215.75) and Stephen Julka (204.75). On the 3m board, Bornschein led the way for the Big Red (239.30) followed by Smith (226.70).

The swimming competition got off to a solid start as the women put together a solid 200 Medley Relay. The team of Bethany Sabourin, Ksenia Golovkina, Olivia Zaleski and Kristen Hohl finished fourth overall with a time of 1:49.29. Not to be outdone by the women, the relay team of Jon Behnke, John Nemeth, Lowell Byers and John Geissinger touched the wall in third place in 1:37.21.

In the first distance event of the d ay, the 1000 Freestyle, freshman Taylor Blake improved on her season best that she set last weekend against Grove City. She put together a very strong race and finished third overall in 10:43.35. Jenny Cunningham broke the 11-minute barrier for the first time all season as she finished right behind Blake in 10:57.08. In the men’s race, Ben Terry also improved on his time from last weekend and finished fourth in 9:57.81.

The 100 Backstroke provided some excitement for the Big Red as two women had solid swims for this time of the season. Sabourin finished in 1:00.56 followed closely by her teammate Anna Comella in 1:01.26. In the men’s event, Charlie Grodecki broke 55 or only the third time all season, finishing sixth in 54.67. His teammate, Charlie Baldwin also swam a good race finishing in 54.90. All of these swimmers are sure to get faster by the time they reach Canton next week.

In the next event, the 100 Breastroke, newcomer Golovkina almost improved on her rested and season best time from the Miami Invite as she finished second overall (1:05.56). She has a great deal of speed and will be a force to be reckoned with come NCAA’s in March.

In the 200 Butterfly, senior Kacey Centrella put together a good race for this point in the season as she finished in 2:13.05. Freshman Lauren Pipkin almost ran Centrella down in the final lap, but finished just behind in 2:13.65. In the men’s event, Ed Kowal showed some light as he swam the fastest he has this season in a dual meet. Kowal finished 2:00.64, just missing breaking the 2-minute barrier.

The Big Red sprinters then took to the blocks for the first sprint event of the meet, the 50 Freestyle. In the women’s race, Hohl raced Zaleski stroke for stroke to the wall and ended up just out touching her teammate. Hohl finished fifth in 24.53 and Zaleski touched sixth in 24.54. Ironically enough, the story was the same in the men’s race. This time Byers raced Geissinger to the wall and one just out touched the other. Byers finished second in 21.64 and Geissinger was third in 21.65. All of these were solid swims with conference still 10 days away.

Perhaps the most exciting swim of the day came from Golovkina in the women’s 200 Breastroke as she cruised to the Big Red’s only victory of the day. She finished in 2:24.42 beating all her competition by over 2 seconds and this time is just off the NCAA ‘A’ standard.

The 100 Butterfly proved to be another strong event for both the DU women and men. Zaleski swam one of her best races of the season as she finished second overall in 58.72. Kate Rich also had a decent swim touching the wall in 1:00.26. In the men’s race, Byers found himself in a tight race the whole way and ended up in fourth overall (52.30).

In the last event of the day, the 400 Freestyle Relay, both the Big Red women and men dug deep and put together some very respectable swims. The women’s team of Zaleski, Hohl, Brittany Oxley and Annamarie Novinger finished third overall in one of their best times all season (3:35.44). The men’s team of David Curtis, Behnke, Byers and Geissinger followed suit, also finishing third in a time of 3:10.31.

The Big Red have now completed their successful dual meet season and are busy gearing up for the NCAC Conference Championships in Canton, Ohio next week. The meet begins on Thursday, February 14^th and continues thru Saturday, February 16^th.

Grove City at Denison University

January 26, 2008

After a week away from competition, the Big Red swimming and diving teams were ready to get back into action. On Saturday morning, Denison played host to the Wolverines from Grove City College. Many parents and spectators were in attendance as this meet served as a farewell to the 2008 senior class. Before the meet began, each senior was congratulated by their teammates and recognized for their dedication to team for the past 4 years.

In the first event of the afternoon, the women’s 200 Medley Relay team of Bethany Sabourin, Ksenia Golovkina, Olivia Zaleski and Kristen Hohl took first place with a time of 1:48.99, which was just shy of the current pool record. Charlie Grodecki, John Nemeth, Lowell Byers and John Geissinger followed suit as they touched first in 1:37.79, almost a full second in front of Grove City.

After several weeks of very challenging workouts, the Big Red distance swimmers showed a great deal of promise in the 1000 Freestyle. Freshman Taylor Blake led the way for the ladies, finishing first in a solid 10:44.38, which is one her best swims all season. Sophomore Jess McInerney also had a strong showing for the Big Red as she finished third overall in 11:08.59. In the men’s race, Ben Terry notched a victory for Denison, breaking the 10-minute mark for only the second time this season (9:58.15). Teammate Casey Browning was not far behind Terry, touching second in 10:03.19.

In the 200 Freestyle, Annamarie Novinger and David Curtis each added a win for the Big Red. Novinger finished in 1:57.72 in the women’s race and Curtis won the men’s event in 1:45.38.

In the women’s 100 Backstroke, the race came down between senior Anna Comella and freshman Sabourin. When all was said and done, Comella had experience on her side as she out touched Sabourin, 1:00.91 to 1:01.07. In the men’s race, Jon Behnke swam a very solid race and was the only one in the field to break 55 seconds (54.58). Grodecki (55.53) and Charlie Baldwin (55.54) were not far behind in second and third place.

In the next event, freshman standout Ksenia Golovkina continued her winning ways in the 100 breastroke. Her time of 1:05.95 won the event by over 3 seconds and established a new pool record. John Nemeth won this event for the men, finishing in 1:01.31.

Perhaps the most anticipated event of this dual meet was the men’s 50 Freestyle. It was a match-up of raw speed between defending NCAA champion Tim Whitbeck (Grove City) and Denison’s Geissinger. In the end, Whitbeck had a little too much speed for Geissinger at this point in the season as he won the event in 20.74. Geissinger had a solid swim of his own finishing in 21.42. Senior Lowell Byers was just behind Geissinger in third (21.76).

It was now time for the Big Red divers to take to the boards. In the 1m event, Sammie Salas proved to be heads and shoulders above her competition as she was the only women to score over 200 points. She finished with a total of 212.25 points. Her teammate, Lizzie Litwak finished second with 195.00 points. In the men’s event, veteran and senior Stephen Julka was on top with 263.20 points, followed right behind by Cody Smith (236.05). On the 3m boards, Salas established a new pool record of 223.87 points. Julka added another win to his name finishing with 235.70 points.

