The Denison men's swimming and diving team opened their 2010-11 season by winning their third consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference Relay title from the Kenyon Athletic Center and Gregory Pool.  Denison totaled 168 total points to edge out second-place Kenyon by eight points.

The Big Red got a strong showing from divers Gabe Dixson (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) and Cody Smith (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford) who swept both the one-meter and three-meter dive relays.  In the one-meter dive, Dixson posted a score of 273.75 while Smith followed with a score of 249.85.  Third-place overall went to Phil Meyer (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) who posted a score of 226.65.

In the three-meter dive, Denison's divers occupied the top-five spots in the 13-diver field.  Dixson placed first with 255.15 points and Smith was right behind with 254.40 points.  Meyer finished third with 213.50 while Matt Poulos (Munster, Ind./Munster) took fourth.

In the swimming portion of the relays, Denison's depth came to the forefront with 24 top-10 finishes.  DU also posted four second-place swims.  The first came in the first event of the day, the 200 medley relay where Spencer Fronk (Cherry Hills Village, Colo./Cherry Creek), Jake Lewing (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury), Matt Edgin (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Quinn Bartlett (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) combined for a time of 1:37.01.

In the 200 backstroke relay, Sean Chabot (Washington, Mich./Stoney Creek), Fronk, Edgin and Kyle Chabot (Washington, Mich./Stoney Creek) posted a time of 1:36.51 to take the runner-up spot to Kenyon.  Both Edgin and Kyle Chabot would return with Mike Barczak and Fronk for a second-place finish in the 200 butterfly relay and a time of 1:36.00.

The final second-place finish of the meet for the Big Red came in the 400 IM relay were the foursome of Brad Ratliff (Eldersburg, Md./Century), Jackson Humphrey (Westerville, Ohio/Columbus Academy), Dan Thurston (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) and Fronk who ended the day with six top-three finishes in his first collegiate meet.

Not only was this Denison's third straight victory at the NCAC Relays, but it also marked their eighth victory out of the last nine years at the event.  DU will return next Saturday (Oct. 30) with split-squad meets at Oberlin and against Ohio Wesleyan.