The Denison men ran away with the team championship at the Miami Invitational, winning the title by 786.5 points. Denison finished first with 2,459.5 points and Emory University took second with 1,673 points. Third place went to Southern Illinois with 1,456 and fourth place went to host, Miami with 1,156. Cincinnati placed fifth and Wright State rounded things out with a sixth place finish.
Overall, Denison chalked up 52 NCAA provisional or automatic qualifying times through 18 swimming events. After Jackson Humphrey set a new school record in the 200 fly on Friday and Al Weik broke his own national record in the mile on Thursday, it was Quinn Bartlett's turn on Saturday to join the record-breaker club. Bartlett, the defending national champ in the 200 backstroke, broke his own national record in the event with an 'A' cut time of 1:45.78 to lead a stable of six DU swimmers that placed in the top-11 in the event.
Denison's depth in the backstroke events can't be denied and behind Bartlett is defending 100 backstroke national champ Robert Barry who was the runner-up with an 'A' cut time of 1:48.12. Sean Chabot was third in 1:50.29 and Humphrey took sixth in 1:51.50. Seventh place went to first-year Matt Montague in 1:52.40 and Michael DeSantis checked in 11th in 1:52.71.
That event got DU going and led to Weik's 'A' cut in the 500 freestyle after his time of 4:27.78. Senior Dan Thurston was second in 4:33.01 and Carlos Maciel placed fifth in 4:35.83.
Barry would return in the 100 fly with a fourth place showing and a time of 49.86. Humphrey was ninth (50.40), Spencer Fronk 10th (50.27) and Dan Hellman 11th (50.61). All four times were NCAA 'B' cuts.
DU saw four individuals lock down positions six through nine in the 200 breaststroke. Seth Lemon and Ben Snader both notched 'B' times while Brandon Bryan and Damon Rosenburg took eighth and ninth, respectively.
In the 100 free it was Maciel who edged out Barczak for third place with a time of 45.65. Chabot placed fifth in 45.90 and first-year Devin Compan was sixth in 46.13.
Denison divers competed at the Blue Devil Invitational in Fredonia, N.Y. and junior All-American Gabe Dixson led the way with a pool record score of 533.50 in the 11-dive 3-meter competition. Following in fifth place was Connor Dignan with a score of 400.35. Matt Poulos checked in eighth with 351.20 points. Dixson's score was an NCAA cut but it was not a career-high. That came last year at nationals with his score of 541.35.
In the final individual swimming event, Fronk paced Denison with a fourth place finish in the 200 individual medley. Fronk turned in a time of 1:51.37 in preliminaries for a 'B' cut. Bartlett just missed an 'A' cut in preliminaries with a time of 1:51.25. He would place sixth in the finals behind Thurston. Humphrey closed out the event in eighth place.
In the 200 medley relay DU took second as Barczak, Snader, Barry and Fronk touched in 1:31.00. The 400 free relay of Maciel, Chabot, Fronk and Barczak recorded an 'A' cut time of 3:00.48 and placed second.
Overall, DU amassed 53 cuts this weekend and the men's divers will compete in the 1-meter dive on Sunday to close things out. Of those 53 cuts, 14 are of the 'A' variety.