In the second sprint event of the afternoon, the 100 Freestyle, Hohl took top honors in the women’s race with a time of 53.54. Novinger finished second in a solid time of 54.63. In the men’s race, it was another showdown between Whitbeck and Geissinger. This time the tables were turned as Geissinger sprinted to the lead right from the beginning and never looked back. He finished in a time of 46.91 and Whitbeck in second at 48.56.

After a few more races and more wins for the Big Red, it was now time for the 200 Freestyle Relays. The women’s team of Zaleski, Hohl, Oxley and Novinger touched first in 1:38.42, again just shy of the existing pool record. In the men’s race, Geissinger, Byers, Behnke and Curtis were able to get their hand on the wall and break the pool record. Their time of 1:24.85 was over 2 seconds faster than any other relay team in the pool.

Next Saturday, the teams travel to Pittsburgh for the last dual meet of the season. The Big Red will take on the University of Pittsburgh, Clarion University and Duquesne University. The meet is slated to begin at 1:00pm.

Denison vs. Wittenberg

January 12, 2008

Less than 72 hours after returning from a training trip to Naples, Florida, the men and women swimmers and divers headed over to Springfield, Ohio to take on Wittenberg University, a fellow NCAC conference team. With only five weeks remaining until the conference meet, every swim would be an important learning experience as the teams tune up for the championship season.

Both teams jumped to early leads with wins in the 200 Medley Relay. Anna Comella, Ksenia Golovkina, Olivia Zaleski and Bethany Sabourin reached the wall in first with a solid swim of 1:35.77, almost five seconds ahead of the next closest team. Charlie Grodecki, John Nemeth, Lowell Byers and John Geissinger combined for a 1:39.72 to take their event.

Despite completing some of the hardest distance training of the year over the last few weeks, the Big Red distance core was able to put together some decent races in the 1650 Freestyle. Jenny Cunningham finished first in the women’s event in a time of 18:20.48. Ben Terry won the men’s event finishing in 16:57.93.

In the 200 Freestyle, juniors Kristen Hohl and Geissinger led the way for the Big Red. Hohl finished second overall just ducking under the 2-minute mark as she finished in 1:59.80. Geissinger continued is winning ways as he led the field, finishing in 1:47.83. Freshman Jake Lewing was not far behind Geissinger as he finished third in a time of 1:48.96.

The 50 Freestyle proved to be a strong event for the Big Red swimmers as Brittany Oxley and David Curtis each grabbed a win in their respective event. Oxley touched the wall in 25.81 followed very closely by her teammate, Lisa Fry in 25.95. Curtis’ winning time was 22.61.

The 200 IM was perhaps the strongest event for the day for the Denison swimmers. The Big Red swept the top 3 spots in both the women’s and men’s event. Kathy Faingold led the women’s event as she finished in 2:12.89, followed by Zaleski (2:13.02) and Kate Rich (2:15.34). Chris Sellon led the way for the men finishing in 2:02.05, followed by Andy Brabson (2:05.01) and Byers (2:05.39).

Next, strong competition ensued in the diving well. Freshman Sammie Salas led the way in the women’s 1 meter event finishing with 206.90 points. Fellow freshman Lizzie Litwak was not far behind Salas as she finished with 186.65 points. In the men’s 1 meter competition, senior Stephen Julka was back on the boards and finished first with 231.95 points. Russ Bornschein finished right behind Julka with 212.60 points. The 3 meter diving events were not held because of technical difficulties.

Getting back into the swimming competition, the Big Red women had some very strong performances in the 200 Butterfly. Senior Christine Wissink led the 1-2-3 punch for DU finishing in 2:14.08. Fellow senior Kacey Centrella was not far behind as she finished in 2:14.83, followed by Lauren Pipkin in third with 2:14.91.

The Denison backstrokers were then put to the test and responded as the women finished 1-2-3 and the men finished 1-2-4 in the 200 Backstroke. Sabourin was frontrunner in the women’s event (2:12.18), followed by Savannah Mortensen (2:16.23) and Ginny Walsh (2:17.09). Grodecki took top honors in the men’s race finishing in 2:02.36, followed by Andy Catlin (2:06.11) and Alex Hurst (2:10.05).

Looking strong from start to finish, Golovkina easily outdistanced the field in the 200 Breastroke finishing in 2:27.96. Rochelle Akradi had a fine swim in this same event as she squeaked under the 2:30 barrier finishing in 2:29.65. The men’s 200 Breastroke came down to the last 25 yards as Andy Brabson and Nemeth battled to the wall. Brabson ended up taking the event in 2:18.57 as Nemeth finished just behind in 2:18.57.

The Big Red swimmers ended the meet on the right foot as both ‘A’ relay teams won their respective events. The team of Hohl, Zaleski, Annamarie Novinger and Rich finished in 1:40.37. The men’s team of Curtis, Geissinger, Behnke and Byers reached the wall in 1:27.53.

The teams now have a week away from competition, which will provide them some much needed and deserved rest. The women and men are back in action on January 26 as they face Grove City College in Granville, Ohio at 1:00pm.

Denison at Ohio University

January 11, 2008

After six weeks away from competition, the Big Red women returned to action this past Friday as they traveled to Athens, Ohio to take on the Bobcats of Ohio University. The women put in a lot of solid training over the past few weeks, so it was finally time to get back to competing and swimming fast.

The women got off to a good start with a strong performance in the 200 Medley Relay. Reaching the wall in third place overall, the team posted a solid time of 1:49.35. Freshman Ksenia Golovkina showed some definite speed as she swam 29.63 for the breastroke leg.

Another freshman, Taylor Blake, had a good showing for the Big Red as she finished third in the 1650 Freestyle. Ducking under the 18-minute mark for only the second time this season, she finished in a final time of 17:59.42. Teammate Laura Menard put together a decent mile finishing in 18:38.18.

In the 50 Freestyle, Kristen Hohl led a 2-3 punch for the Big Red. Hohl finished second in a time of 24.59, followed very closely by teammate Olivia Zaleski (24.76). The good news is that these women will only get faster as they begin to taper for the NCAC Conference Championships, which are only a month away.

Lauren Pipkin, another freshman, had a very strong showing in the 400 IM. She finished in third place overall in a time of 4:41.75 and was only 3 seconds away from her lifetime best. She was followed by her teammates, Diana Harlow (4:49.54) and Kacey Centrella (4:52.35).

