Denison sophomore diver Gabe Dixson broke his own school record in the men's three-meter dive, highlighting a strong opening night for the DU men's swimmers and divers. Through six events the Big Red sit in first place with 580 points and lead second-place, Kenyon, by 154 points. Denison logged victories in all four individual events while winning one of two relays.
In the three-meter dive, Dixson earned his first NCAC gold with an 11-dive score of 527.75. His previous school record, set in December of 2009, was 506.80. Following in second place was senior Cody Smith with a career-best score of 500.80. Checking in with a fourth-place score of 442.15 was junior Phil Meyer.
The three individual swimming events all saw first-time winners and all of them were from Denison.
In the 200 IM, Spencer Fronk bested his preliminary time by .23 seconds to post an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:51.38. Last year's champ, Jake Lewing, followed in second-place with a provisional qualifying time of 1:52.97. Quinn Bartlett placed fourth in 1:53.88 while Brad Ratliff took fifth in 1:54.69.
In the 500 freestyle another DU rookie unseated a teammate and former champion as first-year Al Weik topped last year's champion Dan Thurston. Weik missed his 'A' cut in the event by only .07 seconds, touching in 4:30.18. Thurston trailed in 4:32.58. Placing fourth was sophomore Jay Haney with a time of 4:36.44. Merritt Boardman took seventh and Sean Chabot took ninth for the Big Red.
In the 50 freestyle junior Mike Barczak won his fourth NCAC championship but his first in an individual event after notching a time of 20.88. Following in positions seven through 10, respectively, were Andrew Krawchyk, Kyle Chabot, Matt Edgin and Joe Katich.
In the relays which book ended the night's festivities, Denison turned in a second-place finish in the 200 free relay and a win in the 400 medley relay. In the 200 free relay, Barczak, Fronk, Kyle Chabot and Krawychk touched in 1:22.27. In the 400 medley relay it was Robert Barry, Lewing, Fronk and Barczak who combined for an 'A' cut time of 3:19.77. Barry's 49.46 split in the backstroke was an 'A' cut and season-best time.
Denison will return to action on Friday with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m.
