The Big Red women wrapped up a fifth-place finish at the Miami Invitational and the other half of the roster currently sits in second-place at the SUNY-Fredonia Blue Devil Invitational on Saturday night. Denison tallied 889.5 points over the course of the three-day meet in Oxford, Ohio and edged sixth-place Ohio State by 20 points.
Denison sophomore Alyssa Swanson (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) continued her strong weekend with two more NCAA automatic qualifying times on Saturday night. Swanson placed third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:55.73. She will be joined at nationals in March by Hilary Callen (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) who finished seventh, touching in 4:57.42.
In the 100 freestyle, Swanson paced the Big Red with a sixth-place swim and an 'A' cut time of 51.51. DU would post eight other NCAA provisional qualifying times on the night. Natalie Lugg (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) placed sixth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.23 and in the 100 butterfly Brenna Broadus (Charlottesville, Va./Western Albermarle) touched in 56.60 to place eighth.
Lugg placed sixth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.23 and in the 200 backstroke Emily Schroeder (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) and Lindsay Zeberlein (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) took 13th and 16th, respectively. Schroeder notched a time of 2:04.03 and Zeberlein finished in 2:06.38. Both swims were 'B' cut times.
In the two relays, DU finished third in the 400 free relay and sixth in the 200 medley relay. Taking part in the 400 free relay was Marit Wangstad (Wayzata, Minn./The Blake School), Callen, Lugg and Swanson. The foursome touched in 3:28.56. In the 200 medley relay, Zeberlein, Lugg, Broadus and Swanson combined for a time of 1:45.58.
At Fredonia, DU trails only the host, Blue Devils, by 21 points heading into Sunday's final day of swimming and diving. Senior diver Lizzie Litwak (Loudonville, N.Y./Albany Academy for Girls) placed ninth in the women's three-meter dive with a score of 289.20.
In the swimming events DU racked up five victories. Breanna Gordon (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita) won the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:15.77 and Cari Martin (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) took the top-spot in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.25. Laurel Brabson (Boonsboro, Md./Boonsboro) was the champion of the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:08.65.
The 200 free relay team of Emily Hopcian (Novi, Mich./Northville), Hayley Anderson (Milford, Conn./Blair Academy), Shannon Cogan (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville) and Maddie Armitage (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) won the event and the 400 medley relay team of Martin, Lilla Grisham (Washington Grove, Md./The Learning Community International), Brabson and Armitage also took first place.