Taking a break from the swimming side of things, the Big Red divers took to the boards for their competition. In the 1 meter event, Sammie Salas finished third overall, notching a score of 180.37 points. Following right behind were her teammates, Lizzie Litwak (160.80) and Suzanne Smith (101.25). On the 3 meter board, Salas finished second overall (198.30) followed by Litwak (173.75). Every meet the divers are improving more and more, which is great news with championships still being a month away!

Getting back into the swimming competition, Zaleski scored the first victory of the evening for the Big Red in the 100 Butterfly. She touched the wall in 59.19, which was only 3 one-hundredths of a second before Lindsey Destefano of OU. Christine Wissink showed some promise in the same event finishing third overall in a time of 59.40. Kate Rich also dipped under the 1-minute mark finishing in 59.98.

Not to be outdone by Zaleski, Hohl went on to grab a victory of her own in the 100 Freestyle only a few minutes later. She finished in a time of 53.27, which was well ahead of the rest of the field. Brittany Oxley finished in third overall with a solid time of 55.25.

The highlight of the meet for the Big Red came in the 100 Breastroke. After a very nice split in the breaststroke leg of the medley relay, Golovkina notched her first NCAA automatic cut as she finished in a time of 1:05.11. This time was more than 2 seconds ahead of her next closest competion.

At the end of the day, the DI Ohio University Bobcats defeated the Big Red by a score of 136-105. The team traveled back to Granville to join the men’s team for a meet against Wittenberg on Saturday morning in Springfield, Ohio.

Denison at Miami University Invitational

November 29-December 1, 2007

With teams having returned from Thanksgiving rested and ready to post some strong performances, they were off to Miami University’s Corwin Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio. Waiting there, teams from as far away as Texas and Georgia and ranging through all three NCAA divisions gathered to produce exciting races and exceptional competition for the Big Red swimmers and divers.

The three-day format got off to a running start with the 800 Freestyle relays on the first evening of competition. Olivia Zaleski, Kathy Faingold, Kate Rich and Annamarie Novinger reached the wall with a solid ‘B’ cut of 7:43.70. With a little more race strategy practice and preparation, this team will surely make a run at a top five finish nationally come March. The men’s relay jumped to an early lead as David Curtis cruised to break his own team record in the leadoff swim. He touched the wall in a time of 1:37.92 and then Chris Sellon, Callan Hetterich and John Geissinger held on for second place (6:41.61) all posting very solid splits.

After some exciting relay swims on Thursday night, the Big Red distance swimmers got a chance to try their hand at the 1650 freestyle. On the women’s side, freshman Taylor Blake finished in a time of 17:46.95, which was her first ever NCAA consideration cut. In the men’s mile, another freshman, Ben Terry, put together a solid race and finished in 16:16.55, which was good enough for tenth place overall and a NCAA ‘B’ cut. After the first night of competition, the Denison women were in 10^th place overall and the men sat in second, only 2 points behind Miami University. Don’t be fooled because there was much more swimming and diving to come!

The Big Red started off the second night of competition with some fireworks in the men’s 200 Freestyle relay. The team of Curtis (21.22), Geissinger (20.08), Jon Behnke (20.83) and Lowell Byers (20.56) finished less than a tenth behind the winner of the event in a very respectable time of 1:22.69, which notched the first NCAA automatic cut of the weekend for the Big Red swimmers.

An impressive field of five DU women returned to the finals of the 200 Butterfly. Both Kacey Centrella (2:08.22) and Lauren McKenna (2:09.88) swam very smart races and produced two more NCAA ‘B’ cuts for the women’s team. In the men’s 200 Butterfly, sophomore Ed Kowal swam to his first ever NCAA consideration cut as he finished in a time of 1:54.90, which was almost a second faster than his prelim time.

A string of best times were scored in the men’s 200 Freestyle. Curtis was just shy of his team record from the previous night, but still won the event in 1:38.46. Curtis was being chased by Geissinger throughout the entire race as Geissinger finished second in a lifetime best and NCAA ‘A’ cut of 1:38.94. Andy Catlin and Chris Sellon both finished in the top eight as well, touching the wall in 1:43.18 and 1:43.20 (p) respectively.

In the women’s 100 Breaststroke, freshman Ksenia Golovkina had a breakout swim for the Big Red. Her preliminary time of 1:05.60 was just above the NCAA ‘A’ cut as she finished fifth overall in finals. Another freshman, Bethany Sabourin, made her mark later that same night as she swam to her own solid NCAA ‘B’ cut and lifetime best in the 100 Backstroke (58.81).

The Big Red men put major points up in the 100 Backstroke as four men finished in the top eight and an additional two swam in the consolation final. Charlie Grodecki finished third overall (52.06) followed by Byers (52.28), Behnke (52.60) and Charlie Baldwin (53.17). Kyle Chabot (53.79) and Alex Hurst (54.73) finished fifteenth and eighteenth for the Big Red.

The men continued adding points to their team total as three competed in the championship final of the 400 Individual Medley. Andy Brabson finished in seventh place for the Big Red touching in 4:05.40, followed by Jake Lewing in 4:05.48 (p) and Sellon in 4:06.10 (p).

In the last individual swimming event of the evening, Kristen Hohl and Geissinger showed a great deal of promise and speed in the 50 Freestyle. Hohl touched the wall in seventh place in 24.21, which was just off of her personal best set in the preliminaries. Geissinger ducked under the 21-second barrier for the first time in his career finishing in 20.51, notching his second NCAA ‘A’ cut of the meet.

Taking a break from the swimming side of things, the Big Red divers stepped up to the challenge and dove well against some very solid competition. Senior Stephen Julka finished fifth overall in the 1 meter competition with a score of 248.25. Cody Smith (19^th, 168.10) and Russ Bornschein (20^th, 165.30) also added much needed points to the men’s overall team total. In the women’s 1m competition, freshmen Sammie Salas and Lizzie Litwak both had solid performances finishing with scores of 159.65 and 147.20, respectively.

The Big Red ended the second day of competition with two more NCAA ‘B’ cuts in the Women’s and Men’s 400 Medley relay. When all was said and done for the evening, the DU women took over fourth place and the men were leading the overall team competition.

The final evening of competition began with a strong performance for the DU women in the 200 Medley relay. The team of Sabourin, Golovkina, Zaleski and Hohl finished fourth overall in a time of 1:47.38. Golovkina split 29.30 in the breaststroke portion of this relay, which was very strong swim. The women continued to put up fast times as Sabourin and Savannah Mortensen both swam lifetime bests in the consolation final of the 200 Backstroke. At the start of the day, neither woman had broken 2:10 in the event and in finals, Mortensen finished thirteenth overall (2:08.46) followed by Sabourin in fourteenth (2:08.81).

The men’s 500 Freestyle was a graphic display of the wealth of depth held by the Big Red. Curtis was third to the wall in 4:31.42, grabbing his second NCAA ‘A’ cut of the weekend. Terry finished eighth overall (4:41.06) narrowly missing the consideration cut. In the bonus final, Lewing and Catlin took the top two honors finishing in 4:40.88 and 4:41.94, respectively.

In the 100 Butterfly, Zaleski finished eighth overall for the Big Red posting a respectable time of 57.92 (p). McKenna added on to her solid performance on the first night of competition in the 200 Butterfly with another great swim here. She finished at the top of the consolation final, ducking under the 59-second mark (58.76). In the men’s race, Byers swam another strong race finishing sixth in 50.35.

In one of the final events of the weekend, John Nemeth and Brabson each swam their way to a NCAA consideration cut in the 200 Breaststroke. Nemeth finished in eighth place (2:08.07), while Brabson was eleventh in 2:07.94.

In the last diving event of the weekend, newcomer Cody Smith showed a great deal of promise for the future. Smith posted a very respectable score of 180.35 points in the 3 meter competition and this score placed him in the top 16 divers at the meet, which was no easy task.

Rounding out their meet with one final ‘A’ cut, the 400 Freestyle relay of Curtis (46.30), Geissinger (44.47), Behnke (45.81) and Byers (45.77) touched in a very strong time of 3:02.35.

The outstanding final relays provided the final margins in the team standings and when all was said and done, the Red men were victorious with 1512 points, just ahead of DI Oakland University (1454.5) and D3 rival Emory (1306). The women finished a very strong fourth among the 16 teams represented.

Denison University vs. Ashland University

November 16, 2007

Last Friday evening, the Denison Big Red Swimming and Diving teams welcomed Ashland University to the confines of the Gregory Natatorium for their final dual meet of the 2007 fall season. Taking care of business early on, both the women’s and men’s squads emerged with solid wins on the day.

The Denison women started things off on the right foot as the team of Bethany Sabourin, Ksenia Golovkina, Kate Rich and Olivia Zaleski took first place in the 200 Medley relay finishing in a time of 1:50.30. They finished over a second in front of the rest of the competition. In the men’s 200 Medley relay, the race came down to the final 50 yards. Junior Jon Behnke swam a solid freestyle leg of 21.09, but it was not enough to catch Ashland’s ‘A’ relay as they ended up winning the event in 1:37.06.

In the 1000 freestyle, the first individual event of the day, Laura Menard put together a decent race, touching first in a time of 10:53.02. On the men’s side, freshman Ben Terry came extremely close to ducking under the 10-minute barrier for the first time this season, as he finished first in 10:00.51.

One of the highlights of the meet came in the men’s 200 yard freestyle. Junior David Curtis broke Brendan Herlihy’s record from 1997 as he finished first with a very respectable in-season time of 1:43.54. This was Curtis’ first pool record setting performance here at Denison.

As in previous meets this semester, the Big Red sprinters added excitement and did not disappoint. Both Zaleski and John Geissinger swam to first place finishes in the 50 freestyle. Zaleski was the only woman in the field to break 25 seconds as she finished in a time of 24.63. Geissinger kept his winning streak alive for this season touching the wall in 21.19.

In the last event before the first break, the men and women got a chance to gain more experience in the 400 IM before competing at the Miami Invitational. Senior Ginny Walsh raced Lizzy Wermer (Ashland) to the very last stroke and finished second in a time of 4:48.99, less than a behind Wermer. Freshman Lauren Pipkin had a solid swim finishing right behind Walsh in 4:51.12. In the men’s race, freshman Jake Lewing finished more than 2 seconds in front of the field and won his first 400 IM race of the season, touching in 4:17.15.

After the break, the Denison sprinters were back in action. Annamarie Novinger had a solid swim for the Big Red in the 100 freestyle as she finished second in 54.48. Geissinger added another victory for himself on the day finishing first in the same event (46.76).

The second highlight of the meet came in the women’s 100 yard breastroke. Freshman Ksenia Golovkina notched her first ever NCAA consideration cut finishing first in a time of 1:07.11. Sophomore John Nemeth was not to be outdone by Golvokina as he finished first in the same event in 1:00.70.

The night ended in exciting fashion as the team of Zaleski, Kristen Hohl, Novinger and Kathy Faingold broke the second pool record of the night in the 400 Freestyle relay. They finished well ahead of the field in 3:34.92. The men also closed the night with a victory as Curtis, Geissinger, Chris Sellon and Behnke finished first in a solid time of 3:09.28.

After the swimming had ended, the Big Red divers got a chance to strut their stuff on the boards. In the 1m competition, freshmen Sammie Salas led the way for the Big Red women finishing first with 209.04 points. She was followed by Lizzie Litwak in second (185.40) and Susanne Smith (116.05) in fourth. The men’s competition saw veteran Stephen Julka taking the top spot (265.20) followed by Russ Bornschein (239.85) in second and Cody Smith (214.73) in third. In the 3m competition, Salas proved to be the best for a second time finishing with a score of 204.00. On the men’s side, Bornschein finished first with 268.57 points.

The Big Red women and men are now enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday at home with their families. They will be back on campus next week preparing for some fast and exciting swims at the Miami Invitational being held in Oxford, Ohio on November 29-December 1.

Denison vs. Calvin, Olivet, Wayne State

November 9, 2007

In one of their final tune-up meets before the upcoming Miami Invitational, the Denison teams traveled up to Eastern Michigan University on Friday to compete in a quadrangular meet against three other teams. The Big Red faced some stiff competition from Wayne State, a talented Division I team, as well as Division III rival, Calvin College.

The meet began with the Big Red diving team taking to the springboards. Freshman Sammie Salas kicked things off with a solid score of 203.10 points in the 3 meter competition. Her teammate, Lizzie Litwak, only finished 2 spots behind, scoring 180.60 points. In the men’s 1 meter competition, Russ Bornschein finished in third place (241.75), Stephen Julka in sixth (224.95) and newcomer Cody Smith in seventh (214.05).

The Big Red women started things off on the right foot in the swimming competition, finishing well ahead of the rest of the field in a NCAA consideration time of 3:59.85 in the 400 Medley Relay. The team of Bethany Sabourin, Kathy Faingold, Liv Zaleski built Kristen Hohl a large lead throughout the race, but this did not stop her from anchoring the relay in an impressive 52.91 seconds.

In the Men’s 400 Medley Relay, the race came down between Denison and Wayne State. Charlie Grodecki, John Nemeth, Casey Browning all swam solid legs to try to give Jon Behnke room to run down the freestyler from Wayne State. In the end, Behnke just ran out of room and touched the wall in second in 3:35.36.

The first win of the day for the Big Red came in the Men’s 1000 Freestyle. Still a rookie to the 1000 freestyle, freshman Ben Terry finished in an impressive time of 10:02.84 bettering his in-season time from two weeks ago at the Kenyon dual meet. Senior Wes Bubb was not far behind Terry as he finished right behind in second in a solid 10:06.95.

The women were back in action in the 200 yard freestyle as junior, Annamarie Novinger, touched the wall in second place (1:57.48). Kate Rich also found herself in the thick of things as she finished fifth in 1:59.49. The men’s 200 freestyle provided some fireworks as the Big Red men secured the top three spots. Veteran David Curtis led the field finishing first (1:44.99) followed by sophomores Rob Steele (1:47.10) and Andy Catlin (1:47.22).

After those solid 200 freestyles, it was now time for the Big Red sprinters to strut their stuff. There was no disappointment as Zaleski finished first in the 50 freestyle in 24.90, just shy of the NCAA consideration cut.. In the men’s 50, John Geissinger once again touched first in 21.30. Geissinger was followed closely by Behnke as he finished second in 22.03.

Taking a break from the swimming action, the Denison diving team was back on the boards. In the women’s 1 meter competition, Salas posted the top score for the Big Red (208.42) followed by Litwak (181.12). These scores were good enough for third and eighth place, respectively. In the men’s 3 meter competition, Julka finished a close second with 248.18 points, followed by Bornschein (232.65) and Smith (199.20).

In the last sprint event of the meet, the Denison Big Red picked up two more victories. Hohl was able to get her hand on the wall first in the women’s 100 freestyle in a time of 53.75. Geissinger followed up this performance with a win of his own (46.45). Junior, Chris Sellon dipped under the 49-second barrier, finishing third in 48.86 seconds.

The Big Red has always had a solid core of backstrokers and this year’s group seems to be following the trend. In the 200 yard backstroke, Sabourin and senior Anna Comella took the top two spots, finishing in 2:11.65 and 2:14.25, respectively. Grodecki found himself in a tight race for the entire 200, but when it was all said and done, Grodecki out touched Matt Leix (Wayne State) in a time of 2:00.91.

After showing some promise in workouts this past week, the distance men looked like they were ready to take care of business. This proved to be the case as 3 men finished in the top 5 of the 500 freestyle all with solid performances. Curtis led the way finishing first (4:44.60), followed by Terry in second (4:49.79) and Browning in fourth (4:53.71).

In the last individual event of the evening, the 200 yard breastroke, Faingold raced Emily Roberts (Calvin College) stroke for stroke and came out with a victory in a time of 2:26.67. In the men’s race, Nemeth tried his luck against a very talented swimmer from Wayne State, but came up just short. He finished second in a very impressive in-season time of 2:13.84.

Both teams finished off the day with exciting swims in the 400 Freestyle Relay. The women jumped to an early lead thanks to Zaleski’s 53.86 split. Hohl, Kate Rich and Novinger continued to build on the lead and finished first in a time of 3:35.84. The men’s relay of Curtis, Geissinger, Sellon and Behnke bested the field and ended the night with a victory of their own in 3:09.07.

The teams have one final dual meet this Friday (November 16) at home against Ashland before heading home for Thanksgiving Break. The Big Red will then arrive back on campus and tune up for some big performances at the Miami Invitational in Oxford on November 29-December 1.

Final Scores:

Women:

DU 613

Calvin 549

Wayne State 504

Olivet College 213

Men:

DU 665

Wayne State 521.50

Olivet College 415

Calvin College 218.50

Denison at Kenyon

November 3, 2007

Many people think DI football rivalries are a big deal, but few can really grasp the excitement that occurs during the annual Denison vs. Kenyon dual meet. This year’s meet took place up in Gambier, Ohio and the Big Red were ready for a big time battle with the Kenyon Lords and Ladies

The meet started with the Big Red team of Bethany Sabourin, Ksenia Golovkina, Kate Rich and Kristen Hohl taking a close second in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:48.84. Hohl anchored the relay in a very impressive 23.61, almost running down Kenyon’s freestyler. The men’s 200 Medley Relay proved to be just as exciting as the team of Charlie Grodecki, John Nemeth, Lowell Byers and Jon Behnke raced Kenyon to the end, but ended up finishing second in a time of 1:36.52.

Swimming against a strong distance team from Kenyon, newcomer Taylor Blake had a strong showing in the 1000 yard freestyle. Blake finished in a time of 10:43.73 right in front of her teammate, Laura Menard in 10:52.16. In the men’s race, freshman and newcomer to the 1000, Ben Terry, swam a great race finishing in 10:03.05, which was good enough for fourth place.

The 200 freestyle proved to be one of the most thrilling races of the meet for both the Big Red women and men. Junior, Annamaire Novinger, swam one of her best in- season times and almost chased down Kenyon’s Tina Ertl for the win. Novinger finished in an impressive 1:55.46, which is under the NCAA consideration cut. The men’s 200 freestyle featured David Curtis, the defending NCAA champion for the Big Red. Curtis found himself in a close race the entire way and ended up pulling out a win finishing in 1:43.34. His teammate, Andy Catlin, had a very strong showing as well, finishing in third place (1:46.22).

After the mid-distance freestylers got the adrenaline pumping, the DU sprinters followed suit and provided some thrills of their own in the 50 yard freestyle. Olivia Zaleski bested the entire field finishing first in 24.37, which is under the NCAA consideration time. In the men’s 50, John Geissinger kept his winning streak alive as he touched the wall first in a solid 21.33.

The 200 Individual Medley also proved to be a strong event for the Big Red. Sophomore Kathy Faingold punched her ticket to NCAA’s finishing second in a time of 2:10.77. Rich and Sabourin were not far behind Faingold as they finished third and fourth respectively in 2:13.13 and 2:14.53. Denison picked up another victory in the men’s 200 IM as junior Chris Sellon swam an impressive race finishing in 1:58.48.

Taking a break from the swimming action, the Denison divers had a very impressive day on the boards. The Big Red women capitalized on the fact that Kenyon did not have any female divers and swept both boards. Sophomore Drew Mulvey finished first on the 1 meter with a score of 224.75 followed closely by freshmen Sammie Salas (178.50) and Lizzie Litwack (144.25). On 3 meter, Salas dove her best meet of the year and finished first with a score of 186.10. Mulvey finished second (175.35) while Litwack was not far behind in third (148.95).

Not to be outdone by the women, the Denison men divers also swept the 1 meter competition. Veteran Stephen Julka took first with a NCAA cut of 283.60 points. He was followed by junior Russ Bornschein (210.30) and freshmen Cody Smith (201.05). On the 3 meter competition, Julka notched another victory scoring 244.05 points. Strong diving coupled with strong races on the swimming end kept the meet very close up to this point and it got even more exciting as the relay drew closer!

After the diving break, Rich wasted no time getting back in the pool and racing fast. She finished third in the 100 fly with a time of 59.36. Senior Christine Wissink was not far behind for fourth as she touched in 1:00.30. In the men’s 100 butterfly, Byers raced two Kenyon swimmers to the end, but out touched them both, finishing second in 53.18.

In the 100 freestyle, Hohl got back to work and swam a very solid race breaking the 53 second barrier, finishing in 52.93. In the men’s 100 freestyle, Geissinger and Sellon showed some speed as they finished 1-2 for the Big Red in 46.20 and 49.04 respectively. Following some good 100 freestyles, Zaleski swam a NCAA consideration cut in the 100 backstroke finishing in 59.91.

The distance swimmers were then back in action for the 500 yard freestyle. Novinger (5:13.67) and Blake (5:14.89) both swam great races and finished 3-4 for the Big Red, respectively. The men’s 500 freestyle got very exciting as it came down to the last 5 yards, but in the end, Curtis was able to get his hand on the wall first in a time of 4:44.15

In the last individual event of the meet, the 100 breastroke, Faingold posted the top time for the Big Red women as she finished third overall in a time of 1:07.89. In the men’s breastroke event, John Nemeth raced Kenyon down to the last stroke and finished second in 1:00.72. Andy Brabson (1:02.56) also scored points for the Big Red.

It was now time for the 400 freestyle relays and the Big Red did not disappoint. The team of Hohl, Zaleski, Novinger and Faingold took control of the race early and did not look back. Faingold anchored the relay in a superb split of 53.87 and hit the wall at 3:34.28, which surpasses the NCAA consideration time.

In order for the Big Red men to defeat the defending national champions, they had to finish first and third in the 400 freestyle relay. The ‘A’ relay left no doubt as the team of Curtis, Geissinger, Sellon and Byers touched first in 3:08.70. The ‘B’ relay were given all they could handle, but when it was all said and done, Eric Elligott swam a solid last 100 and touched the wall in third in 3:16.53.

Denison vs. Ohio Wesleyan University

10/27/07

Traveling only to the other side of Columbus for their first dual meet competition of the season, a small group of athletes made the trip from Granville to Delaware, Ohio for a meet against Ohio Wesleyan. With half of their teammates remaining behind for another meet against Oberlin College, every swimmer had an opportunity to compete and shine in multiple events.

Opening the meet with a pair of wins in the 400 Medley Relay, the teams jumped to early leads in the team standings that would never be challenged. In the women’s 400 Medley Relay, newcomer Bethany Sabourin got the team off to a quick start with a solid 1:00.81 backstroke split. Ksenia Golovkina, Lauren McKenna, and Brittany Oxley extended the lead and touched in a time of 4:08.10. The men’s relay team of Charlie Grodecki, John Nemeth, David Curtis, and Chris Sellon followed suit earning a victory of their own finishing in a time of 3:40.39.

In the first individual event of the meet, the 1000 yard freestyle, sophomore Jenny Cunningham distanced herself from the rest field and touched first in a time of 11:09.24. In the men’s 1000 freestyle, freshman Alphonse Harris and sophomore Colin Murphy pulled the 1-2 punch for the Big Red finishing in 10:49.90 and 10:57.26 respectively.

The Denison sprinters had a solid showing in 50 yard freestyle. Golovkina, Lisa Fry, and Oxley finished 1-2-3 for Denison all posting respectable times of 25.77, 25.93, and 25.95. In the men’s 50 freestyle, newcomers Robert Meyers and Ethan Drutchas both broke the 23 barrier to place first and second finishing in 22.64 and 22.99.

The 400 individual medley proved to be a very good race for both the Big Red Women and Men. Senior Ginny Walsh (4:49.33) led the way for the women with freshmen Lauren Pipkin (4:49.92) and junior Diana Harlow (4:50.70) following right behind. These three women were in tight race the entire way racing each other to the very end. The Denison men were led by junior Chris Sellon who finished first in 4:19.34. Sophomores Andy Brabson and Ed Kowal were well within shooting distance finishing in 4:23.86 and 4:29.72, respectively.

Solid swims kept on rolling for the Big Red after the first break. Senior, Kacey Centrella posted a solid time of 2:14.72 to win the 200 fly. Kowal, coming off the 400 IM only a few minutes before, added another win as he placed first in the 200 fly finishing in 2:05.23.

The Big Red backstrokers did not disappoint as both the men and women swept the 200 yard backstroke. Sabourin, Walsh, and Savannah Mortensen all swam solid races finishing in 2:11.25, 2:16.00 and 2:16.48, respectively. In the men’s race, Grodecki and Alex Hurst were in a close race the entire way, but in the end, Grodecki just out touched Hurst to win in 2:02.02.

In the final individual event of the day, the 200 yard breastroke, Golovkina swam a lifetime best of 2:28.78 to finish in first place. Rochelle Akradi also had a solid swim finishing right behind in 2:31.69. The Bishops recorded their first win of the day in the men’s 200 breastroke, but sophomores Andy Brabson and Nemeth were right behind touching the wall in 2:15.05 and 2:15.15 to finish second and third.

The two teams now look forward to an anticipated match-up with Kenyon next Saturday in Gambier, Ohio. The dual meet is scheduled to begin at 1:00pm.

DU Men - 131

OWU Men - 57

DU Women - 131

OWU Women - 74

Denison vs. Oberlin

10/27/2007

The Denison Big Red, following a promising start at the previous weekend’s relay meet, played host to the Yeowomen and Yeomen from Oberlin College with a partial squad.

Saturday started off with a win in the Women’s 200 medley relay by Anna Comella, Erin Garnter, Kathy Faingold, and Annamarie Novinger (1:53.73). Though finishing 1-2 in the Men’s 200 medley relay both A & B squads had jumped the gun giving Oberlin a quick 11-0 lead over DU.

Denison soon made a major impact in the next few events going 1-2-3 in the 1650 freestyle and the 200 freestyle. In the mile Laura Menard started the season off with a very solid 18:05.00, freshman Taylor Blake in her debut at the Gregory Natatorium finished second with a time of 18:10.27, followed by newcomer to the mile Jess McInerney in third at 18:50.49. On the Men’s side frosh Ben Terry’s six beat kick carried him to first place with a 17:13.31 and second was Casey Browning (17:22.88) surging in the last 50 to out touching teammate Matt Newton (17:23.27) who placed third. The 200 freestyle 1-2-3 punch went Hohl (2:00.39), Faingold (2:01.08), and Anne Stern (2:04.78). On the men’s side John Geissinger was barely off breaking the 1:45 barrier negative splitting his race (1:45.01). Sophomore Rob Steele was second with a 1:48.85 followed by fellow classmate Andy Catlin with a 1:50.58.

The DU sprinters then took the stage with first place finishes by both Liv Zaleski (24.89) and Jon Behnke (22.05). Oberlin took its first and only event on the women’s side in the 200 IM as Sara Kadi (Oberlin) placed ahead of Lauren Barone (2^nd with a 2:19.05) and Conner Edelbrock (3^rd 2:20.28). The men repeated their 1-2-3 domination with a near lifetime best by freshman Andrew Krawchyk (2:00.84) and solid swims by Jake Lewing (2:03.84) , and Charlie Baldwin (2:05.60).

Showcasing some amazing talent and hard work the DU divers were up next on the 1-meter. Transfer Drew Mulvey scored a 220.12 which was more than enough to place first over teammate Sammie Salas who in her first dual meet for DU dove a 194.00. On the men’s side, senior Stephen Julka dominated the competition scoring a 283.60 which also is and NCAA-qualifying performance. He was followed with a second and third place sweep of the 1-meter with teammates Russ Bornschein and Cody Smith scoring 209.28 and 183.85 respectively.

Zaleski continued her string of first place finishes in the 100 fly with a time of 59.47 and Stern followed in third with a 1:02.05. Senior Lowell Byers and Browning placed first and second touching in 53.09 and 54.87, over a full 2.5 and 1 second ahead of the Oberlin competition. The 100 free saw an in season best from two DU swimmers. Hohl swam nearly three and a half seconds faster than any of her competition clocking in at a 53.81. On the men’s side Geissinger sprinted to his first NCAA qualification time of the year with a 45.96, this is the second fastest time ever swam in the Gregory Natatorium. He was followed by teammates Terry and Brendan Sullivan (50.28 and 52.97).

Big Red continued their first place finishes on the women’s side in the 100 backstroke with Comella contacting the wall at 1:01.96 and in third was Barone with a 1:05.72. The men sustained their 1-2-3 places with Behnke (53.81), Baldwin (55.29), and frosh Kyle Chabot (57.28).

The 500 frees were also a 1-2-3 events for the Big Red. Annamarie Novinger (5:17.08), Blake (5:25.51), and Edelbrock (5:26.60) posted points on the Women’s side while Lewing (4:58.85), Catlin (4:59.00), and Newton 5:07.15) finished in sync for the Men’s side. After the 500 the DU Divers were back in action. Litwak placed first on 3-meter with a 177.23 and Salas posted a third place finish with a 176.73 narrowly missing second behind OC diver Christine Martin (176.85). On the men’s side Julka continued to be on his game placing first with a 275.50 which was not only another NCAA qualification score but also broke his own 6-dive Varsity and Pool record. Bornschein followed in third with a score of 214.35.

In the last two events both Women’s and Men’s squads still touched the wall first. In the 100 breaststroke it was Senior Erin Gartner touching at a 1:12.06 slightly ahead of Barone (1:12.55). The men finished with a 1:03.92, 1:04.82, and 1:05.22 from Krawchyk, Marcus Geer, and Patrick Kirsch rounding out the men’s 1-2-3 placing. The 400 free relay saw the teams of Hohl, Zaleski, Novinger, Faingold touching in front of second and third placing relay teams of Stern, Comella, Gartner, Barone and Menard, McInerney, Blake, Edelbrock. The men’s side was in similar fashion with the team of Lewing, Byers, Chabot, Terry touching the wall slightly ahead of teammates Steele, Catlin, Browning, Newton and Behnke, Cobb, Krawchyk, Kirsch.

The home opener for both the Denison Women’s and Men’s Teams were successful with final scores of 129-98 and 120-83. The teams’ are back in action next weekend against conference and national scene rival Kenyon College at 1PM at the Kenyon Aquatic Center in Gambier, Ohio.

NCAC Relays...2007

As is tradition, the Big Red Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams opened up their 2007-2008 season with the North Coast Athletic Conference Relays this past Saturday at Kenyon College. The meet was a great chance for the teams to work together, swim fast, have fun and check out this year’s competition.

The meet opened with a very solid 200 Medley Relay for the Big Red Women. The team of Bethany Sabourin (28.56), Ksenia Golovkina (30.03), Kate Rich (26.52) and Kristen Hohl (24.07) finished second with an impressive time of 1:49.18. Just a few minutes later, the men’s 200 Medley Relay team had a very strong showing of their own. John Geissinger swam a very impressive 20.52 freestyle leg to help the Big Red finish in a time of 1:36.23, only 1 one-hundredth out of first place. Now, the season was officially underway!

The first win of the meet for Denison came in the men’s 200 Backstroke Relay. The team of Charlie Grodecki (25.59), Jon Behnke (23.61), Charlie Baldwin (24.69) and Lowell Byers (23.61) finished in a time of 1:37.50, which was nearly a second in front of the rest of the competition.

The Women put on an impressive display as the ‘A’ and ‘B’ 200 Breastroke Relays finished in second and third place. Newcomer Ksenia Golovkina led off the Big Red ‘A’ relay in impressive fashion with a time of 30.66. Golovkina was then followed by Kathy Faingold (31.39), Christine Wissink (31.96) and Rochelle Akradi (32.15) to place second in a time of 2:06.16.

The Men notched another victory in the 500 Crescendo Relay. Lowell Byers ripped a 22.17 to lead off and Geissinger grabbed the lead for good with a very solid 45.33 split. Freshman Jake Lewing stroked through his 150 in 1:18.57 and David Curtis put the finishing touch on a win with a 1:46.24.

Competing back in Granville, the DU divers had a big day, squarely leaving their mark on the meet. Stephen Julka, diving on an injured toe, finished first on 1M with an impressive score of 241.55. Junior, Russ Bornschein, was not far behind his teammate as he finished in second place with a score of 220.20. Bornschein also competed well on 3M as he finished second scoring 179.40 points. Freshman Cody Smith dove well in his first collegiate meet finished 6^th in the 1M competition.

The Big Red Women divers had success of their own on Saturday. In the 3M event, the Denison women swept the top three honors. Drew Mulvey finished first with a score of 180.30. Freshmen Lizzie Litwak and Sammie Salas were not far behind as Litwak finished with 171.85 points and Salas with 170.75 points. These same ladies also performed very well in the 1M competition, finishing in second, third and fourth places. Mulvey finished second (175.10), Salas (161.70) third and Litwak fourth (159.40).

Finishing off the day on a strong note, both the Big Red Men and Women produced some solid efforts in the 200 Freestyle Relay. The Women’s unit of Olivia Zaleski, Hohl, Kathy Faingold and Annamarie Novinger finished first with a time of 1:38.63. The Men’s team of Curtis Byers, Chris Sellon and Geissinger fought hard for the entire race and finished second with solid time of 1:25.63.

The teams will use this early season experience as they open the dual meet season next weekend (October 27). In split squad action, half of the team will remain in Granville to swim Oberlin, while the other half will travel over to Ohio Wesleyan for competition.

2006-07 Season

2006-07 Season Preview: Denison Women’s Swimming and Diving

This year’s edition of the Big Red Swimming and Diving season offers a great deal of hope for an outstanding year for both the men’s and women’s teams. The women return seven All-American performers from last season and will assuredly have a great chance to improve upon a sixth place finish at last year’s NCAA meet.

After opening the season on October 21 with the traditional NCAC relay meet, the teams will look next to a conference match-up with rival Kenyon on November 4 (to be held in Granville). After a heart-stopping win on the final event last season, the women will be led by sophomore Annamarie Novinger whose 100 and 200 Freestyles placed her near the top of the standings last year and the sprinting of Kristin Hohl and Katey Klippel, whose heroics won the day in the final yards of the final race last season. Aiding the freestyles will be frosh Ashley McKenna, Brittany Oxley, Jenny Cunningham and Kelsey Wehrenberg. Divers Amy Brown and Miranda Carter will be key to this, and every meet, this season

Last season’s IM specialist for the women was Diana Harlow and she will have significant depth behind her with the addition of Kim Lewis, along with a strong core of returning teammates including Kacey Centrella and Erin Gartner. Distance ace Catherine Eastman will receive help not only from returnee Christine Misterka, but also incoming freshmen Laura Menard.

Some of the highlights of last season were the inspired performances by much of the team at the Miami Invitational (December 1-2). Hoping to qualify as many individuals and relays to the NCAA meet as possible, the women will hope to ride the broad shoulders of seniors Meg Cassell and Mary Dain. Each has scored at the NCAA meet for the past three years and those two create a solid core for the medley relays. Dain’s butterfly leg could be pushed significantly by two freshmen: Olivia Zaleski and Kate Rich - both of whom enter the team with terrific HS seasons behind them. Lauren McKenna could also be a factor in both butterfly distances. Also look for freshman Kathy Faingold to make her presence felt in the breaststroke slot, as she battles for her place along with Christine Wissink, Lauren Barone, and Jamie McGowan. Two more freshmen, Kathleen Cameron and Rochelle Akradi, will also add much-needed depth to this part of the Red line-up.

The second half of the season begins with an unusual occurrence in the Denison schedule: three consecutive home meets (Wittenberg on Jan. 13, Case Western on Jan. 19, and Duquesne on Jan.20). The women will look to sweep these three meets and depth in backstroke could be the key here. Besides Cassell, add in Ginny Walsh and Anna Comella, both of whom have NCAA experience, along with junior Savannah Mortensen, who hopes for a break-out year. For good measure, toss frosh Kelsey Dawson and possibly Menard into the mix.

Completing the duel meet season on the road at Xavier, the Red will face a solid Musketeer team, which will look for revenge in their home pool. A complete team effort will be needed to win the day and freestylers Leora Hudak and Conner Edelbrock will play big roles as well as multi-purpose swimmers Lucy Sheridan and Christine Wissink, who will move where they need to in the line-up for maximum scoring potential.

Heading into the conference championship meet held at Canton on Feb. 8-10, the Red will look to topple defending champ Kenyon on both the men’s and women’s sides. Last season, the men almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets in history, falling just short despite the loss of Peterson after Day 1. This season, balance will be the key as the freestyle events continue to be a strong-suit for the Red. More help is needed to fill the weaker events from last season and DU may have done exactly that with a combination of returnees and new faces. The women will rely heavily on the sprint freestyle and butterfly events to win the three-day affair. Dain, Zaleski, Rich and Wissink could all move into the final heat of the butterfly events. Hohl will be the anchor of the sprint freestyles, but she will receive significant help from Ashley McKenna, Zaleski, and Klippel, whose relay performances are always an exciting thing to watch.

The all encompassing question of March will be this: can the women rebound from a tough 2006 meet to return to the top three at their meet? With outstanding returnees and a great core of hungry newcomers the prospects look very good.

2006-07 Season Preview: Denison Men’s Swimming and Diving

This year’s edition of the Big Red Swimming and Diving season offers a great deal of hope for an outstanding year for both the men’s and women’s teams. The men return six All-Americans plus two more qualifiers from last season’s National Runner-up squad, which broke six team records. That group will receive help from a large and talented incoming freshman class, which could give the Big Red their deepest group in years.

After opening the season on October 21^st with the traditional NCAC relay meet, the teams will look next to a conference match-up with rival Kenyon on November 4(to be held in Granville). The Red men will have their hands full but return to the meet with sophomore All-American David Curtis, who took the only swimming victory of the meet last year in the 200 freestyle. But this year’s team has an added depth of in the freestyle events with two more All-Americans in Lowell Byers and John Geissinger, along with returnees Dylan Wilson and Nick Conley. Add in freshman Andy Catlin, Andy Foerster, Rob Steele, and Eric Elligott, and the short freestyles will be a formidable obstacle for any opponent.

Traditionally a very competitive meet, the Ohio University duel on November 11 should feature some solid match-ups for both squads. Distance swimmer Wes Bubb used last year’s OU meet to get back on track and vaulted himself into NCAA finalists status. Team record holder Bryce Peterson, along with Bubb, gives SU a solid 1-2 punch in the long freestyles and those two will be helped ably by sophomore Matt Newton, who hopes to move onto NCAA’s this season after narrowly missing last year’s meet. Two more freshmen- Casey Browning and Colin Murphy- will give the Red good depth as well. Divers Steve Julka, Russ Bornschein and Fran Kelley could do marked damage in diving events.

Some of the highlights of last season are the inspired performances by